Help - Parasitic Draw - Instrument Cluster

[1990RangerinSK]

Well, i can still remember the first time i tried a cigerette...it was definitely a buzz. Its only after getting hooked that it doesnt give the same feelings. By the way, i quit smoking cigarettes about 13 years ago after smoking for about 35 years. Had to quit drinking in order to do it tho...

Congrats on 13 years of sobriety and 13 years of not polluting the air, sir. Well done.

No, I'm not being sarcastic, cheeky, or snarky. I really mean that. Congratulations.

 

[Fast Eddie]

I was able to make time to get back to this today. All the connections looked like this one - clean as a whistle. Any ideas on what should be looked at next? Does anyone know if there are relays involved and how I might find where they're located? Google search on '2004 Ford Ranger relay location' returns the fuse panel location(s).

 

[RonD]

Looks very good

Most, if not all, Cab Relays are part of the SJB circuit board, so not serviceable

 

[Fast Eddie]

Looks very good

Most, if not all, Cab Relays are part of the SJB circuit board, so not serviceable

Well, here's something interesting? I tried my tests again with one small twist. This time, I disconnected the neg battery cable from the post and used a jumper cable to connect the cable to the post while including the multimeter leads in the connection (see pics). I allowed the truck to go to sleep for one hour. I turned the multimeter on and disconnected one end of the jumper cable so all the current was going through the meter. I did this twice with equal result (following).

On the 10A setting, the meter would register between 0.00 and 0.01. The 0.01 would occur when the PATS light flashed (coincidence?). I reconnected the jumper cable and moved everything to the 20mA setting and removed the jumper cable. The meter oscillated between 6.XXmA and 12.XXmA however, this time the 12mA+ didn't seem to keep time with the PATS light. It would and then seemed not. It was also inconsistent. Sometimes reading 12.XXmA and then 13.XXmA, then only 10.XXmA but always returned to just over 6.xxmA.

All indications are that these readings are within spec and I'm left to conclude 1) I didn't conduct the test properly the first time or 2) monkeying with the fuse panel connections did something to help. I 'suspect' #1. Thinking about it, if I connected the multimeter between the battery cable and the post, I lit up a first time connection and probably woke things up. The jumper cable kept the connection alive and things could properly fall asleep.

I hooked the neg battery cable back up to the post and closed the hood. Time will tell. Many thanks to @RonD for his expertise and guidance.

 

[RonD]

Well we all learned stuff, so Good Work

 

[Fast Eddie]

It still leaves the question: 'What did it. What killed the battery twice in a row?'