Many car owners sometimes encounter such an unpleasant problem when a car starts very hard in the morning. In other words, the battery simply sits down during the night, while on the eve of the whole day there are no problems with it.
In this case, it is necessary to check the car for current leakage, and this can be done independently, having a multimeter and a wire with crocodiles.
Before starting a leakage current test, lower the window on the driver's side and remove the key from the ignition. After that, you need to turn off all electrical appliances that were previously turned on.
How is diagnostics performed?
The first step is to unscrew the negative terminal on the battery without removing it completely. The fact is that if you immediately remove it, then the settings of the car (power windows, etc.) may go astray.
To save the settings, you will need a piece of wire with two "crocodiles". One of the clamps is put on the mass. Then we very slowly raise the terminal and pull it off the battery, turning on the second “crocodile”.
The driver’s window must be left open in case something suddenly goes wrong - at the time of removal or installation of the terminal, the central lock may work and close the car. And so that you can then get into the car, the window must be open.
Next, we take a multimeter, set the regulator to 10 amperes, then connect one wire to the negative terminal of the battery, and connect the second to ground. Then we disconnect the wire that kept the circuit, and observe the current.
Leakage current in the range of 150-160 milliamps - this is normal if a dual-din head unit is installed on the car. If there is a simple tape recorder, then the leak will be much less. In general, on modern cars, a leakage current of up to 200 milliamps is allowed.
Useful tips for car owners
If the current leakage is more than 250-300 milliamps, be sure to check the light bulb in the trunk, or rather, the light switch itself. Very often it is this light bulb that sets the car’s battery overnight.
Due to the fact that the switch contacts do not work correctly, the light is on almost all the time. Despite the fact that the bulb is low current, this is enough to decently discharge the battery decently during the night.
If the leakage current on the car is more than 200 milliamps, there is no two-twin head device, the light in the trunk does not light, then it is best to contact electricians.
After checking, you need to install the wire, which is disconnected again to ground. Then the multimeter is disconnected and the battery terminal is replaced. Next, the wire itself is removed with the "crocodiles".
Details on how to determine the leakage current on a car can be found in the video on our website.
