I have a parasitic draw I found it on my headlight fuses anyone know how I can fix this or what’s causing it.
Model-Year, please?
CSA
2002 ford Taurus
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I don’t think it’s possible for a fuse to have a current drain to ground, unless it has a line of corrosion from the fuse to chassis, very unlikely.
Perhaps you mean a drain that goes away when you remove that fuse, which points to the wiring “downstream” from the fuse to the headlights or the headlights themselves or their connectors. Or anything else on that same circuit.
More details please.
Yes that what I mean now how would one fix that.
How much current are you reading? Under what conditions?
Jaxson, you are going to need to be clearer about your problem. You have radio problems and how did you determine you have a parasitic current draw. Do the head lights stay on, does the battery drain and need recharged?
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Specifically, how old is the car’s battery? I always like to start at the battery and battery connections when dealing with car electrical problems.
CSA
This may be caused by that mysterious radio, instrument panel lighting is on the headlight circuit.
Again, what current are you reading? If you don’t have a number, how do you know this is a parasitic draw?
That’s why I asked about the battery/battery connections. Improper draw investigation could be misleading and cause one to chase after red herrings.
I’ve seen batteries that will go flat overnight enough not to crank a car, but operate some electrical items and when recharged will actually start the car, only to discharge in short order. Kinda leads one to, falsely, believe there must be a new draw.
The car doesn’t run on house current, but rather a battery and an onboard charging system. That set-up is the backbone of car’s electric system.
CSA
While checking for a draw on a light fuse do you have a door/doors open? If the doors are closed have you waited for a while for the system to “go to sleep.”
Chance are very good that if any doors are open or were recently open that you are going to get a false parasitic draw reading. Also, keep in mind that a modern car puts a small draw on the system when it is functioning as designed.
CSA
Pull the headlight bulbs if the draw goes away, bad bulb or socket!.
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My draw is come form fuse 16 under the dash I pull that I’m getting a .6 with it in I’m getting a 1.38.
0.6 WHAT? 1.38 WHAT? numbers with no units are close to meaningless, unless we guess, and we may guess wrong.
If that is amps, and you get that current when you pull the fuse, which is what you seem to say, then that circuit is not the problem.
What current do you see before you pull the fuse?
BUT, did you wait 30 minutes or so for all the electronics to go into sleep mode before making those measurements?
If you’re getting 0.6 amps draw with nothing powered up, yes, you do have a problem. Most cars would be under 0.075 amps. One idea, that’s 12 * 0.6 = 7.2 watts, so whatever’s causing it must be heating up a little. Feel around for something warm, or better yet use one of those infrared temperature gadgets with a laser pointer. Figuring this kind of problem out without any other clues involves inspecting the wiring diagram to discover everything powered up by that circuit, and removing items one by one until the draw ceases.
Ok I will post a pic of what I’m doing and the digital multimeter so u all can see the readings.
A better description of what exactly you are measuring and how, would be better than pictures.
My standard respone
Aren’t headlights on a circuit breaker?