Battery needing jump

[1st&4thgenrunner]

my 04 runner has some kind of small drain. wondering if anyone else is having this issue. if i dont drive it for more then 3 days this usually happens. been jumping it with my 1st gen. kinda sad i think. my first gen been sitting longer too.

 

[ebg18t]

Are you sure is a drain and not just a dead/dying battery? When was the battery/charging system tested?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Are you sure is a drain and not just a dead/dying battery? When was the battery/charging system tested?

You need to first rule out the battery before you jump to parasitic draws; because chasing a parasitic draw can be a pain.

 

[fourwd1]

It's a quick and simple task to see if you have too much parasitic drain on the battery.
You just connect an ammeter in series with the positive battery cable.
If it's more than 100 mA be concerned (even that is on the high side).

Finding the source of the drain can be the hard part. Start by removing fuses one at a time, from all the fuse panels. When the meter reading drops, you've narrowed it down to which circuit.

 

[BOSMECH]

First just disconnect the battery both positive and negative and then let it sit the 3 days and see if is a bad battery.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

It's a quick and simple task to see if you have too much parasitic drain on the battery.
You just connect an ammeter in series with the positive battery cable.
If it's more than 100 mA be concerned (even that is on the high side).

Finding the source of the drain can be the hard part. Start by removing fuses one at a time, from all the fuse panels. When the meter reading drops, you've narrowed it down to which circuit.

I am not too sure an inline ammeter will be accurate enough, almost everyone I know in the industry uses indirect amp clamps vs. inline units.

But you want to see no more than about 50mA (while a well accepted rule of thumb for parasitic draw testing, some cars never get that low when operating as intended) or so, but you need to remember than on modern vehicles modules may stay awake as much as half an hour or more after the vehicle is turned off; Toyota also does their EVAP testing on their newer units after a few hours of the vehicle being turned off.

I would strongly suggest verifying the battery's condition before you start getting lost in parasitic draw testing that can lead to many dead ends.

 

[BOSMECH]

I just had my battery die due to this hot weather and also being the original battery since 2003.