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I have a 2006 Nissan Micra K12. The battery is being drained, which I tracked to the immobiliser fuse. Multimeter showed 0.08amps with fuse in and only 0.03amps with the fuse removed.

I don't want to spend money having it fixed as I plan on getting a new car soonish and I don't drive that often so its not getting regularly charged.

Can I just pull the fuse when its not in use and plug it back whenever I need it or is that a bad idea?

(Side Question: I have an insurance box installed that tracks driving, would that be installed on the same circuit and be the cause of the excess power drain?)

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  • 80mA doesn't sound to too excessive. Are you sure that your battery isn't just low on capacity and needs replacing? How long can you leave the vehicle before you have issues starting it?
    – HandyHowie
    Dec 8, 2022 at 15:18
  • tbh no idea. full story: 2 months ago woke up to find a dead battery, was less than a year old, tested at like 7v (maybe the battery just straight up failed) so i got a new battery. wanted to try figure out why and the 'internet' mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/3786/… said to check for parasitic draw and that anything over 30mA is suspect. 2 months ago the new battery was a 12.61v now its at 12.50v, napkin math says .1v in 2 months so 10 months but then again what i know about cars and batteries wouldn't fill a thimble.
    – triggs
    Dec 8, 2022 at 15:47
  • Presumably you have been using the vehicle in those 2 months. If so, the voltage will very depending on recent starts, driving time, etc. Those 2 voltages seem fine. How often does the vehicle get used? How long is the engine running between starts as an average?
    – HandyHowie
    Dec 8, 2022 at 16:46
  • Not much, maybe twice a week of 2km to the shop and back, with the occasional longer drive but still its rare to to be going over those 8km a week and even rarer to be going faster than 60kmph. which to my understanding isn't great for the battery. according to my insurance box i've only gone ~1500km in a year
    – triggs
    Dec 8, 2022 at 16:59
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    In which case, you're probably better off hooking up a trickle charger to keep the battery topped up when you're not using it - a 2km journey won't be enough to charge it (bad for the engine too, as it won't get hot)
    – Nick C ♦
    Dec 8, 2022 at 19:01

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