Help, battery keeps dying....

[FordExplorer18]

Buddy has a 92 Explorer with about 105k on it. The battery keeps dying even though it is brand new. If it only sits for an hour or so it will start fine. If it sits for around 5 hours or more it dies. This battery is new so it isnt the battery.

Is there a common problem with this year having something drain the battery? Any ideas?

Also when the car was first purchased we unscrewed the little sensor in the door jam that tells the computer if the door is open or not because the ding would go if you had the key in whether the door was open or not. Could unscrewing that have anything to do with it?

Thanks for any help..

 

[Blee1099]

How is the alternator? Definatley recommend getting it tested and if its good, you may want to consider replacing the battery cables. The 91-94 battery cables are known for failing.

 

[prozachappy]

Is the battery actually being drained ? I'd first make sure you have a good solid connection. Alot of times when people buy a new battery, they forget you need to prime the terminals really well, and use some battery terminal grease to establish a good connection. I'd pay paticular attention to the neg post...take a pocket knife or sos pad and prep the post real well, then grease it good and see what that does.
If your actually draining the battery....you need to look for open pos feed that could be draining it. Also like above...alternator comes to mind.
Was the problem there before replacing the battery ? If not, i'll bet it's a bad connection.
Could be your cables...1st gens are known for bad cables, but typical symptoms for this would more likley be...stumbling, hesitation, poor performance, dim lights, and you'd be getting an 142 code for open circuit/ or bad ground.

 

[Texplorer]

Take the truck to auto-zone and have them test the battery and the alternator. But like said before, make sure you clean the terminals and have a good connection.

 

[FordExplorer18]

How can you find an open feed that is draining the battery? Iam sure something is draining it.

 

[prozachappy]

I would first make sure that it is actually draining the battery of power and not just bad connection. When it goes dead, take the battery and hook it up to another car and try to start it. Like earlier...was it doing this before you put a new battery in??? If so then yes you could have something draining the power. in my 94 that sensor in the door jam also tells the interior lights to come on. do the interior lights work ? Or since removed do they stay off too? Guess it could be something there...has you been having this problem since then or what ? You could try reconnecting it and see if that solves it. Besides...under the middle of the dash just below the radio harness, and above/in front of the heater floor vents you can follow a wire to a large gray connector...that is your door bell, disconnect that to eliminate the ding.

 

[TSTONE]

Try removing the fuel pump relay and see if the battery holds - if it doesn't then replace it, it's a common problem on 1st gens.

 

[FordExplorer18]

I am pretty sure the battery is being drained. Autozone said it was dead and gave him a new one. They just tested it today. I think Ill have him check the cables with a meter tonight to see if it is pulling power from somewhere.

 

[cutter]

Hi first disconect positive cable take a test light and hook it to cable and other end to battery.It maybe be dim because of radio try to save memory but if light is bright you have a big draw. unplug alternator if it goes out you found bad piece if not take one fuse out of panel at a time until light goes or dim then find
whats on that circuit and unplug every piece until you find draw known problems are under hood light relays and alternators

 

[rd_turbo]

A quick way to check for a drain is to make sure all the doors are closed and make sure there are no lights or anything drawing power. Disconnect the negative terminal and lightly touch the battery negative. Do that a few times and check for a small spark. If you see a small spark every time you touch the terminal to the battery negative, then there's a small drain. This works every time, but make sure there is nothing on...disconnect the under-hood light if there is one.