Battery Drain '04 Durango SLT 5.7

Recently we started having a dead battery after the Durango sits for about 8 - 10 hrs (some juice left not enough to start) at 12 - 16 hrs completely dead.

Replaced the battery (which Napa said was bad) and it was dead the next day.
Can jump it and drive an hour with headlights and everything on, does not appear to be alternator related, also starts easily after driving or if parked for up to 6 hours.

Dealership did diagnostic and found Radio was the cause (6 disk in dash changer). Quoted $450 for factory deck....yeah, whatever! So instead had them pull the radio fuse. Dead next day.

Bought a multimeter did a current draw using 10 Amp setting.
Seeing 2 Amp peak but it cycles from 2 Amps down to 1.7 (few seconds), then down to 1.1 (few seconds) then down to .5 for a second then back to 2 amps for 10 seconds. This exact pattern continues for as long as I have the meter connected.

We started pulling fuses to see what changes. Here are the results.
Under dash fuse block:
CBI (or CB1) 25 Amp - drop of .7 amps (no clue what it is)
F14 15 Amp - drop of .2 amps (Data Link / Compass&Temp / Sentry Key Remote Entry / Hands Free) - this is the desc I found not sure if its right. But would makes sense for keyless entry.

Under hood front fuse block (the one closest to the front of the vehicle):
There is a twin 30amp held in with a special clip. No number or description on the cover just says 20A* / 30A** (or something to that affect) Pulling this was a 1 amp drop. Now I'm assuming that one is special in some way. We didnt try any combinations. Also we didnt pull everything (relays or big fuses)
Thought I would start with this.

Also the radio fuse and front cig lighter fuse were already out.

I thought I read that the current draw should be pretty low when sitting, key out, doors closed, like .5 or something.

To sort of validate what I was seeing, while I had the meter connected the door was opened and the reading went from 2 amps to 4 amps which sounds about right for the interior lights and such so I feel my readings are accurate.

I'm really hoping someone could help to answer the following
What is the CBI or CB1 under dash fuse?
What is a normal draw for key out doors closed?
What is the double 30 Amp fuse in the front underhood fuse block for?
I'm willing to try any suggestions, just let me and I'll get back the results ASAP.

Thanks,
Tom

I check to see if your Automatic Shutdown Relay (ASD) is OK.

Mack, do you know where the ASD relay is or how it might be identified on the fuse block cover? At work now but I'll check and see what I can find as soon as possible.

I found another post stating that draw should be .1 amps or less. I'm nowhere near that, the lowest reading I see as it cycles is .5 amps, but that is only for a second then back up to 2 amps.

Also would anyone know where I could find an accurate description of ALL the fuses?

One last thing as the battery nears completely dead the horn is trying to sound, it was making this da da da da da da sound, I pulled the horn relay and it stopped. But if I put the charger on it doesnt sound the horn, not sure if this is the alarms response to a dead bat?

here is a document I found, not sure how accurate it is.

Originally Posted by dmcelhannon

I check to see if your Automatic Shutdown Relay (ASD) is OK.

Hey Mack, I'm looking at the fuse descriptions and I see the powertrain/Auto Shut Down F10 in the distribution center fuse block. not sure if that is it but I'll give it a try.

Hi Tom,

I know this will sound stupid but my wife's Durango had the same issue happen. After 2 brand new batteries we found out (by accident) it was the rear wiper motor. It was running continuously (switch was off and it was silent) but the sweep arm wasn't moving. Seems the motor was rotating but not the wiper.

We only found out by touching the rear door while shopping. It was HOT!!!

Once it was changed problem solved....I hope this helps

Thanks Brutus, guessing if the rear wiper works normally that isnt the issue. I know we used it in the last few days been snowing pretty regular... I'll check to be sure though.
Thanks

^bad assumption!

The 'leak' may not be enough to rotate but enough to warm the wiper assy. Pull that fuse too & check for impact.

BTW: Yes, relays can fail intermittently. It is a little arm on a spring with a coil. It has internal contacts that can get corroded... Cold or hot weather can affect operation too. Best way to check is to swap it out with another of the same part number in the fuse panel and see if it fixes the problem...

pull the ASD fuse and ASD relay ... Actually I pulled everything in under hood distribution boxes. The JB ING is pulling .05 the remote start appears to be pulling .1
The JB feed is pulling .85
That double 30amp when inserted pulls 1.15 then after a few seconds it drops to .9
There is certanly a connection between jb feed and the double 30. if you add up the lowest draw from each it doesnt add up to the total with everything inserted.
With the jb feed(50 amp) and that double 30 pulled it will drop to .05 if I bit the remote start door lock it jumps to .15 then settles back to .05
Ill go through the fuses inside now.

After reviewing the attached fuse description (see post above) it looks like the 2 fuses jb feed and the double 30 feed the under dash fuses F7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14, and 33. That said, I should be able to see the drop by pulling those....

Ignore most of what I wrote above. I think I wasnt waiting long enough for the draw to subside.
This is where im at now.
If I pull the double 30 fuse set out and wait current drops to .05 amps
with the double 30 I see it says FCM/Cluster for one plus 2 fuses for under tbe dash. What I did is took those 30's out of the holder so I could test individually. with one in current eventually settles at.05 amps. With the other one in current cycles from 1.98 down to around 1 momentarily but most of the time it sits at 1.98. The cycle is very regular and never stops. I also pulled all fuses from inside with no significant change. So based on tbe document its either FCM or cluster.
any suggestions on where to go from here?
Thanks

What I found with possible drain due to FCM/Cluster was confirmed by the dealership. They found the cluster/body control module was in fact the issue. The part is a custom order since it needs to be programmed with our current ODO reading. Installed with diagnostic charge is $575. I asked about getting a salvage part he said it would be hit or miss with that, sometimes they work out other times not, also the title would have required an odo discrepancy if we went that route.
Hopefully part arrives today and we get the car back....