Alternator draws 5 amps w/ ignition off???

Hi there,

I have been having a serious parasitic drain on my teg with the ignition off. It’s been like 4.8 amps and it’s taken me days to track it down. It goes away whenever I disconnect the wires from the alternator. I just replaced the alternator maybe a month ago, and I’m having problems understanding how this could be posible. Does an alternator have power to normally with the key off? Am I looking at a shot alternator or maybe problems in the wiring to and from. I didn’t have this problem for the first 3 weeks or so with new alternator. Any ideas? Does the large white wire to top of alternator go straight to the battery? Did I miss a ground wire on the alternator bracket. I don’t notice one, but I read about one. I don’t want to pull it unless necessary. Thanks ,

Jeremy

Bad Alt

You have a shorted Alernator . You will have to replace it again .

man i know this thread is old but im having the same problem. i made sure the new alt was good before i left the parts store and i tested it before i tried to start the car and its still draining 12 volts with no key in it. goes down to 5 volts when i disconnect the alt fuse. wtf.

bump any answers