With everything sleeping, key off I have 120 mA on the red

 

Gremlins indeed.

1) That black wire is the main power feed to the starter. Any current on that wire when the ignition switch is in the run position would of course be improper. Normally the current in that wire is either zero or around 100 amps. 6 amps would require a unique failure in the starter circuit. Check that cable from the battery to the big starter post and make sure that there are no exposed insulation/frayed wires/corrosion etc. If the cable looks ok then the energizing circuit: ign switch>crank fuse> relay>trans switch>starter coil must be marginally defective causing the starter to partially energize either because partial voltage is being supplied to the start fuse or the relay is passing some voltage through or there is a partially shorted wire somewhere in that circuit path, again inspect the wire runs. Its intermittent and not a full on 12v signal to crank. I have never seen this before but its the only explanation. Thats why I asked you to check the crank fuse and relay so we can narrow down what causing that problem.

Back to your battery voltage dropping to 5V at key on with either 6 or 12A being drawn that makes no sense because you proved that the battery can hold 12V at100A. Since you only have 2 stock positive battery cables and they measure nowhere near 100 amps of current and you are measuring the voltage at the battery terminals the only two explanations are a defective meter or an intermittent defective battery.

The 6 amp draw on the red cable that does not go away when fuses are pulled is yet another issue but first we have to solve the 5V battery problem


George

 

Thats a good parasitic draw


George

 

Cable looks good.
Key on, 40A ING A fuse pulled voltage draw goes down from 12.8 to 9.3 and amp draw is 3.4. Dash lights up, blower starts up (I turned it off now). As other systems? cycle amp draw bounces up to 5 and back down.

 

Cable looks good.
Key on, 40A ING A fuse pulled voltage draw goes down from 12.8 to 9.3 and amp draw is 3.4. Dash lights up, blower starts up (I turned it off now). As other systems? cycle amp draw bounces up to 5 and back down.

Also pulled IGN B voltage stays steady at 12.6 amps go to 180mA

 

So with all fuses intact you have 12.8V at the battery and when you pull the Ign A fuse the battery voltage drops to 9.3V but then you pull the Ign B fuse and the voltage goes back up to 12.6V? Which condition causes the dash lights to come on?


George

 

As I pull the fuses the draw goes away in stages. With both ignition fuses pulled it will hold 12.6 volts when key is turned off. With both fuses pulled and key on it drops to 10V and 158mA. The dash was lighting up when the 50 A IGN B fuse was still in, but 40 was pulled.

 

I think you either have an intermittent bad battery or a bad meter or bad meter leads. The battery held 12v at 100 amps but now it only holds 10v at 0.2 amps. Try testing the battery voltage with the meter on the load tester or another known good digital meter when you get these battery voltages of 5-10 volts.


George

 

So the dash is all lighted (mileage and transmission indicator) with key on and both fuses pulled. Holding steady ay 10.6 v on four different meters. The only meter I do not trust is the clamp on amp meter.

To me it has to be something in the ignition circuits, with them pulled it seems fine. Not sure what to try next.

Thanx,
Karl

 

OK, let’s go with a faulty amp clamp meter for now. So what’s your battery voltage with all fuses installed and key in and then what f do Les your battery voltage become after you pull both fuses? At what point does the dash come on?


George