This 1999 Lexus ES300 was sent to me because that battery would go dead after several days of sitting. I checked with the customer to make sure he had the radio code of needed. Thankfully in the end we did not have to have it. Next, I connected my multimeter to the engine and to the negative battery post. I already had the leads set up for reading dc amps and at the 10 amp location. The initial amp draw was 1.23 amps.
After a few minutes it went down to .53 amps as different modules went to sleep.
Finally after leaving the car alone for about half an hour it settled down to a .10 amp draw and stayed there.
I was very lucky on this one. The first fuse that I pulled dropped the drain down to .02-.03 amps.
I checked the fuse designation and went to my wiring diagrams to see what all was attached to that fuse.
The system drain with the fuse removed.
I found out that one of the things this fuse supplied was the memory power seat. I have seen a lot of power seat switches get stuck and cause drains and blow fuses. I went right to the driver’s power seat to inspect and this is what I found. A button stuck in.
A light touch with my screw driver and it popped right up. I worked it back and forth several times. It never stuck again.
The fuse back in the fuse box and the drain was still at .02 amps. I advised the customer of the situation and he stated that he would just keep and eye on it to see if it would stick again.
That was about four months ago and I have not heard back from them.
Wow.. On my 1997 es300 I was having battery problems for months and months, always having to jump start if I leave the car for more than a day or two without driving. Bought new multimeter (as the blown 10a fuse on my cheapo wasn’t replaceable). Bought a charger, then using it while stupidly forgetting to remove the negative terminal which seemed to kill my aftermarket radio (turns out I killed the amp which I was able to get a replacement for only $12 on ebay than goodness). Spent countless hours on the web searching for ways to track it down and then I find this post. MOTHER *##%# BUTTON!
No idea why I pressed it but it was probably one of the times where I feel like I need to remember how to work the seat position programmable buttons and I fiddle around with it for a min, remember I don’t really have any need to use them, don’t bother to read the manual again, and then repeat once a year.
So thank you for posting this and the site for still having it up as things like this help for as long as these cars on the road. Stupid freaking stuck seat button…
Happy to hear the information is still helping and thank you for being one of the few people that actually use the comment section for what it intended for.
Thanks! Very nice to find the problem so easily. Google led me right here.
Your welcome and thanks for the donation. Sparky
Awesome!! $1000 later and multiple visits to dealer/shops. Going to check to see if I’m in the same boat. Will post an update.
Wow, I woke up this morning after not using my 97 es 300 for three days to find the battery dead. I knew I didn’t leave any lights or anything on, so I jumped the battery and charged it up. I googled the battery drain for an es 300, and it turns out this was EXACTLY the problem I had in my car. The SET button was stuck in the depressed position, used a thin knife to jimmy it free and it popped out. You definitely just saved me a ton of headache and money versus taking this to the shop, since I’m certain it would have taken a lot of time to diagnose. Thank you for this useful blog post!
Hi Kris and Bob,
You are welcome and thank you for the donation.