M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => Electrical => Topic started by: achtungE30 on June 20, 2009, 04:58:00 PM
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Trying to figure out if I have a big enough draw to kill batteries or if my alternator is on the way out. I pulled each fuse out one by one and kept checking the battery with a digital multimeter and had 3.42mA each time. This is the third walmart battery i've exchanged, enough is enough.
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3.42 mA isn't enough to kill a battery. If you were seeing ~1000mA, maybe.
I agree with you about the alternator, might be cooking the batteries.
FYI, there is a wire that bypasses the fuse box. It's the one with the infamous fusible link. It splits off the battery in the trunk then goes to the passenger side positive terminal block to power all sorts of stuff like the DME, fuel injectors, etc. But I don't think that's your trouble.