Parasitic Drain on Fuse 16 in PDC Under Hood

Hey Guys,

2000 XJ 4.0 2WD

So my battery died overnight, brought the battery in, it checked out ok after they re-charged it. Alternator seems ok. Drove home. A few hours later, hopped in and the battery was dead. 9 volts.

So, I pulled the negative terminal from the battery, connected my multimeter in series between the battery negative terminal and the negative cable.

The multimeter showed 3 AMPs!:gag:

From there I started pulling fuses in the PDC(Power Distribution Center) under the hood to look for a current drop...I pulled the big ones and the relays first. Lastly, the small guys in the center fuse banks. As soon as I pulled Fuse 16 (15 AMP) the current immediately dropped from 3A to .125A. Ok, I found a culprit. Consulting the FSM for "Fuse 16 (PDC)" gives a lot of results. So it seems like this fuse powers a lot.

That being said, according to the fuse block diagram, power comes into Pin 23 ->Through the 15A Fuse -> Out Pin 24 (Page 622) M1 20 PK is the wire(I think)

I tested Pin 23 and Pin 24 for shorts and Pin 24 seemed to have a short to ground.

Few questions,

1. Can I drive without this fuse? Fuse 16
2. Where is the underhood lamp switch? (I don't even think I have an underhood lamp)
3. What else should I check?
   

Also, Here's a nice site with pics of the fuse box:
http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Electrical/1997_UP_Fuse_Identification.htm

Thanks.

The underhood lamp switch is part of the underhood light mounted on the passenger side of the engine bay. Inside the switch there is a ball bearing that makes contact with a metal tab when the hood is lifted. The ball can get stuck and leave the light on. Unplug the light and see if the drain goes away.

the_weirdo said:

The underhood lamp switch is part of the underhood light mounted on the passenger side of the engine bay. Inside the switch there is a ball bearing that makes contact with a metal tab when the hood is lifted. The ball can get stuck and leave the light on. Unplug the light and see if the drain goes away.

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Found it. Yea, I never had one..Seems like the previous owner broke it off. The cord was duck-taped to the harness. There are two red and black wires on the connector. As expected the black was connected to ground, and the red was also shorted to ground. This makes sense as it's power is coming from Pin 24 and that's shorted.

Are there any other connectors/locations to unplug?

Update:

I charged by battery overnight and pulled fuse 16 in the PDC. The engine fired right up.

That said, I have no Gauges, interior lighting, radio, dash lighting. Windows, accessories, and AC work.

I've got to track this down. Maybe this fuse feeds a fuse on the inside fuse panel..

Fuse #16 in PDC feeds fuse #25 & #5 in junction box. Most of the time i see the glove box lamp problem or lift gate lamp. Hope that helps.

Lift gate lamp (is in cargo head liner there is a switch in the lamp that goes bad will turn the lamp on by its self remove bulb or unplug)

X2000J said:

Lift gate lamp (is in cargo head liner there is a switch in the lamp that goes bad will turn the lamp on by its self remove bulb or unplug)

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I meant to reply sooner! Thank you for the tips! I pulled out the lamp assembly from the headliner and as soon as I did, the drain went away! I fiddled with the wires and put the lamp assembly back into the headliner and the drain is gone.. Been about a month and no problems!

...now onto my dash illumination short and passenger window problems

Thanks!!!