Amperage draw when off? LT1 car.

So what should the Amp draw be on a "resting" car.  If I unplug the underhood light I get about .03 amps.  Seems reasonable for the clock and PCM.

back story:  I was trying to find an issue.  My battery died the other day for no apparent reason, charged it and it did it again. Had the battery tested (Optima) on the car and it was fine.  So I took it down separately to a different shop and it still tested good.  Put a multimeter between the negative terminal and a ground with the negative battery terminal unhooked from the car and began to pull fuses.  No results from that.  Not sure if I cleaned up a corroded wire in my messing around or what.

When you pulled fuses, at what point did the draw diminish (or stop)

My story relates to replacing batteries and alternators, only to find out on a very cold day that the rear window defroster was never turning off, and draining the battery. Found out when I went outside, the car was covered with frost and the wear window steaming. Nnever went back to the shop selling me batteries and alternators.

So as I'm sure you are already in search of it, if you can find the circuit that is draining via a large amp draw, it should help you isolate the cause.

Looking for the definition of large.

The Buick knowhow video has a different way of testing the draw. They put a cut off switch between the battery and negtive cable, and also did the meter in parallel with that as you did. They then started the car, let it idle and shut it down, then disconnect the negative cable using the cut off switch. The idea is to "wake up" all the electronics as the draw might not show by just hooking up the cable.

Can you post a link to the video for us?

Best regards, Dave

Skip to about 11:30 for parasitic draws.

Aught to make that video into a sticky.

STICKY!!!!!

Nice resource, thanks Dave!

and sticky-ed!

Anytime, sometimes wasting time on Youtube yields something useful   

So my parasitic draw continues to this day!!! I was finally able to find the source last night. I used an amp clamp. I had 1.6 amps of draw when the battery was at 6 volts last night. Began pulling fuses one at a time. When I pulled the antenna fuse it all went away. Not sure if it is the antenna, the relay or the radio. Attempted to do further troubleshooting this evening, but after I charged the battery the draw is gone!!!

Did you yell,"FINALLY"?

No! It's Intermittent so NOW I cannot test further!