Battery draining overnight. Signals not working. Window switch only rolls the window down

Hey everyone!
i bought a 2006 Tundra 4.7L DC 4x4 about two weeks ago. Everything worked as new. A couple days ago, I attempted to replace the battery (which did not have any issues) with a newer one I had, but I didn't secure the battery brace properly. While driving, the battery brace touched the red terminal and the battery short-circuited and a bunch of lights on my dashboard lit up. I pulled over and fixed the brace. After that, my passenger window would only roll down but not back up. When I returned home, I disconnected the battery while the car was still running, to see if the alternator was still ok. When i did that, the wipers headlights, signals etc went crazy without me doing anything. I connected the battery again and it went back to normal but none of my turning signals worked. I replaced one of the signal bulbs and now it works (didn’t have more bulbs for the other side and back). Now my battery drains overnight so i have to boost it every time i need to start it. The truck had no issues at all starting. I will replace the rest of the bulbs today and see what happens. I would appreciate any help/direction about what to do to find out why my battery is draining over night.

 

When I first read this, I was like, "Oh this is an issue over in the Megathread!" Specifically:

• These trucks usually don't have a ton of other electrical issues [...] Hidden corrosion inside the battery/alt cables happens [...] water leaks can send water down into the ECM behind the glovebox (pics), or into the fusebox inside the cab/dash (pics & pics & pics, it happens a LOT). Many drain/vampire issues trace back to aftermarket add-ons whether the owner knows they exist or not - alarms as mentioned earlier, brake controllers, poorly installed trailer receptacles, those are some big ones.

But if none of this was happening BEFORE your incident with the battery bracket, I dunno. I'd ask you if you have any cracks in your windshield, or if the windshield was recently replaced, since those two things usually lend to water in the fusebox, but again, with this starting right after your short ... there's no reason to think it's anything except your fuck-up that caused this.

Start by trying to get the truck back to "whole" again. i.e. replace all the bulbs that blew out. Double-check all your fuses. You can easily test for parasitic drain if you have a basic multimeter handy. Can link to a video for that.

 

check the radio fuse for drain.

 

Just curious, do you have any kind of alarm system on it?

 

Sounds like something shorted, like your alternator fuse when you touched the bracket to the positive terminal. Need to check all the fuses including the main ones under the hood. Then replace any bulbs or whatever blew out as well.

 

I would also go back to the other battery... Since it had no issues...

 

Thanks everyone for the advice!!! I am new at this so not sure what's the best way to reply to all.
I bought a multimeter and all the (standard) fuses seem ok. I disconnected the window switch that was not working. Replaced all the signals and now they all work. It has an aftermarket Viper alarm and remote starter system. The battery that is draining is the one it came with. I removed the battery that shorted right after that happened. Will see tomorrow I guess.
@shifty can you please send me the link for the video?

 

I mean, alarms are notorious for parasitic draw. And typically start getting flaky after 10-12 years. And are often - in the case of DEI products (Clifford, Viper. Avital, etc.) - tie into windows and door locks. In light of that, it sounds like the fucking alarm may be all of your problems, since it touches on literally all of those systems you're having issues with. Now I'm thinking you fried the Viper alarm brain with that move, and you now know your issue.... Would've been helpful to know this was a thing earlier

Parasitic draw ... Skip to 18m31s if it doesn't already jump there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC--MLNIbik#t=18m31

 

Did the parasitic draw test and the current is about 4.60A. The lowest reading I got while removing the fuses was like 4.57. But when I unbolted the cable connected to the fuse block, it dropped to 0.03A. You think I found the issue? I was not sure how to remove it to inspect it, so will find out tomorrow I guess.

 

Yes. 4.3a is way too high.

 

Finally got the main fuse but unfortunately still shows 4.3a. Will go check the battery next.

 

It sounds like you may have a wire pinched or shorting somewhere, I dunno. Or something shorting internally.

Did you try unplugging the alarm while testing for draw, to see if maybe that's your issue?

 

Thanks everyone for your help! The issue was the voltage regulator.

 

Good deal.. and thanks for coming back and letting people know what the cause was... I see SO MANY threads without any kind of results, good or bad... It's very irritating for somebody who is searching for answers to the same problem...