Help - Parasitic Draw - Instrument Cluster

[Fast Eddie]

- 2004 Ranger, M5OD
- Stripped except for A/C

New battery 08/2020. Battery too weak to spin it over. Jump it - ok for a day. Too weak after 2 days.

Replaced battery and measure a 0.02mA draw on the 20mA setting.

Does anyone know the spec or where I can locate it? I'm going battery until/unless it kills this battery too. Thanks in advance.

UPDATE: Bonus points: my tester has a load test option. Manual has nothing about it. Does anyone know why and how to use it?

 

[Curious Hound]

Well, 0.02amps = 20ma or milliamps. That is acceptable. Anything under 30-70ma should be fine.

Not sure about your load tester setting. It's probably just for small household batteries like AA, C, D, 9v, etc. Batteries will often show a lower voltage when a load is applied. That is expected. It's the way batteries work. The bigger the applied load, the lower the voltage will go. The battery is designed to operate in a certain load range. When it gets old, it won't maintain it's nominal voltage in the designed load range and then it's time for replacement.

So, what is your battery voltage? (Measured maybe an hour after shutting the engine off or removing battery charger?)

 

[RonD]

0.02mA would drain a good battery in about 10 months..........maybe, most likely it would take longer at least for a no crank

Yes, test battery voltage and then test battery voltage with engine running
12.3v to 12.8 volt key OFF

13.5v to 14.5volt engine running

 

[Fast Eddie]

Well, 0.02amps = 20ma or milliamps. That is acceptable. Anything under 30-70ma should be fine.

Not sure about your load tester setting. It's probably just for small household batteries like AA, C, D, 9v, etc. Batteries will often show a lower voltage when a load is applied. That is expected. It's the way batteries work. The bigger the applied load, the lower the voltage will go. The battery is designed to operate in a certain load range. When it gets old, it won't maintain it's nominal voltage in the designed load range and then it's time for replacement.

So, what is your battery voltage? (Measured maybe an hour after shutting the engine off or removing battery charger?)

Thanks Eric and @RonD . New battery testing @ 12.9V. I found my tester connection fried on the 10A side and fixed that. Now shows a draw of .3A on the 10A setting. 300mA is one hell of a draw. I think that changes the game a little? Back to the books.

 

[RonD]

Yes, that is a high AMP draw, as said 0.03 to 0.07 is expected

2004 Ranger power distribution below

Start by pulling fuses in the engine fuse box to find out what circuit has the big draw, you want a drop to under 0.08, not 0 usually

2004 doesn't have a GEM(body computer), but does have the SJB(smart junction box) another type of body computer

The SJBs were known to get corrosion inside the large connectors which would cause odd issue and possibly a drain

Look here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/short_burst_horn_mod.shtml
This article is just to see what the SJB is and whats inside it not for the horn change, lol

 

[Fast Eddie]

Yes, that is a high AMP draw, as said 0.03 to 0.07 is expected

2004 Ranger power distribution below

Start by pulling fuses in the engine fuse box to find out what circuit has the big draw, you want a drop to under 0.08, not 0 usually

2004 doesn't have a GEM(body computer), but does have the SJB(smart junction box) another type of body computer

The SJBs were known to get corrosion inside the large connectors which would cause odd issue and possibly a drain

Look here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/short_burst_horn_mod.shtml
This article is just to see what the SJB is and whats inside it not for the horn change, lol

Thanks for this. On my way...

 

[Curious Hound]

@RonD ,

Does he need to be concerned about waiting for battery saver relay to time out before taking the draw measurements? I don't recall what year they started using the battery saver.

 

[RonD]

In 2004 and up the Battery Saver Relay is integrated inside the SJB so he will get to that when pulling fuses in the engine bay

In the drawings it looks like engine bay Fuse #5 would cut power to 5 fuses in cab fuse box(SJB), then if fuse #5 did drop the amp draw he could then move inside and start pulling those fuses
Cab fuse #13 is the battery saver relay

He could pull cab fuse #13 right off the bat to take that off the table


Battery saver relay is suppose to cut power to all internal lights after 20-30min with key off and doors closed, just in case one was left on
There is also an Accessory Delay Relay on most cars now, that leaves the radio on and power windows available after Key OFF, but that relay cuts power as soon as drivers door is opened

 

[Curious Hound]

In 2004 and up the Battery Saver Relay is integrated inside the SJB so he will get to that when pulling fuses in the engine bay

In the drawings it looks like engine bay Fuse #5 would cut power to 5 fuses in cab fuse box(SJB), then if fuse #5 did drop the amp draw he could then move inside and start pulling those fuses
Cab fuse #13 is the battery saver relay

My thinking was that to test parasitic draw, he needs to set up the ammeter, then close the vehicle doors and wait for the battery saver to time out in order to get accurate readings of what the long term draw is.

 

[RonD]

Yes, with the older GEM that was required, or you could pull fuse #26 in cab IIRC

 

[Fast Eddie]

@ericbphoto @RonD
What I've learned:
The truck has been allowed to go to sleep before testing (60min). This is on the 10A setting:

The draw oscillates between .12 and 0.29-.030 like something is waking up. If it's drawing .30 and I pull the 50A's in slots 3 and/or 5, it immediately drops to 0.12. If I pull them both, it drops to 0.00. Those two go to the passenger compartment fuse box.

120mA is still a lot but it may be telling me the problem is a circuit there. I'm just not sure. The cables on my tester aren't long enough to reach the windshield. I'm going to have to recruit another set of eyes or I'll get my share of knee bends in that day.

The guy next door keeps saying alternator diode stuck. I really only want to go there as a last resort.

(re: 2004-2011 Ford Ranger Fuse Box Diagrams – The Ranger Station )

 

[RonD]

Just use the AMP meter on the cab fuse terminals

So have the battery hooked up and all fuses in place, then pull out the suspected circuit's fuse and put meter on the 2 fuse terminals to see what that circuit is drawing

In the diagram that brings it down to just 10 fuses to check, 5 on each 50amp fuse #3 and #5

 

[Fast Eddie]

Just use the AMP meter on the cab fuse terminals

So have the battery hooked up and all fuses in place, then pull out the suspected circuit's fuse and put meter on the 2 fuse terminals to see what that circuit is drawing

In the diagram that brings it down to just 10 fuses to check, 5 on each 50amp fuse #3 and #5

Thank you.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Ok, getting antsy. This could get quite expensive? "The cluster is a computer within itself, and it, like other nodes have a sleep mode to engage in. Your is probably waking up or not going to sleep as it should. The only repair is a replacement".

One more note. Had the wake-up thought this morning 'remember when?'. Not that's it's related but, about a week ago after the truck sat for about a week, I tried to start it. It kicked back, like it backfired through the manifold. Turned the key completely off and on again and it started without incident.

I dove into the cab fuse panel this morning as @RonD suggested and low and behold...Long story short, it looks like the instrument cluster is the main bandit in this scenario. There are others and cumulatively they drew the 0.30A I saw.

The two relays in the cab fuse panel do not exist.

Here's what I did:
Test1:

• Battery cable was disconnected day prior to eliminate overnight draw down
• Opened passenger door and secured latch
• Remeasured the draw between negative post and cable. Still .30A
• Attached negative cable to post, moved to cab and pulled fuse
• Measured amp draw between fuse terminals
• Noted the draw, put it back and moved to next fuse
• Pull 3 fuses noted, disconnect battery cable
• Restest draw between post and cable: 0.0A, 4.7mA in the 20mA position

Test2:

• Reconnect neg battery cable with 3 fuses pulled
• Let truck sit 45 minutes
• Restest draw of three fuses noted in Test1
• #13 tested 0.00A, inserted fuse (battery saver relay)
• Leave other two fuses pulled
• Disconnect battery cable
• Note amp draw between cable and post: 4.7mA measured prior
• Removed #13 from observation

#33 had the largest @ .17A
#11 continues to pull .06A (Low Current Board?) HOWEVER amp draw between cable and post was STILL 4.7mA
Cable disconnected for evening to spend time on Google finding out what the hell could be wrong with the instrument panel.

This describes the problem to a 'T'. Unfortunately, he never got an answer: https://www.ranger-forums.com/gener...-drain-instrument-cluster-139870/#post2054176

UPDATE: further research suggest #11 (Low Current Board) is the SJB mentioned in this thread so maybe that draw is distributive to the other circuits pulling miliamps (not sure, just a guess)

I found this post and was wondering if this might be the problem on a 2004 (relay): https://www.therangerstation.com/fo...-drain-instrument-cluster.145565/post-1407790. I have a SJB and not a GEM so makes me wonder? The wiring schematics RonD shared show the cluster as the only thing on #33 and the battery saver on #13.

Also, will this help and what should I look for?
How to: Access Ford hidden menu, dash self-diagnostics mode (Focus, Mondeo, etc) - YouTube

 

[RonD]

Yes, the 2 external relays(15 and 25) are often not used on all SJBs

I would pull the large wire connectors on the SJB and look for corrosion, common issue on these units
Stuff like this: https://i0.wp.com/sparkys-answers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/DSC09930.jpg

And what that does is cause current flow from an active Key off circuit to be a higher draw, corrosion is causing higher resistance so more current is needed
Cluster should have a draw key off but as you suspect not that high
I don't know if the cluster has a "sleep" mode, I wouldn't know why it would, the SJB does because it has the battery saver relay