Finding Parasitic Drain

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Originally Posted by thom4782

Hi all:

I'm trying to chase down parasitic drains on my '01S 986 and my '87 951. The procedure as I understand it is:

1. Turn all electrical items off and take key out of ignition
2. Disconnect ground terminal from battery
   2.5. Use a jumper cable to connect the battery post to its cable. Turn the ignition on, then back off. Connect your meter probes to the negative terminal and cable, make sure the meter is on and set to at least 200mA, then disconnect the jumper.
3. Measure current between ground terminal and negative battery post
4. If current draw is less than 50 ma, the parasitic drain is normal
5. If current draw is greater than 50 ma, then pull fuses 1 by 1 until the current drops, which will isolate the circuit where the drain is taking place
6. Look through wiring diagram where there might items causing the drain, e.g. a switch, etc.

Here's the issue I'm facing. When I try the procedure on either car, I never see any current. This is true even if I turn on one of the systems like the parking lights. Anyone have any suggestions as to what I might be doing wrong? If I can measure a current even, then I won't be able to chase down the drain.

Thanks

The reason for 2.5 is that when you disconnect the battery, many systems will not be active again until you connect the battery and turn the ignition on. I had the same issue with my old Dodge.