dead battery all the time... | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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dead battery all the time...

Joined
August 9, 2012
Messages
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City, State
osage beach mo.
Year, Model & Trim Level
91 ford explorer
okay so i charged my battery yesterday fully and now today went to start it and battery is completly dead how can i find out whats pulling juice to fix it?
 



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How old is your battery? I think step one would be to have your battery load tested to see if it's any good.
 






its fairly new and really hasnt even been used much due to title issue but i will check into that.. i was told from friend there could be short causeing something to draw power all the time, and to hook test light up to battery and pull each fuse one at time until light goes off. Pull alternator wires off just incase it maybe bad but i need fuse panel layout because i have no owners manual.
 






Fuel pump relay or bad ecu can cause a battery drain. Does the fuel pump stay on when the engine is off?
 






You should check the battery first. Just take it to your local parts store. If it's good, then hooking up an ammeter and pulling fuses is the next step. Do you have an aftermarket alarm? They often cause drain, you could try disconnecting it and see if that solves the problem.
 






The battery is the most likely problem. Charge it, disconnect it overnight, see what happens.
The ammeter test is a good diagnostic tool, assuming you have an ammeter and understand how to use it. You disconnect a battery lead and connect one lead of the ammeter to the battery, the other lead to the battery clamp. With the ignition off and the doors closed, you will probably get a reading of a few milliamps. That's just the keepalive power for the computers and radio, plus any alarms, remote start devices, etc... A good battery will not run down from a few milliamps for months. If it is more, like several ampere's, then you need to look at a wiring diagram for your year and start pulling fuses to eliminate possible sources.

Now, you can do the same thing with a test light. Hook it up the same way and see what fuses make it turn on and off. The problem is that the keepalive power I mentioned could be enough to make a small test light turn on, and mislead you.

I heard of an old school solution to the test light problem. Find an old headlight bulb, like a big old 70's glass one. They are dirt cheap at the stores, probably free at a junkyard. Get some wire and use that instead of the test light. The keepalive voltage will make it glow dimly, if at all. A real power drain will make it shine more brightly. Then, pull fuses, etc...

You might charge the battery and go around and check your lights. Maybe your brakelight switch is stuck.
 






Take a volt reading across the battery its self if its say 10.5 volt or less most likely a dead cell. Also take the caps off if it’s a wet cell and look to see that the water in each cell is to the top and covering the plates. I have found when the water is low it will destroy that cell over times causing a internal short the 10.5 volts is a clue to that as each cell adds about 2 volts to the total of the battery. If its low on water only add distilled water do not add tap water at all or ever!!!!!

I would do this first then if all is good take it in have it load tested then look for a short in the system as you stated. kind of doing a trouble shooting in a logical way starting with easy first and no cost at home on down.
 






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