DStupar
New Member
- Joined
- April 9, 2015
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Austin, Tx
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 94 Explorer,02 Saturn VUE
Background: I bought this vehicle which was a trade in at a dealership. It is a 1994 Explorer Limited 4x4, 4.0L with 100,000 Miles. The alternator looked brand new, the belts, were new, and the vehicle looked like it sat in a garage most of its life. No leaks, no warning lights, Interior looked perfect.
Looked like it had rolled off the factory line. Not bad for 20 years old.
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I do not have much technical information to give on the actual rate of power drain. My battery is on a trickle charger right now, inside my home.
I first realized there was an electrical issue, when I started up my Explorer. The ABS light was flashing on and off quickly multiple times a second. In tandem with the ABS light the voltometer on the dashboard was jumping from 8-14v in sync with the ABS light.
After a minute or two of driving the light went away, and the voltage normalized.
About a week later, I let the vehicle sit for 2 days, and when I went to start the truck... starter went click click click. Remote lock/unlock functions. Interior lights worked. All the sounds and lights pointed toward the battery being drained out.
Brought the battery inside to charge it up and it was at about 11.17v when I probed it with my trusty multimeter.
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I did a preliminary quick eyeball and did not see any obvious shorts in the engine compartment, or under the dash.
There was a currently unknown wiring connector that was not attached to the box it obviously fit into under the dash directly beneath the sterring column. Currently it is unknown if that is related. I plugged it back in anyway.
I do not have a repair manual currently, there is one coming in the mail. I do not have much experience with this vehicle, but I do have experience with electronics.
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From the symptoms that I gathered, it would appear there is a short in the wiring, a relay is malfunction, or there is some kind of parasitic draw in the ABS system.
Any ideas?
Looked like it had rolled off the factory line. Not bad for 20 years old.
-------------------------------------------
I do not have much technical information to give on the actual rate of power drain. My battery is on a trickle charger right now, inside my home.
I first realized there was an electrical issue, when I started up my Explorer. The ABS light was flashing on and off quickly multiple times a second. In tandem with the ABS light the voltometer on the dashboard was jumping from 8-14v in sync with the ABS light.
After a minute or two of driving the light went away, and the voltage normalized.
About a week later, I let the vehicle sit for 2 days, and when I went to start the truck... starter went click click click. Remote lock/unlock functions. Interior lights worked. All the sounds and lights pointed toward the battery being drained out.
Brought the battery inside to charge it up and it was at about 11.17v when I probed it with my trusty multimeter.
-------------
I did a preliminary quick eyeball and did not see any obvious shorts in the engine compartment, or under the dash.
There was a currently unknown wiring connector that was not attached to the box it obviously fit into under the dash directly beneath the sterring column. Currently it is unknown if that is related. I plugged it back in anyway.
I do not have a repair manual currently, there is one coming in the mail. I do not have much experience with this vehicle, but I do have experience with electronics.
-------------------------
From the symptoms that I gathered, it would appear there is a short in the wiring, a relay is malfunction, or there is some kind of parasitic draw in the ABS system.
Any ideas?
