[wolfusor]

I’m dealing with some mysterious parasitic battery draw on my 2010 Santa Fe. New battery dyes in a few days. It was not easy to detect because when I disconnect the battery and connect the multimeter, there is no draw, or the draw is within limits 0.02A to be more exact. But if I turn the ignition on and off with the multimeter connected, the draw becomes 0.44A. I pulled every single fuse and relay both under the hood and under the dash, but the draw stays the same. Also I disconnected the alternator (recently replaced) and there is no change.
I’ve had the car for a few years and it was fine before. A few months ago the alternator went bad in some weird way and I replaced it. Roughly that’s when the draw started. The new alternator charges fine 14.2-14.5V, and there is no draw there.
Not sure what my next step would be. Thinking to start disconnecting some harnesses. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[CaptainJackOC]

Was the old alternator putting out too many amps? If so it can damage other items in the electrical system. It happened to me in a Nissan. It was not being regulated and it would blow out my radio. But I don’t recall it drawing amps when sitting overnight.

Sounds like something is ON when it should not be.

I would take it to an independent shop for imports. See if they can trace it

 

[smodjesky]

Don't assume that the problem is not within the alternator that you recently replaced. Even new OEM parts can fail, sometimes straight out of the box. The alternator needs to be checked, preferably off the vehicle.

As for the helpful suggestion that your alternator is "putting out too many amps," please ignore that. The alternator VOLTAGE could be too high, but any source will supply only as many Amperes of current as the load demands. That's Ohm's law, one of the basic principles of electricity.

If the output voltage is excessively high, some other parts could be damaged, but that should be obvious, because you'd see some malfunction other than the battery losing its charge while the vehicle isn't being operated.

I would suggest turning the problem over to a shop that you trust. That is, someone who will make methodical tests & observations, rather than just throwing replacement parts into the system willy-nilly. (Which certainly not be your local dealer.)

Unfortunately, you'll need to leave the vehicle with them for a few days. And while that's inconvenient, it appears that it's not currently usable anyway.

Good luck.