1999 mountaineer battery saver electrical problem

[suv1]

HI I'm having an issue where the power windows, interior lights, exterior mirror lights, wipers, door chime, defroster, map lights ,glove box ,vanity mirror lights all are not working this wa happening intermintently. Car drives normally just no wipers interior lights etc. Ive noticed this happens when its cold outside. I have to run the car heat for 30 min and then everything mentioned above starts working after I hear a click, now its not working even after waiting 30 minutes with heater on. Im thinking its the gem. I did swap the relays around in the black box under steering colum there are 6 small relays and 1 big square relay it tested good I checked fuses behind the door all are good is there a fuse under the hood cause I did not test those fuses my module ends in BA will the BB also work its just the last 2 lettters that are diffrent its a 1999 awd v8 5.0 module is YL2T can I use a 2L2T, XL2T the rest of the module number letters are the same. Please let me know as soon as you can as this just started last week to not work at all but has been a problem for a long time.

 

[J_C]

Take a multimeter and trace it. If temp related then I suspect a relay. There are wiring diagrams in my sig.

 

[suv1]

Take a multimeter and trace it. If temp related then I suspect a relay. There are wiring diagrams in my sig.

I have an update I unhooked battery's neg cable for 10 sec reconnected neg cable and everything works for a day. I noticed the rear most relay left side is warm its located in the black box under steering colum should this relay be warm to the touch ?

 

[J_C]

It is not unusual for a relay to be warm when energized longer than momentarily, though I suppose it is possible it has a shorted out coil and is drawing excessive current, but that would typically cause the relay to stop functioning... depending on where the short is in the windings.

You could swap that relay to another location and see of the "new" relay in that location also gets warm after same amount of time to warm up. If it does then it is probably fine. If you identify which circuit it controls, you can see if the previously inoperable functions were on that circuit, or swap relays around again (if problem reoccurs) to see if the problem follows the relay.

Having the functions come back due to disconnecting the battery for 10 sec is unusual. I suppose that might be something that would align with having capacitors going bad in the GEM and when cold, capacitors don't perform as well and it locked up the logic circuit in the gem until power was cycled, but it seems like a stretch to assume this yet and I don't want to mislead you into buying a new GEM in case it is something much less expensive.

Then again, GEMs are cheap at the local junkyard if you can find one compatible, but then the capacitors are just as old... if it came down to it, and it's determined to be the GEM, then I'd sooner solder in new capacitors in the one I had, but this is even more of a stretch to speculate about, could be wiring or even dirty connector or relay box sockets at this age. This is why it is useful to use a multimeter and follow the wiring diagram to trace the circuit and see where power stops.

 

[suv1]

It is not unusual for a relay to be warm when energized longer than momentarily, though I suppose it is possible it has a shorted out coil and is drawing excessive current, but that would typically cause the relay to stop functioning... depending on where the short is in the windings.

You could swap that relay to another location and see of the "new" relay in that location also gets warm after same amount of time to warm up. If it does then it is probably fine. If you identify which circuit it controls, you can see if the previously inoperable functions were on that circuit, or swap relays around again (if problem reoccurs) to see if the problem follows the relay.

Having the functions come back due to disconnecting the battery for 10 sec is unusual. I suppose that might be something that would align with having capacitors going bad in the GEM and when cold, capacitors don't perform as well and it locked up the logic circuit in the gem until power was cycled, but it seems like a stretch to assume this yet and I don't want to mislead you into buying a new GEM in case it is something much less expensive.

Then again, GEMs are cheap at the local junkyard if you can find one compatible, but then the capacitors are just as old... if it came down to it, and it's determined to be the GEM, then I'd sooner solder in new capacitors in the one I had, but this is even more of a stretch to speculate about, could be wiring or even dirty connector or relay box sockets at this age. This is why it is useful to use a multimeter and follow the wiring diagram to trace the circuit and see where power stops.

group 65 battery 850cca in v8 currently shows that 702cca available on tester, I want to replace with a group 59 590cca 0 deg 725 ca 32 deg will it be enough in winter time to start the engine I was not allowed to post this question any where just here. Battery is from 2011 or 2010. The group 59 battery is made 2022 cca determined with a ctech digital load tester I input 850 cca it says 702 cca available 64 deg outside 3.76 megaohms temps are maybe -10 at the lowest in winter average 32 deg when snowing in ny the battery is less then 70.00

 

[J_C]

^ The short answer is yes, a 590CCA 0 degree rated battery will be enough in winter for a fair amount of time, BUT that is an odd degree point to rate a battery, and the battery won't last as many years before it falls below the minimum actual CCA needed, so if paying for it new, it is a bit of a false economy as the group 65 is one of the highest capacity per dollar you can get, are about $100 at Walmart or Costco.

How old is the battery? With it still having 702CCA, it might last another couple years... depending on where you live, how cold it gets in winter. So, I can't predict what is the minimum CCA you need, but it is less than 702CCA.

How did you determine that CCA value? It has to be done when the battery is cold, otherwise it's just CA, cranking amps which is always higher, when the battery isn't cold.

CCA (Cold Cranking Amperes) is an industry rating measured on a fully charged battery, what it can deliver for 30 seconds and maintain a voltage of 7.2 volts (12 volt battery) at a temperature of -18°C unless stated otherwise.

So yes, if the group 59 battery is in good health, you can use it for a while but I wouldn't buy one new instead of group 65. In fact I went the opposite direction with my '14 Explorer. It came from the factory with a group 59, while I knew the Sport trim levels came with group 65, and it made no sense to pay more for the group 59 (Walmart pricing) than the group 65 costs when the group 65 is a larger, higher capacity battery, all else equal.

 

[suv1]

^ The short answer is yes, a 590CCA 0 degree rated battery will be enough in winter for a fair amount of time, BUT that is an odd degree point to rate a battery, and the battery won't last as many years before it falls below the minimum actual CCA needed, so if paying for it new, it is a bit of a false economy as the group 65 is one of the highest capacity per dollar you can get, are about $100 at Walmart or Costco.

How old is the battery? With it still having 702CCA, it might last another couple years... depending on where you live, how cold it gets in winter. So, I can't predict what is the minimum CCA you need, but it is less than 702CCA.

How did you determine that CCA value? It has to be done when the battery is cold, otherwise it's just CA, cranking amps which is always higher, when the battery isn't cold.

CCA (Cold Cranking Amperes) is an industry rating measured on a fully charged battery, what it can deliver for 30 seconds and maintain a voltage of 7.2 volts (12 volt battery) at a temperature of -18°C unless stated otherwise.

So yes, if the group 59 battery is in good health, you can use it for a while but I wouldn't buy one new instead of group 65. In fact I went the opposite direction with my '14 Explorer. It came from the factory with a group 59, while I knew the Sport trim levels came with group 65, and it made no sense to pay more for the group 59 (Walmart pricing) than the group 65 costs when the group 65 is a larger, higher capacity battery, all else equal.

Hi I updated the 955pm post above with answers.

 

[J_C]

I'd replace a battery that old (2011), otherwise the rest I posted still stands, group 59 is enough but all else equal, will have a shorter useful lifespan than a group 65. At $70 the group 59 is a good price, but I would not get it if it is old stock that sat at a depressed voltage (below ~12.3V) for long as this will reduce lifespan.