Intermittent Battery Drain

[Fordley]

Hello Ranger Station !

first post on forum, I am having a non consistent battery drain, the battery is less than 2 yrs old. The charging system appears normal, but twice now, in a 10 day period I went to start the truck only to find batt was 99% drained.


manual locks/ windows

Batt (static voltage - unplugged) 12.40-12.72 V
Batt (engine running) 13.23 - 14.42


I discnnctd the POS lead and checkd batt after 4 days and it has not gone down


a) removed batt
b) dealt with rust, cleaned painted batt box
c) cleaned checked batt levels



Curious if anyone has had this issue, or any suggestions on what to look for next ?



Thank you, Fordley in upper Midwest

 

[DeeRanger]

Do you have any kind of alarm/anti theft system in place, be it factory or aftermarket ? That's what it was for my 2001 2.5 Ranger.
Slowly but surely drained the battery until the system was removed. Still don't know why ?

 

[Fordley]

Hello sir


no alarm, I am aware of (the vehicle did not come with a fob either)
thanks

I have 2 Ford keys ( PATS system )

 

[Fordley]

Update, checked voltage from neg terminal to neg post on batt, and saw no reading.
Next going to check for any potential amp draw, and look at fuses, possibly drivers door latch/switch

Update(AUG 3rd): switches, pinwheels seem fine, checked for amp draw on neg term to neg post it was .19 a

have not tried using meter for neg continuity and allow batt saver to go to sleep (some say 20-30 min some say an hour) .....I assume its ok to use meter to provide continuity, but its ok to turn meter off

Been going thru lots of old threads/ videos

update Aug 4th forgot to mention, that during this ordeal, the fuel and temp gauges stay on (24/7) for whatever reason (they never did that previous)... the only time I noticed those gauges go off, was when I engaged the key

 

[Fordley]

I have not discovered the mystery drain and began disconnecting my batt if left overnight.

Kinda green-beak question, but I want to try using a voltmeter to maintain batt continuity(avert batt saver function), and wondering if the voltmeter stays on during the no power period ? (20-60 min)

 

[Curious Hound]

Yes, you can use your multimeter. Set it to amps, connect it in series between the battery negative and the negative battery clamps. Leave it alone for a while until battery saver goes off. Even if meter goes to sleep, it will be measuring. They often wake up if they sense a change. Close hood and doors on truck during the test and don't touch them. That reactivates the battery saver.

Your statement about some of the gauges staying on is probably a clue.

 

[pjtoledo]

my 2000 had the battery drain problem, it got progressively worse over a couple months.
installed a battery isolator for testing and to save the battery.

eventually removed the aftermarket remote start and problem went away.
check for splices under the steering column.

your instruments staying on was not one of my symptoms.
fuel and temp get power in hot & start thru fuse 11 in the central junction box.
fuse 11 gets power from the ignition switch.

are you testing for voltage drop across fuses?
if current is flowing a few millivolts will show across a fuse.
there are charts online about the millivolts across various size fuses and current flow.

 

[Fordley]

Yes, you can use your multimeter. Set it to amps, connect it in series between the battery negative and the negative battery clamps. Leave it alone for a while until battery saver goes off. Even if meter goes to sleep, it will be measuring. They often wake up if they sense a change. Close hood and doors on truck during the test and don't touch them. That reactivates the battery saver.

Your statement about some of the gauges staying on is probably a clue.

thank you sir I will look into it

 

[tinman_72]

I recently saw a YouTube video where a guy was claiming that those spy devices that you plug into your OBD2 port for a discount will drain your battery while trying to phone home in the middle of the night. You don't have one of those do you?