Something draining the battery

[robertoa1a]

Perhaps there are a few bulbs burned out. Or a former owner may have done some bad electrical. Look for unusual coupelings or tape on the wires under the dash. Also look at things on the same fuse as what the dimmer controls.

What is the dimmer controldoing wrong? Interior lights. Is that partialy operable with the key off. hmmm?

Is there any strange wiring in the vehicle anywhere?

 

[robertoa1a]

I have been known to call people out on stupid s--t. So here goes on this one.

When your original battery was dead, did you allow an idiot to jump start yours, connecting the cables in reverse thus blowing up all of the diodes in your alternator.

If so then its not that hard of a fix. You just need an alt rebuild kit in the low $40's. It hapens!

 

[jremington59]

I didn't get jumped, I went and bought a new battery, trickle charged it overnight and then put it in the vehicle.

I went and bought a cheap meter and took some readings tonight. With all of the fuses in, and with the inside bulbs removed, I got a reading of 2.47 ma on the 20 ma setting. I went through all of the fuses and I found a big drop after removing fuse 27. With that fuse removed the reading went down to 1.45 ma. Fuse 27 covers the underhood lamp, map lamp, glove box and dome lamps, visor lamps, acc delay, dimmer switch illumination and the 4 by 4 system.

Can anyone explain those readings to me? I bought a Haynes wiring manual and I'm so burned out with this right now, lol.

 

[robertoa1a]

A cheap meter usually can't measure whole amps without burning its internal fuse.

 

[budwich]

any meter is better than no meter assuming that you can verify that it works. Simple tests are take a small battery (AA, AAA, D, etc) and measure a few of them to see if the reading is "appropriate"... you aren't looking for "10 digit accuracy" here. You can do similar tests to check the other operations.

Having said that, your "testing" seems somewhat "confusing" at least to me. Disconnecting your negative battery cable and then measuring voltage from the post to the cable doesn't really tell you anything and I am not sure what that was suppose to do for you. BUT... your "subsequent" test of current (ie. amperage), IF taken correctly, appears to be good and from that "appears" to be "satisfactory" as a ~2 ma drain ain't going to do you or your truck any harm in a couple of months! IF that test is true, it would appear that you are looking in the wrong place for your problem.

 

[jremington59]

Thanks bud.

I left the fuse out last night and the truck started right up this morning. I just don't know how to read those measurements.

Maybe I am reading the damn thing wrong. I'm going to go out and do it again. Maybe this will tell you something. When I left the door open and the interior lights on I got a reading of 5.6 on the meter.

 

[jremington59]

The meter I got was a Electro-Tek. In the MA section there are scales of 200MA, 20MA and 2 MA. I took the readings on the 20 MA scale.

 

[budwich]

all the scales do (on a digital meter or on any meter for that matter) is get the display in the "range" to display.... since you are looking at small drains, the small scales are appropriate BUT you should ALWAYS start at the largest and move down ESPECIALLY when measuring current as doing it "wrong" with a large current will cause your meter "grief". Anyways, IF the reading was ~2ma, it is unlikely that you have a drain problem but more likely a bad battery or a bad charging system... hence my previously statement of "your looking in the wrong place".

Further, my statement about the negative battery post to removed cable "voltage measurement" being of "no value" was a bit "harsh".... it tells me that your battery was low at 9v.... BUT you could have done the same measurement with the cables connected and just measured voltage from the positive to the negative poles of the battery... which you should do / done.... that would have told you that your battery was weak (ie. not charged). IF that was the condition at the time of what you "thought" was a good "charge cycle" then you have either a bad charger (either home charger if charged thru the wall, or bad alternator charged thru a "long run" on the road) or a bad battery... check the cells for water levels.

 

[jremington59]

I did take the battery out of the other explorer yesterday and put it in this one.

I guess I should take the new battery and get it tested and see what the problem is. I read in one of the threads here that any draw over 1ma was to much.

 

[budwich]

well but now I am somewhat "dismayed".... you have another "working explorer".... "normal testing" procedures when you don't know what you are looking for / at is "check conditions on working unit, check conditions on non-working unit, compare and explain / investigate".... so if I were you, I would go and measure the current draw on your "good" explorer" and compare it to that your "broken explorer"... IF there is an order of magnitude difference (ie. significant) then you can proceed in the "draw direction".

As for your "1ma statement" and I haven't gone and measurement mine, I would say that isn't correct.... probably closer to 5-10 ma (even more) draw is normal which would leave you with a "few months" of "sit time".

 

[jremington59]

The other explorer is 4.0 and this one is a 5.0. The readings would still be near each other I assume.

I bought a haynes manual and it says readings should not exceed 0.5 amps. So you're correct as 0.5 amps is 500 milliamps.

 

[jremington59]

I went and borrowed a meter from a friend that's a much better meter.

I ran a test on the other explorer and all I got for a draw was .21Amps which is well within the specs. I ran the same test on the one with the drain and I got a reading of 1.3 Amps, which is way to much. After removing fuse 27 the draw dropped to .37 Amps, which is still under acceptable limits.

The moral of the story is don't bother fooling around with a 15 dollar meter.

Would anyone have a wiring diagram that would show where the ground is for the dash light and accessories?

 

[budwich]

OK... sounds like you are making a "little headway". Next up is you have to understand what you are reading and why. OF COURSE, you know there are "timed" circuits in Fords (and other makes). Those circuits are operated as a result of "key on / key off" transistions PLUS things like door openings, etc. Sometimes, you have to wait a bit for things to "settle down" to reach "steady state circuit draws"... but ultimately both trucks should be in the "same range" after 15-20 minutes "nominally".

Finally, your .21 amps sounds high also but maybe that truck wasn't at "steady state" yet.

 

[robertoa1a]

A whole scool on electricity and electronics. Necisity is the mother of all invention.