Battery dies if I don’t drive for a few days - HELP

I have a 2015 Tacoma. The battery dies if I leave the truck alone for a few days. I’m handy and am game to get in there and triage the problem, but I don’t know where to start. Am I better off taking to a mechanic (if so, what kind?) or are there some basic troubleshooting steps I can take? As far as additions to the truck that involve electronics.

• Carplay stereo receiver
• Wireless phone charger (spliced into a 12v line)
• Pop Lock tailgate lock

I’m looking for some suggestions. Is there a way to discover the power draw with my multimeter? Are there some obvious fuses I can pull to help narrow it down?

Appreciate any suggestions!

 

I haven't had to deal with this, but I know if you search "parasitic draw" you'll find some info and suggested steps for diagnosis. Here is one: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/parasitic-draw.666431/

 

if its the original battery you have gotten your monies worth out of it. stop by a shop or parts store that can load test the battery and check your charging system output just to be sure. but at 6 or 7 years that battery is due to be changed.

 

Give that a watch.

My wife's 2015 Highlander had a parasitic draw that I'm 98% sure was the aftermarket remote start but I never took the time to find out for sure. We traded it in instead.

 

Time for new battery

 

Just went through this the other day
I used a meter and found a 10 AMP draw
Now it was time to narrow it down
Left meter on batt, started pulling fuses
Found that my winch was the culprit
Took me 1 hour, I was lucky

 

Is the 12v power supply the wireless charger is spliced into only hot with the key on?

 

Mine was the alternator - something fails inside them that is supposed to let current only flow one way so when the truck is off it starts drawing power instead of generating it. Not sure how you'd test for that - check for a voltage across it with the truck off I guess.

 

^this more then likely.

 

The battery is new. Replaced it when I started having this issue. Here’s what my MM reads connecting to the neg terminal and neg cable.

 

The neighbor who think’s I’m the auto club was over here requesting jumpstarts. Third or fourth jump in 2 months, I became unavailable. He eventually had a battery disconnect installed in his vehicle. This solved my problem.

 

0.86 amps is a lot of parasitic draw.

First thing I would do is remove that wireless charger and see what it draws. If it is still high start pulling fuses while watching the current draw until it drops to a reasonable level. A reasonable level is between 50 to 85 milli-amps on your meter as shown above scale at 10 amps that would read 0.050 to 0.085 Amps. Remember some things draw power all the time such as the stereo clock etc...

Did you watch the video above?

 

At 0.86A parasitic draw will consume 1 Ahr in 70 minutes.

No surprise your battery is depleted in a couple days. BTW, a new battery won't cure the excessive parasitic draw. You need to eliminate the heavy parasitic draw.

Suggest to begin removing any add-on mods to the electrical system. Keep an eye on the ammeter. You'll know when you find the problem circuit.

 

I'd start with that wireless charger...

 

The meter does not look like its correctly connected to measure DC amps. The red lead should be in the 10A position, and you would put the meter for example between the battery ground and your ground cable (removed from the battery) The current flows through the meter then.

 

Excellent find. Thanks for the post.

 

Good catch I didn't even look at it...

 

Nice. I also overlooked that.
Anyways, this might help you OP.
Move Red Lead to 10A insert shown below.