|
Here are a couple things to check:
1. If you don't trust the mechanic who did the troubleshooting, hook up your DMM to the battery. Start the car and see how low the voltage drops. Also, once it's running, turn on the fans to full blast and turn on the lights. Check you voltage at idle and at around 2000 rpm. Voltage is typically around 14.4 volts when the engine is running.
2. Turn off the engine. Set your DMM to read amps, remove a battery cable and install the DMM inline. Read the current draw. It may be fairly high but take readings every 5 minutes. It may step down after some time once the car finally goes to sleep. At this point, current draw should be low. I'm guessing since I don't have specs, but I would expect milliamps. If it's amps, then you may have a short somewhere. Pull one fuse at a time and put it back if current doesn't drop. When you pull a fuse and current drops, you've isolated which circuit in the car has the short. From there, you'll need a wiring diagram and component locator. But, high probability items are things like relays. You could have a relay that is stuck on or shorted internally to ground. Repeat the same procedure with relays that you used with fuses to find a relay that might be failed (you'll need the fuse in that circuit to be installed).
Back in the good old days, these kinds of things would be easier to troubleshoot because when a car was off, it was off. These days, if you unlock a car or turn it off or even come close with the key in your pocket, it's not uncommon for it to stay on (or awake) for quite some time, perhaps as long as 15 minutes. My friend's BMW draws 16 amps for 12 minutes. I'm not sure what Toyotas do so it may take some patience to determine when the car actually turns off unless you have a manual.
Good luck.
|