How many amps should a stock 2018 XLT be drawing when the engine is off?

When connecting a multi-meter inline between the negative battery terminal and and the cable, I am reading 0.3 amps. After sitting a few days, my battery reads less than 12 volts.

Thanks in advance.

 

That is about 10 time what it SHOULD be...typically one sees about .03 amp draw. You have your multimeter on the right setting?

 

That’s was my understanding as well.

Meter is set on 10A with the lead plugged into the 10ADC port.

 

You can't just pop the hood and check the battery drain. You will not get a correct reading.

 

Yep, learned that the hard way. Popping the hood or any switch, door will waken the sleeping giant. If you want to just check battery for a more accurate state of charge voltage, pop the hood but then, wait a couple of hours before taking a reading. System should be asleep by then. Beforehand, don't touch it!

 

txdox21 - how old is the battery? One wouldn't think it could be ANY older than 4 years, perhaps? Could be time to replace it but I usually get 6 - 7 years out of a good quality stock battery.

 

The battery is the stock battery, which is right at 4 years old. I’ve had it load tested a few times recently and the auto parts store has said it was good. One time I took it in and they said it was 86% charged after I had driven 30 minutes. I left it there (off the charger) and they tested it 3 hours later and said it was at 100%???

the truck has sat for the last several days and battery shows about 12 bolts on my multimeter, which is way low for an AGM battery.

I’m going to replace the battery.

 

Thank you for posting that. I had been doing almost exactly that, but decided to follow it verbatim. I’m now showing only a 10 mA draw.

I’m guessing my battery is starting to die and am going to replace it.

 

Look at the threads about auto start failures.
It's for the same reasons 99% of the time, poor battery health, not the auto start design that need power from the battery to work correctly.
Notice; these power issues are now more prevalent as cold weather arrives.
Take the hint.

 

I have had the auto SS disabled since day 2. I could not stand it and figured it would result in short life for the battery and starter.