Intermittent battery drain in the instrument panel.

[BigGuySW]

Hello all. I am new to this group.

I have a 1998 2WD Ranger Splash with short cab, 4-cylinder 5-speed about to turn 250,000 miles (I hope).

Went out to start it and the battery was dead-stone dead.

It was 8 years old, so I replaced it. Before reconnecting it, I measured the current draw with the key out.
It was drawing about 4 amps.

I removed the fuse to the alternator and the draw cleared up, so I installed another alternator. The 4 amp
draw is still there. The drain is in the electrical system. Removing fuse 15 to the instrument panel dropped
the drain from 4 amps to 130 mA. The question now is whether the drain is in the wiring or the panel itself.

At one point, I slapped the top of the dashboard and the drain cleared up, but came back some time later.

I pulled out the panel and it's got surface corrosion, but nothing deep, and no signs of melting or scorching.
All of the gauges and lights were working.

Replacing fuse 15 with the panel disconnected, the drain stayed at 130mA, so I figure it's in the instrument
panel. Reconnecting the instrument panel, the drain stays at 130mA, but I still suspect the panel. I do not
trust it to put back together as it is.

Also, I wonder that 130mA draw is still too much. It seems high to me.
I'm ready to install a battery cutoff. I don't use the clock and I always listen to 87.9 MHz.

Any experience out there with intermittent instrument panel drains consistently around 4 amps?

 

[franklin2]

Most later Fords have what they call a "battery saver relay". And they are usually located up in the dash. This is a system, probably controlled by a GEM module on your truck, that lets some things work for a period of time before it times out. I know on my 2009 F350 at work it is about 10 minutes. Most manuals tell you to shut all the doors and let the vehicle go to sleep for at least 40 minutes before taking a amp reading.

So get your amp meter all setup, and shut the vehicle down and walk away from it for awhile. Then see what the amp draw is after that.