Parasitic Draw - Fuse 25 - Another relay box?

[Turdle]

I asked, because I believe all explorers have an anti theft system which sends a trickle amount of current through the electrical system. I believe it's located behind the seats on driver side. See where we're going?

 

[Godzilla2y]

I asked, because I believe all explorers have an anti theft system which sends a trickle amount of current through the electrical system. I believe it's located behind the seats on driver side. See where we're going?

I do see, yes. Is that connected to the GEM?

Pulling Fuse Y drops the parasitic drain (other thread):

Pulling Fuse 25 drops the parasitic drain the rest of the way:

With those two fuses unplugged, the parasitic drain is basically 0.

Wouldn't pulling any of the other fuses, like Fuse M or Fuse 20 or Fuse 24, indicate an issue with the anti-theft system?

 

[Godzilla2y]

Now that I can't find anything wrong with my audio issues beyond the amp, I'm turning back to this one.

After the amp experience, I learned my lesson about trying to diagnose too much too quickly.

I'm going to plug everything back in, start the truck, and try all the buttons and switches to see which ones work and which don't.

That should help me narrow down my issues.

 

[J_C]

I have plugged the interior lights relay (rectangular one) back in and now have a current draw of about 200mA. I came inside to post this and give the vehicle that time for everything to sort itself out (in case there's something that stops after 20 minutes or more).

I may be backtracking too much, but just to make sure this isn't interfering with valid readings...

1) Wait at least 45 minutes to be sure the vehicle enters its lowest power state.

2) That 45 minutes includes, NOT opening the doors or hood if it has a hood switch, and not disconnecting the battery. It might also include not plugging the battery saver relay back in (I don't know). If you do any of that, you may wake the vehicle up and then it's another ~45 minute wait. If you wait 45 minutes, then disconnect the battery to put a multimeter in series on the battery cable, you have woken up the vehicle when power is reconnected through the multimeter.

Generally, I'd open the driver's door, then manually flip down the latch in the door, to toggle the switch on that latch, so you can get inside 45 mins later without waking the vehicle up. You then must remember not to try to close the door with the latch manually engaged. I don't recall whether the hood switch is normally open or closed with hood shut but that is another thing to check, that it is kept in the electrical state it would be in with the hood closed whether that means disconnecting it, or jumpering across it to keep the circuit closed.

I can't tell you for certain what the normal parasitic draw is supposed to be for a '96, but on my '98, it is roughly 25mA in deepest sleep and closer to 250mA in its everything-off, normal parked state, but not deepest sleep yet.

 

[Godzilla2y]

Starting to suspect I have a grounding issue.

I took The Archbishop on two separate test drives recently--one for ~4 miles to make sure the new thermostat, belt, tensioner pulley, and radiator fan were all working as they should, and one quick one down the street to pick up something from a friend's house.

During the first test drive, I stepped on the noise pedal a little more towards the end to see if anything happened at higher throttle levels. Well, the compass and thermometer up by the moonroof flickered on and off. So did my gauges and gauge lights. Everything else worked, though.

Got it home and realized I didn't tighten the battery cable after plopping it on the post--it was an impromptu drive to get some joy out of the machine that has made me scream too much over the past few weeks.

For the second test drive, after changing a power steering line, I went on a MUCH shorter trip. Made sure to tighten the battery cable before leaving. Left it idling in the friend's driveway for a few minutes so I could watch it for any more funkiness. Didn't see anything. On the drive home (less than 1/4 of a mile), my radio shut off and the interior and headlights started flickering. This lasted maybe 10 seconds, then all went back to normal before I pulled in the driveway.

Did a voltage test with the truck running earlier today (with the radio on, lights on, front and back fans on, etc, to stress the alternator) and got 14.4V, which should be more than enough.

 

[fosterzcj]

Time to grab a wire brush and some baking soda water mix and start cleaning grounds. Shouldn't cause a paracidic draw but that is now less important than the grounding. I really suspect a damaged harness somewhere.

 

[Godzilla2y]

I'm

Time to grab a wire brush and some baking soda water mix and start cleaning grounds. Shouldn't cause a paracidic draw but that is now less important than the grounding. I really suspect a damaged harness somewhere.

I'm not sure where it could be damaged. I've taken almost the whole interior apart:

Checked all inside the liftgate when I replaced the handle. Inside the boots in the two front doors. Under the scuff plates for the front and rear seats. Behind the trim between the C and D pillars on both sides. In the rear hvac/radio control panel. Radio. Instrument cluster. Driver and passenger trim pieces at the A pillars.

 

[fosterzcj]

Wow you really did take it all apart. Does that model have a battery saver at all?

 

[Godzilla2y]

Wow you really did take it all apart. Does that model have a battery saver at all?

Yes.

I pulled the radio out today and checked all the plugs back there again, to be safe. When putting the radio back into place, it felt like it was snagged on something, so I moved it up ever so slightly, and it popped right into place. I wonder if a wire was being strained. I've taken this radio out so many times over tye past week.

Took it for a longer test drive today (8 miles). Tried hard acceleration, hard braking, driving like a grandma, idling for a few minutes, everything. Couldn't seem to replicate the issue. Thought I saw the gauge shut off for a milisecond when I hit a surprise hard bump, but I was looking at the road when that happened. Couldn't replicate it again.

I'll keep an eye on the battery for now, but I think most of my issues were that blown amp. Other draining I noticed can probably be attributed to the battery saver relay and poor connentions on my DMM probe resetting the saver relay.

 

[fosterzcj]

Or what really sucks is a bad wire inside the insulation that look good on the outside but damaged or corroded on the inside.

 

[Godzilla2y]

Or what really sucks is a bad wire inside the insulation that look good on the outside but damaged or corroded on the inside.

Don't put that evil on me, Ricky Bobby.

 

[fosterzcj]

I've expirenced that evil before that's why I mentioned it.lol on a new vehicle even. But I do hope you got it figured out and that it was the amp.

 

[eddiehudson]

Hey Zilla,

I've been trying to follow this thread for a while (It gets a little confusing with you jumping back and forth with the radio thread)

Why don't you plug everything back except the bad radio and the rear wiper switch? Then hook up your ammeter, get a reading, and then let everything go to sleep with the meter connected.

I have a 2010 Edge and it doesn't go to sleep for 45 minutes. You should leave everything connected for at least that long and take a reading and start from there. The readings you're getting after finding something could just be from other systems being awake.

Didn't some Explorers have a bad rear wiper motor that kept trying to find park after the car was shut off draining the battery/

 

[Flye]

Is there an epilog on this one? What was the final issue? Is the drain in acceptable range at this point? Just checking to see if there was a final report? Thanks,

 

[Godzilla2y]

Yes! Sorry, I've been busy buttoning up a bunch of other stuff with the truck so I could take my family on a trip with it this weekend.

Taking care of the subwoofer amp (for now, just removing it) took care of a lot of the issues.

The real fun, that I forgot to post, was a discovery I made while changing the upper control arms:

12years ago, I replaced the starter and starter wires. I didn't route those wires properly. This one runs from the battery to the starter, and had melted on the exhaust header (where it bolts to the exhaust pipe, the widest exhaust spot in the engine bay) and must have caused a short.

I repaired the melty spot then properly tied up any close cables away from those headers. No more flickering lights!

 

[fosterzcj]

Yeah that could be a serious power draw having a starter wire melt. As for the subwoofer amp I'd replace it instead of repairing it