battery draining

[oldbikedude]

Hello, I have a 2000 sport with 4.L OHV engine & auto trans. Last week my interior lights were turning on & off by them selves when parked & not running. I could hear a relay clicking on & off under the dash when this was happening. I quickly read the threads on here about the WD40 fix for the door switches. I sprayed the drivers door handle & it immediately stopped the lights from turning on & off.....or so it seemed. The next day they came on again while parked. I sprayed the handles again & removed the bulbs from the dome lites & mirror lites just in case it wasn't fixed. I was afraid it would leave me stranded with a dead battery. I have driven it to work & something is still draining the battery. When I get in it to go to work or come home it turns over slowly. Everything else is working fine. I have read many pages on here but nothing sounds like my problem....can some one shed some lite on this for me?

 

[koda2000]

when i first got my 2000 Mountaineer AWD, i was cleaning the interior and had the doors open for an extended period of time. i thought the "battery saver" was supposed to turn off the interior lights after about 20 mins, but they stayed on. at some point the interior lights started turning themselves off and on. this was accompanied by a relay clicking under the dash. it turned out the battery was weak. after replacing the battery everything was fine. i don't know if this has anything to do with your issue, but i'd start with getting your battery tested (free at most auto parts stores).

 

[jremington59]

Koda's correct. When the battery gets extremely low the lights inside will go on and off and the relay will click when they do it.

 

[oldbikedude]

Thanks for the replies. I have been driving this thing all week to & from work. I Think I'll try to start it immediately after the 30 mile drive for work to see if it charged any. If it's good it should of charged back up from the drive. Thanks for getting me thinking.

 

[oldbikedude]

I cranked it over after a 30 mile drive & it is still cranks slower than it should. I checked the volts & it was at 12.5 & was dropping as I watched. I disconnected the battery & the voltage jumped up. With the battery hooked back up opening the door made it drop even faster. I pulled the fuse one at a time & when I remove fuse #26 it stopped dropping. From what I've read on here that fuse is for the battery saver relay, interior lamp relay, ACC relay, & courtesy lamps. This sounds promising to me. Does anyone have any helpful tips for me. I am going to do more research on here in the meantime.

 

[koda2000]

I cranked it over after a 30 mile drive & it is still cranks slower than it should. I checked the volts & it was at 12.5 & was dropping as I watched. I disconnected the battery & the voltage jumped up. With the battery hooked back up opening the door made it drop even faster. I pulled the fuse one at a time & when I remove fuse #26 it stopped dropping. From what I've read on here that fuse is for the battery saver relay, interior lamp relay, ACC relay, & courtesy lamps. This sounds promising to me. Does anyone have any helpful tips for me. I am going to do more research on here in the meantime.

what was the alternator voltage with the battery disconnected? should be around 14+ volts. the fact that the engine continued to run with the battery disconnected indicates your alternator is putting out voltage. like i told you before, get your battery tested. i suspect it's shorted out internally.

 

[oldbikedude]

battery tested bad. I'll get a new one tomorrow.

 

[oldbikedude]

Sorry for the delay guys.....the new battery did the trick.....thanks to all who helped