Car idle drains battery

First you wanna know where this problem is coming from. 1,check battery to make sure the cells are holding the change, if not then you need new battery
If battery is good then something from the car is draining battery.
Could be alternator, could be your stereo , ????

You probably need a reset......turn the key to the acc. position, do not start the car.....Allow it to sit in that position for approx. 5 minutes....Turn key to off position. Allow to sit for approx 5 minutes...Try starting the engine now, should have reset. If not successful try a couple of times....

Try this to see if you can find the drain: Wait until the car has been off for a half hour, so computer is in sleep mode. Open hood and remove underhood light bulb. Take off negative cable from battery and hook up a test light between cable end and battery post. If you have a drain, bulb should be brightly lit. Start removing fuses one by one until light goes off. When a fuse is pulled that turns light off, that is the problem circuit. Check everything on that circuit to find what is staying on.

sounds like the alt. is not the problem.does the battery drain while the truck is sitting or running?

Pull your fuses one by one until the power drain stops. Also relays contacts could be melted together

either have a battery drain or your battery or alternator is bad-you can check all these things out if you have a battery voltmeter. The battery should be at 12.5 volts after sitting overnight and it should be close to 15 volts when first started, gradually dropping down to about 14.2 volts at idle.

my first ting to check would be battery, as since it is occurring when it sits for a while, then this would be the most likely source as the alternator charges the battery amd since the battery is low on charge, then this also causes the low idle

You have a bad battery, replace it

It could be the alternator or possibly a short somewhere. Make sure that there arent any lites staying on under the good or somewhere that could be draining your battery. When ya sit and idle..turn the wheel sharply to the left then the right..if it dies then a cable may intruding on your wiring.

Well it could be possible that you have a cell that is going bad.. This would cause battery to fade with little draw from onboard accessories (ie: clock, etc...) Why not spend a couple dollars and install battery isolation switch you can flip when vehicle is expected to sit for a duration... I know this doesnt solve the drain problem you have but could be a solution for not having to jumpstart it when you need to ude it..Good Luck