Parasitic Drain Test - Put car to sleep?

[Dathaeus]

I got a MM finally, but I been watching videos on how to test for drain, and it seems they all say you have to put the car in sleep mode first? But they all explain this differently and not clearly...


If you do need to out the car to sleep first, what is the right way to do it?

[randy72877]

The car will (should) go into sleep mode by itself after 16 minutes of inactivity. That means you can't open or close doors/hood/trunk. You can leave them open for access but they must not change. If it is an automatic transmission car, the shifter light will go out when its in sleep mode.

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[Dathaeus]

Great thanks... its a 6spd but I think the 16 minute is a sound deal and someone told me the trunk light will also go out then.

And the MM connections go to any metal ground and is it ok to plug into the negative on top of the battery? Because I dont think my battery has that other neg on the side that they show in the videos.

[Dathaeus]

And its at 0.05ma? Isnt that pretty much the norm for a car in sleep mode? I know it can go down to like 0.01 in some cars but I dont think a 0.05 would drain my battery even if left unstarted for a few days right?

[jclausen]

You can have a door open but must set the locks

[MarcoZandrini]

The typical drain is about 0.05 amps or 50 milliamperes. Now, if you see 0.07a or do it’s likely ok.

[jmo69]

Great thanks... its a 6spd but I think the 16 minute is a sound deal and someone told me the trunk light will also go out then.

And the MM connections go to any metal ground and is it ok to plug into the negative on top of the battery? Because I dont think my battery has that other neg on the side that they show in the videos.

I thought the meter was supposed to be connected between the battery and the negative cable, I could be wrong.

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[MIKYZZ4]

Yes in series(inline)between the negative battery cable and the negative battery post-when taking amperage readings,
not in parallel(across)as when you check battery voltage readings across both battery posts.

[randy72877]

I thought the meter was supposed to be connected between the battery and the negative cable, I could be wrong.

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The battery ground cable connects to the body near the battery so it doesn't matter as long as you have a good connection.

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