My battery is draining.

[Bryan1090]

Hi everyone i need some help tracing a battery drain. it's a 1996 ford explorer xlt 4.0 with 67g miles.
I've had the battery and alternator tested at autozone and all check out ok.
I replaced the interior dome lights and they were not shutting off. i sprayed all
the latches with wd 40 and now when i shut the doors the interior lights shut off. the problem is still there though. I'll jump the truck and let it run to charge the battery but the next day it's dead. The glove box light shuts off correctly.
The hood light i do not know how to check if it is shutting off or i'll even be partial to totally disabling it but could not find and info on how to or check operation.

I've also read where relays could be problem.
what should my next step be?
thanks

 

[BrooklynBay]

I've moved your thread into the stock 95-01 section. Check your battery terminals for corrosion.

 

[Bryan1090]

I've moved your thread into the stock 95-01 section. Check your battery terminals for corrosion.

i apologize brooklyn.
i cleaned the terminals and traced cables to make sure ground wasn't broken.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Your system should register 14.7 volts with the engine running. Did you measure the amount of current that is being drained? Check the total amount of current that is being drained with the vehicle off. Connect an ammeter to the battery, and start to pull fuses until you find a circuit that is causing the drain.

 

[Bryan1090]

Your system should register 14.7 volts with the engine running. Did you measure the amount of current that is being drained? Check the total amount of current that is being drained with the vehicle off. Connect an ammeter to the battery, and start to pull fuses until you find a circuit that is causing the drain.

Thanks. I'm not the greatest with voltage testers. I have one of those multimeters with red and black probes. There are six settings that I can choose. Could someone explain to me how to do it?

 

[BrooklynBay]

The red probe goes onto the positive terminal, and the black probe goes onto the negative or ground terminal. Compare the reading with the engine off, then with it running. You have to disconnect the battery terminal, and connect the meter in series with the engine turned off in the ammeter setting. The range has to be set correctly in volts & current if it's a manual ranging meter. Autoranging does it automatically. A clamp on meter comes in handy when checking for current instead of disconnectinng the battery terminals.

 

[Mk3]

Had similar problem a couple years ago with mysterious battery draining. Mine is not a daily driver and sits for days (sometimes weeks) at a time. Finally found it one night when my wife noticed the rear LED brake like had a little light flickering from it while sitting in the driveway. Turns out I had a tail-light that was full of water and it was shorting the bulb/module. Not exactly sure how/why this caused my problem but after draining my tail-light fluid , cleaning the socket and replacing the crusty bulb I no longer had the flickering LED light or mysterious battery drain.

I also had found on my work truck that the positive cable connecting to the starter was super close to touching the engine and causing problems when driving in the rain. Simple move of the connector as all was well.

As others state, check your battery terminals.

Hope you find yours!

 

[fordnut71]

this problem isnt uncommon.
check the anti-thief box in the drivers side quarter panel.
put your meter on the battery.
use the meter to jump between the battery an the ground cable leaving the power side still hooked to the battery.this will read the voltage being drawn.
go to the drivers side panel an unplug the anti-thief if the meter suddely drops to almost 0 then good chance you have found the draw .
some power will always be used to keep back up memory alive
good luck