Major Electrical Problem, PLEASE HELP

[Dhohn]

One of my E30s, a 89 325ix has a serious electrical draw when the car isn't on. I have put my multimeter on searching for a short and came up with nothing.

Using my multimeter I tested for amperage draw and came up with a 12.60 amp draw. I have pulled each of the fuses in the engine bay, disconnected the alternator and pushed the button for the window circuit breaker located to the passenger side of the shifter. At the most I saw only a .20 or so drop in draw.

I have no idea where else to look, any help or guidance of other things that should be checked would be greatly appreciated.

THANKS IN ADVANCE

[george graves]

Lol. Do you have your head light on cause:

12 amps x 12 volts = 144 watts. Whatever is eating up energy is getting very warm I can tell you that. Like 150 watt light bulb kinda warm.

Pull fuses one by one until it goes away. Check to see what's wire up to the battery. Do you have an amp that feels warm even though you're not playing music? Put yout hand on the starter solenoid. Just guessing. Report back.

[Dhohn]

I pulled ever fuse under the hood and no significant change in draw was seen. The lights were not on and there is no stereo in the car. As of right now there is not even a deck.

Anything else you can think of other than the starter solenoid ?

[Adrian_Visser]

Maybe a wire before the fuse box is partially shorting out on the body. The battery cable goes along the passenger side door sill under the carpet, try tracing it and the wire from the fusible link from the trunk to the power distribution block and see if there is a partial breakdon in the insulation or something. Long shot I know but if you have checked the individual circuits already by pulling fuses it is an idea.

[george graves]

Pull all the relays - at this point you just need to find out what's causing it. The next step will be to fix it.

Is the cigarette lighter stuck in the on position? Unplug the ecu? anti-lock? Any window switches stuck on?

There aren't that may things on a e30 that can pull that current when normally running. I almost think it's a ecu, or cluster, or something that has fried. I'd be going around touching everything. What ever is doing this is hot.

[Dhohn]

Are there more relays than just whats under the hood ?

[george graves]

Some under the dash - driver side.

Start checking modules. Amp. Door lock unit, ect.

I'm assuming there has to be a smell - where is the smell coming from? You'll need to feed us details if you want any more help. Make sure you tell us what you've checked and what you find or we're in the dark here.

[Dhohn]

I will report back on Friday. Thanks for the input

[jlevie]

A reading of 12.6 makes me wonder if you might be reading voltage and not current.

[Dhohn]

nope im not reading volts im reading amperage. Trust me, I wish it was an easy mistake like that

[Dhohn]

So here are my findings after some more digging.


The 12 amp draw runs into the fuse panel on the strut tower. What is odd is that I get almost no change im amperage draw when I pull the fuses and relays. Is it possible that the fuse panel itself is bad ?? This just doesnt make sense to me.

The other highlighted wire connects to the main wire bundle so im not sur eif this will help me track down the draw or not.



The main bundle, the only thing I find weird is the trickle down in amperage.

What do you guys think ????

[george graves]

Unplug the ecu - and see if the draw goes away. Mt hunch is that the ecu has melted.

But I'd also open up the fuse box and look. What's warm? Anything? What led up to this?

[Dhohn]

The car was like this when I bought it. I got a steal, 325 bucks and the body and motor are both in great shape.

I also haven't been able to hear anything audible. I will be trying to take a closer look tomorrow night because I will finally have a decent bit of time to really dig into it more.

I have tried looking through my bmw service manual and through the hanes manual and cant figure out where the other positive cable goes. Obviously I know one goes to the fuse box. The other one that connects into the largest wire bundle where does it go ?

[george graves]

Yea, that could be one way to find it. There really aren't that many things that cause draw that much power. Maybe a voltage regulator gone bad? It could be shorting out?

The ecu could fry leaving all the injectors stuck open and the ecu is buring off the power?

Nothing you've touched is warm hun?

[Dhohn]

Not that I could find with the limited time I have had. Sisters wedding, huge changes at work, finishing my unfinished basement ect have really devistated my car time.