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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Explorer / February 2008

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95 Explorer battery discharging

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Jay - 11 Feb 2008 00:39 GMT
Hello folks,
I have a 95 Explorer 4 door XLT with manual transmission and 133,000
miles.  I was in Ottawa on business last week and my wife called and
told me that Exp. was barely turning over when she tried to start it,
but it would run fine when it did start. When I got home and tried to
start it, it would even turn over.  A volt meter across the battery read
9.2 volts.  So I removed the battery and charged it and reinstalled it.
I then measured the current draw with the key out of the ignition.  I
got a reading of 390 mA.  This seems to be excessive. I believe I read
that the draw should be no more than 50 mA.  I verified that all of the
interior lights were off.  I then went to the power distribution panel
and started removing fuses.  Current draw went to zero when I pulled the
60A I/P fuse panel fuse.  I reinstalled that fuse and went to the fuse
panel inside.  When I pulled fuse 27 the current draw dropped to 220 mA.
 I think this is the fuse that protects the interior lights.  When I
pulled fuse 25, current went to zero.  This fuse protects the always
hot, 12v feed to the GEM.  So I think I have sort of isolated the
problem, but I don't know what to do now?  Does anyone have an
suggestions or ideas?  Thanks.

Jay
Jim Warman - 11 Feb 2008 02:20 GMT
When measuring parasitic draw, the car needs to be "prepared" beforehand. It
can take up to 45 minutes for all modules to "go to sleep". Something as
simple as opening a door can wake a module up.

Preferred method... open all the doors and trip the latches so that the GEM
"sees" them as being closed. Make your connections with your ampmeter and
leave the car for at least 45 minutes. When you pull fuses, start with the
CJB (underdash fuse panel)... Keep track - once a fuse is removed - do not
reinstall it until the process is finished. If the fuse is reinstalled too
early, it can wake a module up and skew your test results....

> Hello folks,
> I have a 95 Explorer 4 door XLT with manual transmission and 133,000
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Jay
Jay - 11 Feb 2008 20:02 GMT
Jim,
Thanks for the info.  Parasitic draw was closer to 10 mA.  One thing I
did notice was that the battery voltage had dropped overnight.  The last
time I measured the voltage on the battery yesterday, it 12.8v and I
left the negative terminal disconnected.  This morning it was 10.6v.
Jay

> When measuring parasitic draw, the car needs to be "prepared" beforehand. It
> can take up to 45 minutes for all modules to "go to sleep". Something as
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
>>
>> Jay
Al Williams - 11 Feb 2008 20:35 GMT
If the battery is self-discharging without being fully hooked up (the neg
was disconnected you indicated) then it's time for a new battery I would
think...

Signature

Allan Williams

> Jim,
> Thanks for the info.  Parasitic draw was closer to 10 mA.  One thing I did
[quoted text clipped - 36 lines]
>>>
>>> Jay
sylvan butler - 11 Feb 2008 22:38 GMT
> time I measured the voltage on the battery yesterday, it 12.8v and I
> left the negative terminal disconnected.  This morning it was 10.6v.

Bad cell.  (cell voltage is about 2.1v so any time you see multiples of
that magic number, you know what it is)  Time to replace the battery.
Probably what happened is one of the cells has disintegrated inside so
that almost no active material is left in the electrolyte.

sdb
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Jay - 14 Feb 2008 02:31 GMT
All,
Thanks for the help and ideas.  It was the battery.
Jay

>> time I measured the voltage on the battery yesterday, it 12.8v and I
>> left the negative terminal disconnected.  This morning it was 10.6v.
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> sdb
 
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