1997 UK explorer power drain problem?

[Tazkb]

1997 UK explorer power drain problem
iv'e just fitted a new battery and i started her up, put the meter on the battery connector wires and got 14.12 volts which would indicate power is going from the altenator to the battery but leave it overnight and it won't start in the morning ? havn't had chance to check all the fuses yet but I guess i will have to, I did clean some earths up but don't know what they where for, I just cleaned them any way, once it's running it's ok but runs rough as, i don't have the money to take it to a garage as im disabled but need it to work as it will be our only car after next week i'm on the verge of sending it off a big cliff wife bought it and it's got a good few problems, blend door stuffed, front left tyre wear on outer edge, outside air flap not opening, the tyre looks like tracking but still need 2 new tyres, but this battery problem is driving me nuts, fitted a new battery, no joy. now last week my wife drove it home at night from 200 miles away, so i'm guessing the altenator is OK, all i have done is pulled all the fuses to check them and see if any where blown, both under the hood and the side of the dash, i put them all back in the right places, is there any other fuses i need to check anywhere ???? any help would be appreciated
thanks
Keith
p.s I have just bought a fault code reader, will that help me track down the problem ? and where do I find what the fault code numbers mean, they don't seem to be in the manual I bought ?
thanks

 

[Robert Nick]

Reply

It sounds like you have Excessive Current Draw on the Battery when the Vehicle is turned off. To confirm this, take off the Negative Battery Cable when you turn off the vehicle overnight. Reattach the Cable in the morning and see if the vehicle will start. If the Battery Drain is confirmed, you need to measure the amount of the Current Draw with an Ammeter. Place the Ammeter in Series with the Negative Cable and Negative Battery Post. Normal Battery Current Drain is about 30 milli-amps or so. I suspect you have a 3-Amp Drain or Higher on your vehicle. Remove Individual Fuses one at a time while someone watches the Ammeter and look for a Drop in Current Draw. You can isolate the suspect Circuit with that method.

 

[carboy400]

second the battery draw but a little easier tool to use would be a test light. if you don't have one, take a bulb and socket from any car with a positive lead and negative and place it in series like Robert said. just in case "in series" means, disconnect the negative batt lead and attach any lead from the bulb assembly to it. then attach the other bulb lead to the battery. If you do have a draw the light will be on with the key off. Now pull fuses till the light goes out. Leave them out till your done but record where they go. You can have two circuits shorted to ground its worst case but has happened to me and left me searching for a while.

 

[Tazkb]

thanks guys

 

[jremington59]

I've seen this twice, once including myself, and both times it was a short in the voltage regulator. The alt was putting out over 14 volts but the short drained the battery in a short time.

The easiest way to check this is to pull the fuse for the alternator when your done with the vehicle for the day. Mine was so bad you could put a meter on the battery every hour and see it dropping..

 

[Tazkb]

well it fired up ok today so maybe the battery was at fault, only time will tell, can't find anything draining the battery so far?
so i switched to the aircon , the vacuum actuator isn't opening the fresh air door, tried a new switch, no help anyway under the hood i found these bits all vacuum things, pictures are here
https://picasaweb.google.com/tazkeith/1997Explorer?authkey=Gv1sRgCO_j4Mrp2oWfGg
the first picture does nothing when you pull the pipe of and no vacuum there ?

I'm not having much fun so far with the ex
fresh air door not opening
tracking problem
battery/starting problem ??? poss fixed
engine running rough/low on power
aircon needs a re-charge
blend door not working
I am pretty fed up right now