OT dual shorts crossfedding

[fordman]

i have a 1990 dodge dakota. its runs the battery down if left to sit more than a day or two without starting it. i removed the dome light bulb and threw it away because it was burned out. and left the socket empty. i then removed the negative battery cable and put a tester in between the bat post and the neg cable. i had 11.3 volts. i should have zero volts when doing this.

i then started pulling fuses. i got down to the last one. and it changed the voltage that was dropping off to 6.2 volts. behind the fuse box someone had jumped a wire from one fuse wire to that fuse wire. removing that wire did nothing to change voltage out put. i also puled the fuse that wire came off of and nothing. i did this with that wire hooked and unhooked from the bad fused wire.

this fuse that is leaking runs the dome light the radio the key on switch the key delay switch whatever. oh and a glove box light. which this truck doesnt have. never had.this information came from my 1988 owners manual. this truck is a 1990. and has some slight differences.

when i got this truck someone had cut and moved the radio power wire to another fuse and used the fuse to hold the radio power wire in. i removed it and put it back as it was because it wasnt contacting all the time. there is a main ignition switch power wire that goes from the ignition switch on top of the outer column to the fuse box and then out to the drivers fender to another relay. if that wire is removed the truck will crank but not start. part of that wire is original and melted. but is not touching anything during this test.

all this time i can only pull the one fuse and reduce the amount of power being lost or drawn off the battery when the truck is off and no key in the switch. is there another leak in the power. or is this maybe a cross feed. and i only stopped one half of the cross feed? i am kind of lost on where to look. it isnt the alternator or the battery causing this problem. bother are from different vehicles. and the same problem has only been in this truck with two different batteries and two different alternators.

[fixerupper]

OK if i am reading this correctly you say that with truck at rest you read 11.3 volts between the neg battery cable to the neg battery terminal. if this is correct then there is at least 1 circuit that is complete at that moment. if you have removed all fuses and you still read voltage, then you have a problem! you must have a component or a wire that is shorted. I am betting its a wire considering someone else has been doing some wiring! 1 small tip.. leave all your fuses out and put your meter on the ampere scale. Next put your meter in between the neg battery terminal and the neg cable end and read how many amps flowing through the circuit. If it is a few amps you should be able to feel where the short is as there should be some heat dissipation wherever the short is. If you read milliamps then you are going to have to become best friends with the ohm meter to find the problem. If you have any questions about how DC circuits work i would be happy to share some info just PM me. Hope i helped more than confused!