Most Digital Multi-meters that you use to test parasitic draws with, you would plug your probe wire into the 10A slot. What you see on the LCD screen would be measuring Amps. If your multi-meter only reads 2 decimals ( 0.00 ) that would be measuring Hundredths of an Amp and you would have to manual convert it into Milli-amps in your head. So, if your screen was reading: 0.15 , That would be 150mA. But, if your multi-meter reads in the Thousandths, ( 0.000), and your screen showed 0.015, that would be 15mA.

Most older vehicles are fine with a 0.020 amp draw ( 20mA draw) as long as you have a Strong Battery, a Good Alternator, and your not giving the Alternator a Workout with having a lot of accessories running. If you do have a lot of accessories, Look into upgrading your Alternator. The size of a standard Jeep Alternators in a TJ is about 90Amps. I had to Upgrade My 97 TJ with a 2002 Dodge Durango 160Amp alternator.

The Quickest way to test for a parasitic draw, is to get you multi-meter setup on the battery, watch the LCD scree and start pulling Fuses out and watch for a big drop. That would give you a reference on what fuse you just pulled out that is giving you the parasitic draw.

Hope this helps.

 

Wasn’t looking for how to test, been there, done that ( many times over the years ). Was more looking for input as to what others get and what is acceptable and get it on the record.

Thanks for the input though. BTW if you check on 10a setting first and only pull below the decimal just switch your meter over to 200ma and no math is involved. Most meters that have a 10-20a setting also have 200ma setting as well.

 

Another note. Odyssey battery tech said anything below 100ma is acceptable with today’s technology. Not that I agree for our tj’s, but with the things in modern vehicles requiring memory I can see that. More gizmos need more juice.

 

Answer: 30mA

In a Long-about-way, I did answer your question in the middle paragraph. But, if you want a Jeep TJ Specific Acceptably Parasitic draw, It is Below 30mA. The BCM (Body Control Module) has about 20mA draw, the Central Processing System has about 20mA draw, the Electronic Level Control, if equipped, has about 20mA draw, Illuminated Entry has around 1mA draw, and the Radio does about a 15mA draw. If anything else has a Draw, it would be After Market accessories and/or an alternator on it's way out.

Been a mechanic for around 35 years and I too am not a stranger around a multi-meter. I was just referencing that a lot of people have a Cheap Multi-meter and don't have all the fancy settings.

Hope the Below 30mA parasitic draw answers your question as to what the standard acceptable parasitic draw for the Jeep TJ is.

 

I don’t know what an acceptable draw would be. ECM’s, alarms, clocks all draw power. I don’t however think your winch should be drawing anything; might have a short to ground on it.

 

Winch has a wireless control module that is drawing a small amount. With that disconnected it draws on average less than 1ma.

 

Answer is Still 30mA

I know my last answer reply was done out of Memory, I just checked my Mitchell OnDemand software and it says a typical Parasitic Load should be No more then 30mA

Answered and Confirmed.

 

I know my last answer replay was done out of Memory, I just checked my Mitchell OnDemand software and it says a typical Parasitic Load should be No more then 30mA

Answered and Confirmed.

Thank you sir. :drinks:

 

So I am running this same test with the 10A multimeter, i am getting a reading of .70 (700 miliamps) but after 3 seconds it drops to .44 and then after 2 seconds drops down to .01 flickering with .00. At other times, it reads .00 and even when I connect a light bulb between ground strap and ground terminal it doesn't light up, so maybe it is an intermittent draw? Has anyone experienced this before, or could it be something in my setup?

 

No nothing wrong... when you first connect, the draw will always be more and then taper down quickly.... The only number you need is what you get after it levels off...
In this case it is below the range that you can measure.

 

I've had problems getting consistent amperage values when trying to measure at the milliamp level. A pretty good clamp meter using the no-contact clamp technique is too inconsistent to be of any value, and even a multimeter using direct contact has also given inconsistent results.

My cheap instruments do much better when the load is higher, perhaps a full amp and above.