Quote:
Originally Posted by 17rsvert
I wish it was still that simple. That used to be a great way to troubleshoot, before just about everything became controlled by computer modules. You may get lucky with that method, but if the drain is occurring by a sleeping/waking module, it could become almost impossible to have the correct fuse pulled at the same time everything else is in sleep mode enabling you to get a true reading of the problem circuit.
I had a parasitic drain a few years ago, and had a technician at the dealer check it out when I was getting a free oil change. I had a suspicion that it might be related to the LED reverse lights I installed, but after looking it over with the scan tool and meters, he said that didn't appear to be the problem, everything looked normal and I needed to bring the car back so he could hook it up to a recording meter for hours or maybe overnight to see where the source of the problem was. Before I brought it back, I put the OEM lights back in and no more drain.
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You make some excellent points. The method I described is one I have used on another vehicle with a canbus where I was having a battery draining problem. I was lucky in my case that it was not a unit turning on in the middle of the night, because (obviously?) I don't have a recording meter.
Still, I managed to figure out what was drawing all the power. One might get lucky and do the same with our Camaros. At least it is a simple and easy sort of test to do, and if the draw is happening at the time, it can be found. As you point out, this way is not as comprehensive as what the dealer can do, but I like to exhaust all of the free options before handing over my hard-earned $$$ to the dealer.