NEED HELP WITH ELECTRICAL POWER DRAW TROUBLESHOOTING

[1992 Eddie Bauer]

I have an electrical problem I need help troubleshooting. I have a 1994 Explorer Eddie Bauer 4x4. If I let the vehicle set for 3 or 4 days without driving it, the battery will be totally dead. I have an electrical / power draw somewhere. I did some research and troubleshooting and I found which circuit the power draw is coming from. What I did is disconnect the negative battery cable and connected a test light to the negative battery post. Then I touched the tester to the negative battery cable itself and it lit up. So to find the circuit that I have the electrical/power draw coming from, I pulled each fuse one by one and touched the tester to the negative cable. If it doesn’t light up, the circuit is ok. However, if it still lights up with the fuse removed, then I found the circuit the power draw is coming from.

I have pictures of the fuse I'm having problems with, but I can't figure out how to attach pictures to this post. In my situation, I’m getting the power draw from just one fuse, which is fuse position #1 in the diagram I have in my repair manual. All the other fuse circuits are ok. The fuse circuit I'm having a problem with contains a 15 amp fuse and it controls the “headlamp switch, courtesy lamp switches, radio memory, remote keyless entry module (my Explorer does not have remote keyless entry), instrument cluster, memory seat module (my Explorer doesn’t have this feature that I know of). This diagram is from a Haynes Repair Manual for a 1991 to 2001 Ford Explorer. However, I found other diagrams online that showed everything listed in fuse position #2 also included in fuse position #1 (interval wiper module, wiper motor, interval wiper/washer switch). And another diagram I found also included the master window switches on the driver’s door in fuse position #1.

So what I did today was remove and unplug the turn signal switch, which controls the turn signals, emergency flashers, wipers, and high/low for the headlights. I then tested the circuit and the tester still lit up. So I then removed and unplugged the headlight switch and tested the circuit again and it still lit up. So then I removed master window switch on the driver’s door and unplugged it. I then tested the circuit again and the test light still lit up. The only thing I didn’t unplug yet is the instrument cluster. So now I’m out of ideas.

Can someone advise me what to do from here or where the problem is? Have any of you had this same problem? Where was the problem located? I’m not that great with electrical troubleshooting, which is why I have to refer to my Haynes repair manual and you guys for help. But logically I would assume that if a switch or other electrical component was causing this power draw, the power draw would stop/cease if I unplugged the switch. Am I correct about this theory? I unplugged all these switches (except for the instrument cluster) and I still have a power draw. Any ideas or advice? I’d really appreciate your help. Thanks…

 

[1992 Eddie Bauer]

So I felt like my troubleshooting was incomplete since I didn't unplug the instrument cluster; therefore, I just went back out and disconnected the instrument cluster and tested the circuit again and the test light still lights up. So currently everything I tested is disconnected and I'm still getting a power draw. I'm lost and have no idea what to do from here or where to look. Any advice???

 

[1992 Eddie Bauer]

UPDATE....So I watched a video on how to find a parasitic battery drain with a multimeter (instead of just a test light) and went out to the Explorer and did what they showed me to do in the video. Long story short, I found where the drain is coming from; my CD player. The wiring has two plugs; one is a plug for the factory amplifier and the other plug is the normal wiring for the CD player. When I unplug the amplifier, I still have a drain. But when I unplug the other plug, the drain goes away. So how do I find what is causing the drain in this plug wiring? Is it in the CD player itself or a bad ground in the wiring somewhere? What am I looking for?

 

[iLoveMyExploder]

i doubt this will be useful to you, but i knew someone who had the same issue (in a completely different vehicle), the problem turned out to be the ignition switch. again, i doubt this info will be useful, but it might be worth looking into. good luck!

 

[iLoveMyExploder]

as another thought, maybe your new radio is not hooked up correctly? maybe disconnecting the memory power wire might solve the problem?

 

[1992 Eddie Bauer]

Any info you can provide is useful. I can check the ignition switch and make sure it’s not the problem. But the thing about the ignition switch is it’s not on that circuit that has the electrical draw. But I’ll check it anyway to rule it out. The radio not being hooked up correctly sounds more likely. Maybe a wire got spliced into the wrong wire when it was installed or something along those lines. I’ll take a look at the wiring and see if I can figure it out. Thanks for that tip, it helps give me something to check, which is exactly the type of info I’m needing.