So I'm chasing a current draw that killed a new battery in my somewhat new to me 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT 4x4. The battery I just installed has BOTH top and side terminals, both sets of which are used. I've not seen this before.
Truck had some aftermarket sound equipment installed, now removed.
Does the stock wiring use both top and side posts? Or just the side posts?
Side post connections look stock. Top post clamps are high-quality aftermarket, clearly not stock, but there is a butt-load of wiring attached to them.
Going to re-install the now-fully-charged battery and see if I can find what's pulling it down.
Maybe try not installing the top posts and see what happens?
Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:
Maybe try not installing the top posts and see what happens?
Yup. That's what I thought, though I was curious about what the stock connections looked like, since at least one very stock-looking wire is attached to the top posts.
Here are a couple of pictures I found on a quick search. One from https://parts.moparonlineparts.com and the other from justanswer.com. I don't see side post on either of them.
Yeah, the more I look at it, it seems more of the stock wiring attaches to the top posts.
I've found a mysterious current flow on the Fuse #8 circuit. Now if I can just find out what that circuit does. Annoying that fuse box diagrams are not easy to find on these vehicles. Under the box lid it says "See owner's manual for fuse box diagram" and of course, no such diagram exists in the manual. Online search reveals no shortage of enterprising individuals looking for payment to reveal the dark secrets of Chrysler Corp. electricals, but no free info.
Pull both negatives off the battery. Test amperage between each cable and a negative terminal. One will likely have less than 0.2A and the other will likely have a bunch.
Start pulling and replacing fuses one by one until you see the bigger amperage drop to a more normal level. That narrows the draw down to whatever is on that circuit.
Edit: looks like you already did that
Chiltons? Haynes? Used Mopar shop manual?
So when I pulled #8, the current draw dropped to zero. Putting it back in, it stayed at zero.
Hard for me to quantify the amps. On the 20 amp setting, my meter shows a little over one amp. If I change to the 2 amp setting, it reads 0.1 amp. This is an old, somewhat abused Craftsman digital VOM. I might see what kind of a reading I get with my vintage Micronta analog meter from Radio Shack. Now there was a meter!
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
Chiltons? Haynes? Used Mopar shop manual?
I have the Haynes manual, but I wrapped it for (one of) my son's Christmas presents. LOL.
Huh. Well, according to one website, fuse number 8 controls "Mirror Outside Rearview Driver". Bad power mirror switch? Or red herring?
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
You said when the fuse was reinstalled it stayed at zero. move the Mirror switch and see if it returns.
The only manufacturer that used side post battery terminals was GM. Also, no manufacturer has ever used all the terminals of a dual terminal battery, although it sounds like something a German might try.
You have an aftermarket nightmare.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
Pull both negatives off the battery. Test amperage between each cable and a negative terminal. One will likely have less than 0.2A and the other will likely have a bunch.
Start pulling and replacing fuses one by one until you see the bigger amperage drop to a more normal level. That narrows the draw down to whatever is on that circuit.
Edit: looks like you already did that
I want to make an addendum to this. Hook up the gauge as stated, then wait 20 minutes before doing anything. When you disconnect the battery then reconnect it (through the dvom) all the modules "wake up" and you get a higher amp draw reading. After a period of inactivity the modules will go back to sleep mode one by one. After that happens is when you can accurately tell which fuse is feeding the draw.
If you already did that when you found the fuse previously stated, I have seen where a sticking relay caused what you said about the draw going away and not coming back when the fuse is put back.
Autozone has free wiring diagrams on their website. You have to have to have a login on the site and they are hard to find and the user interface is pretty bad, but the diagrams are from Mitchell or alldata and are good diagrams.
Thanks for the replies, guys! I've been changing the oil on the 530i, and now it's raining pretty good, so I don't know when I'll get back out there. Not sure how a guy with garage spaces for five and a half cars is working out in the weather so often, but neither of these vehicles is high enough on the vehicular pecking order to get a spot.
Count your blessings, I'm always saying. 
mapper
HalfDork
12/18/21 7:18 p.m.
Does the horn work?
I had a 2004 that started sounding the horn a random times. My temp fix was to unplug the horn but this just killed the battery. The problem came from the horn button (the whole combo airbag and horn unit) making contact under just the right temp and humidity conditions. Even with the horn unplugged, the system would draw power. It was just silent now. I disconnected the horn wiring at the steering wheel and solved the immediate problem. This was a common enough problem to show up on the forums. If your horn doesn't work, check the wires at the horn and if they are unplugged, the problem is at the steering wheel.
Just a random "it happend to me" that might apply here.
In reply to mapper :
I don't know if I've ever sounded the horn intentionally, but it beeps when you lock the door with the key fob, so I know it works that way.
Battery is fine this morning. I started it right up and checked the alternator output. Everything checks out fine. The issue with fuse #8 was a red herring. I just happened to pull #8 when the door switch for the courtesy light timed out.
I did pull a fused lead that was associated with audio equipment that the PO pulled out. Kinda hoping that it played some role somewhere in draining the battery.
Yeah, who am I kidding. I'll be troubleshooting this again, probably sooner than later. 
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Other peoples wiring can be a nightmare to figure out and fix. If it's not needed get rid of it.
Pretty much on the right track, hook your amp meter between the positive post on the battery and all the wiring, start pulling fuses. Remember as stated, modern cars will hold a higher amp draw for 20 or so minutes since modules need to go to sleep to be accurate. Depending on where the fusebox is, have someone stay in the vehicle and pull fuses so you don't have a 20 minute delay each time.
Once you isolate that circuit, get the wiring diagram, see what is fed on that circuit, and start unhooking items on that circuit one at a time till you find the offending item.
The problem with pulling fuses is that if the problem was due to a failure of a module to shut down properly, pulling the fuse shuts it down, so the draw won't come back. Now you can't find which device it was until it acts up again.
If you have a voltmeter that can read in microvolts (even .0001v will do) you can measure the voltage drop across the fuse without unplugging it, and then cross reference that to a current chart for that specific type and rating fuse. It is amazingly accurate.
You do need to wait 15-40 minutes for everything to "go to sleep" before checking things. Some modules stay awake a long time after you turn the key off.
Okay, so I'm still mucking around with this situation. It happens intermittently, of course. Recently happened again.
I do have a theory:
The ignition switch/key cylinder are just a touch flakey, as in if you turn the truck off, press the button to release the key, and remove the key, the truck will (sometimes) beep at you as if you had left the key in the ignition. My theory is that someone is ignoring this warning and leaving the truck with some switch still "on." Accessory position?
Thoughts?
Is this more a lock cylinder issue, or an ignition switch issue? Replace both?
I've checked for a persistent current draw, and there is none.
That would defintely be an issue if you are not truly turning the truck "off"
Is the key worn out?
93gsxturbo said:
That would defintely be an issue if you are not truly turning the truck "off"
Is the key worn out?
Truck came with two keys. One is basically unused, the other appears to have all 125k miles on it. I have not checked for a correlation between the key and the problem. I'll stow the worn key and try using just the "new" one.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I swear I wrote about this before but my dad's '03 3500 does this. He's oblivious to the beeping but half the time I get in the truck and it's already chiming at me like there is a key in the ignition. He's complained about the truck shutting off on him randomly and killing batteries. I keep telling him it's switch or cylinder but he's chasing down electrical gremlins in sensors and junk.
iansane said:
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I swear I wrote about this before but my dad's '03 3500 does this. He's oblivious to the beeping but half the time I get in the truck and it's already chiming at me like there is a key in the ignition. He's complained about the truck shutting off on him randomly and killing batteries. I keep telling him it's switch or cylinder but he's chasing down electrical gremlins in sensors and junk.
Yeah, the more I read online, the more stuff I see on the key cylinder, the ignition switch, and some mysterious rod that intersects the two.
Do you keep the keys near the truck? Having the fob close by will keep the ECU in ready mode and draw the battery down. The company where I work got caught out by this.
