Losing hope

[1998_K1500_Sub]

Figure out the amp draw on the battery. Pull fuses till it goes away. Your problem will be on the circuit that has the draw. Aftermarket equipment is always the first suspect.

^^^ This

A parasitic current draw may be small enough that an inexpensive DVM won't adequately measure the current.

You may need to get yourself a DVM that measures both amps and milliamps (mA). Most of the inexpensive Fluke meters will do this, and old Flukes are relatively cheap on eBay (e.g., the original Fluke 75 or 77, or their later "Series II" or "Series III" counterparts). I say "relatively"; looking just now, it seems any decent Fluke is north of $80. Well, you get the gist: A better meter may be required to measure "mA".

Some of the DVMs that measure milliamps have an internal fuse of their own, for protection. If the internal fuse blows / is blown, the meter won't measure current until it's replaced.

 

[Erik the Awful]

I use a test light to check for parasitic draw. Pull each fuse one at a time, and put the test light across the terminals. If the draw is strong enough to light up the light, that circuit has a parasitic draw that needs to be fixed. If it's only a dull glow or less, keep looking.

 

[Remodelmaster]

I’ve talked about my truck a few times here. From plans on lowering the truck, supercharging it until I found out the truck has a 5.0 not a 5.7, and this huge electrical issue I’m dealing with. I’m still at the process of registering the truck, haven’t had time to do that. What’s making me lose hope on this truck is the battery issue I’m having. The truck would end up with a dead battery every morning if I don’t turn it on once a day. I thought changing the battery would fix the issue because the battery it had was the wrong one and wasn’t giving enough voltage so we got the correct battery. Didn’t fix the issue. We thought the terminals were the problem and didn’t have a proper ground so we fix that too. Didn’t work. I checked with autozone to see if they can test the alternator and they said that it was perfectly fine somehow. I don’t have any lights kept on in this truck and tried to google what the problem could be and couldn’t figure anything out. I’m not sure what to do with this truck. I dubbed it the farm truck and this farm truck is cursed. Now it’s doing worst. Hey that rhymed. I literally have to keep the truck running for 2 hours or else it’ll die. I start my new job soon and planned to use the farm truck to get me to work and back home but for me to run this truck for 2 hours is just too much to deal with. I can’t rely on it to take me home or anywhere for that matter. I don’t know what to do with this truck. I’m glad it was my first V8 but for it to have this problem I’d rather not struggle with it any longer. So I’m going to register the truck. Keep it a little while longer and try to look into it more about the battery issue. If no progress has been made than I may sell it. I know my uncle doesn’t want me to sell it but I can’t rely on this truck. So I’ll either sell it or give it to my uncle. If anyone’s interested I’ll keep you in mind. Though this truck is located in Los Angeles so there’s that.

I has a similar issue with my Suburban a few years ago. My battery would drain overnight and have to jump start it the next morning. The short story is, it turned out to be the vanity light on my sun visor was staying on draining the battery. I disconnected it and haven't had an issue since. Your issue could be something that simple.

 

[KamenRider_1500]

Figure out the amp draw on the battery. Pull fuses till it goes away. Your problem will be on the circuit that has the draw. Aftermarket equipment is always the first suspect.

Everything on the truck is stock, but I’ll note down to look through the fuses.

 

[KamenRider_1500]

I has a similar issue with my Suburban a few years ago. My battery would drain overnight and have to jump start it the next morning. The short story is, it turned out to be the vanity light on my sun visor was staying on draining the battery. I disconnected it and haven't had an issue since. Your issue could be something that simple.

The truck doesn’t have sun visors unfortunately. Still trying to figure it out.

 

[KamenRider_1500]

I use a test light to check for parasitic draw. Pull each fuse one at a time, and put the test light across the terminals. If the draw is strong enough to light up the light, that circuit has a parasitic draw that needs to be fixed. If it's only a dull glow or less, keep looking.

I’ll keep that in mind

 

[1998_K1500_Sub]

I use a test light to check for parasitic draw.

A possible concern with using a test light is it depends on what sort of "light" one "tests" with... dedicated "test light" (not all the same) or any old handy incandescent or LED (not all the same). They're handy but they may not be definitive. @KamenRider_1500, just keep this in mind if you use one.

A DVM is a nice way to measure current but they're not as cheap as a light.

 

[Komet]

Ah, the old test light vs. multimeter argument. Personally I'm a multimeter guy because I can swap out my leads for alligator clip ends or probe ends as needed, and knowing how much voltage you have gives greater diagnostic information than yes/no voltage.

I got the cheapest multimeter on amazon that was auto ranging and came with 4 leads, I think it was like $20. It works fine, waiting for the auto ranging to finish having its seizure before getting a result is sort of annoying but I also don't have to THIMK about what range I'm reading my numbers in, I just put magic box on the mode I want and number come out.

 

[1998_K1500_Sub]

Ah, the old test light vs. multimeter argument. Personally I'm a multimeter guy because I can swap out my leads for alligator clip ends or probe ends as needed, and knowing how much voltage you have gives greater diagnostic information than yes/no voltage.

^^^ Roger that.

Test lights are particularly nice when you already know what you're looking for... i.e., +12 or a ground. If the light illuminates it can be seen with one's peripheral vision, so no need to turn one's gaze from the task.

With a DVM (w/o alligator clips) I'm forever (a) using my eyes to position the leads and then (b) turning my gaze to the meter to read it. Autoranging and peak hold features help, but otherwise it's often inconvenient.

 

[GoToGuy]

Get an accessory kit with a bunch different leads, there's nice kits, different size types of clips available for good price. Avoid the back and forth eye whip.