please help my draining problem

[sjr8ut]

Hello,
I have a '99 grand caravan that has a drain in the turn signal/hazard circuit when the car is off. It drains enough that the battery will go dead if not started every day.
Does anyone have any ideas where this drain could be coming from? The turn signal relay? A switch?
Any input is appreciated.
Thanks.

[Vats]

Originally Posted by sjr8ut

Hello,
I have a '99 grand caravan that has a drain in the turn signal/hazard circuit when the car is off. It drains enough that the battery will go dead if not started every day.
Does anyone have any ideas where this drain could be coming from? The turn signal relay? A switch?
Any input is appreciated.
Thanks.

It could be the turn signal unit. It is a complex unit. Try replacing it.

[sjr8ut]

thanks for the reply--is the turn signal unit the same thing as the relay? Do you know where it is located on the vehicle?
Thanks

[zander5]

To check what area is the problem try this: Remove the negitive (-)battery cable, attach a test light between the battery post and cable. The test light should light up, remove the smallest fuse( lowest amp) first and so on until the lamp goes out. That circuit is where the problem is. When you find the correction, Please reply.

[coronach]

I have the same problem with my '01 Caravan SE. One amp drain when I put a meter between the neg post & the disconnected neg cable. Drain goes away when I take out the HAZ LP fuse. Have had no luck isolating the problem & nobody can tell me what circuits are on that fuse. I've tried every suggestion to no luck. Lots of garages are willing to charge $65/hr to hunt for the problem. I keep hoping somebody in this forum will have the answer.

[Stevo2]

What fuse# are you pulling out?
Have you tried pulling out the flasher unit to see if the drain goes away?

[slantsixness]

The "hazard fuse" is supposed to have some drain, but check for pennies stuck in a cigarette lighter socket if you have kids!

Here's an idea...
Is the key in ignition light (around the keyhole) going out, or does it stay on? check and see!
I had an intermittent problem in a 97 T&C, where the interior lights would not come on, but the ignition key light stayed on. the problem was the ignition switch itself.

secondly,
the Keyless entry system, does it work? If it doesn't, then there may be corrosion or moisture (water even!) in the control module, and that would cause this also, and it's always on!

Lastly,
Sometimes odd things just happen. How old is your battery? If your battery is weak, the "always on systems" like memory, clock, keyless entry..etc. will draw more current as the voltage in your battery goes down. If the battry is "weak" to start with, the added current draw would "kill" the battery almost overnight.
Check the battery voltage when the car is off, should be not less than 12.6V and with the car running, 14.2- 14.8V (depending on your alternator and how low your battery is)

Hope I helped!

Slantsixness

[coronach]

Thanks for the input, but: I don't have keyless ignition, don't have ignition "ring" lite. When I disconnect the battery (put meter between neg post and disconnected ground wire) I still show a 1amp draw. Even if the battery was low, the meter shows there is a demand for at least 1 amp from the car's electrical system. How would a low battery account for the car asking for an amp when parked?
The 20A HAZ LP fuse is not numbered - just identified as Haz LP.
Where is the flasher relay?
Pls keep the input coming - something has got to work !!!!!

[moparman58]

Flashers are located either on the bottom of the fuse block or on a module under the dashboard (instrument panel).

I'm guessing the 20A HAZ LP fuse is the Hazard Lights/Turn Signals fuse, which should be in position 10. You can check by going to:

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...3d801a468c.jsp and click on figure 3 to enlarge the diagram in a separate window.

Hope this helps.

[slantsixness]

"I don't have keyless ignition, don't have ignition "ring" lite."

Here are some more ideas for you, although your problem puzzles me...

I have never seen a Chrysler minivan that doesn't have the key in light, even the Base model bottom of the barrel cheapy '96 voyager has this, it's part of the base standard steering column, even without "power" anything or cruise!
Do you have a clear plastic ring around the ignition key hole? It's supposed to be a light. there is a delay timer on that light for about 90 seconds. This could be your current draw.

But, If it doesn't have a light, it would never show a draw on the timer and that may not turn off the timer, which would explain the dilemma you have.

And of course, I could be wrong...!

I had a drain problem from a corroded wire for the flasher circuit on an '86 D100 pickup, but the symptoms were the Hazards would not flash and there was "cauliflower" corrrosion all over the battery terminal where the hazard wire went straight into the + terminal (the corrosion went all the way to the metal hold down, which caused some current flow maybe 1mA or less, but not enough to kill the operability of the truck. That would kill the battery in the truck in about a week or two, not just a couple days. I cleaned it off, replaced the +terminal connector and it's been fine since.


Hope I helped,

Tom

[sjr8ut]

Thanks for all of the input--I started to isolate the problem using the above method but did not try all of the fuses because I stopped when I found out the flasher circuit was draining (a pretty small amount.)

Is it true that there is supposed to be a drain in this circuit all of the time? What for?

If that is the case, then I will go throught the rest of the fuses and see if there is something else.

Thanks
sjr8ut

[sjr8ut]

Thanks everyone for the help--the problem was in the radio circuit. It is taken care of.

[gromittoo]

Originally Posted by sjr8ut

Hello,
I have a '99 grand caravan that has a drain in the turn signal/hazard circuit when the car is off. It drains enough that the battery will go dead if not started every day.
Does anyone have any ideas where this drain could be coming from? The turn signal relay? A switch?
Any input is appreciated.
Thanks.

A few months ago, someone had a drain that was traced to the power liftgate motor.

[RIP]

Thanks for letting us know sjr8ut. Congrats!