98 Exp battery draining down

[bc11]

Hello guys. Still driving the 98 with 323,000 miles.

For the last year the battery keeps running down after a few days. New battery didn't help. Checked all the usual suspects such as lights from door switches, unplug the camera and charger, pulled the radio for a while, etc.

I tried a 40 buck harbor freight battery maintainer and it wouldn't keep it charged either so I took it off.

There is a parasitic drain and nothing I can see would cause it. Any ideas and ways to troubleshoot it. Thanks

 

[Killer Ride]

Hold ohm meter on battery terminals and unplug fuses until it stops going down. That will pin it down for you

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[bc11]

OK. Will do. You have my apologies for posting before looking back at the archives. I've did a search on battery and all the old tricks and fixes have come up. First I'll check the rear wiper. It worked intermittently since we got it, ford replaced it under warranty and it still started doing it. I actually used to leave it switched on just to see if it would work for years but it never started running the battery down till last winter. Once it is charged and going I can drive it everyday. But let it set for a few days and it is D E D, dead. Had a tape stuck in the cassette player and I spent a few hours getting that out and finally pulled the radio.

We have a winter storm blowing in but I check the rear wiper and probably unplug it or pull the fuse.

Weird thing is that last winter my 2000 F150 battery started doing the same thing. Both have new batteries. Both have dashcams that were continually on all the time without running down the battery. Guess I'll run tests on it as well. Thanks.

 

[Don Hall]

http://www.nissantechnicianinfo.mobi/htmlversions/Winter_2012/Parastic_Draw.html

 

[Trainmaster]

Check that the rear wiper shaft isn't frozen. It's a known problem. It seizes and the motor continually tries to park it.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

It was the rear wiper motor on mine. Bear in mind the vehicle will have excess parasitic draw for about 45 minutes until the computers shut down. You must have all doors shut and locked to make that happen. Very annoying and undocumented "feature".

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[1970Maverick]

Do not connect an OHM meter across your battery you will damage the OHM meter, also if you connect a volt meter you won't see a voltage drop from a parasitic draw.

If you are going to find a parasitic draw you need to use an Ammeter in line with the positive post. Leave key out of ignition, DO NOT start the car.
Remove the clamp from positive post and use something(a piece of cardboard or rubber mat) to keep it from touching anything else, connect Ammeter negative lead to the clamp, connect the Ammeter positive lead to the positive battery post. You may initially get a high or fluctuating reading as the different electronic systems are powered up but the Ammeter should settle down to a steady reading.
Now you can pull each fuse until the Ammeter reading drops. Depending on the amount of electronics in a 1998 you need to know what is "normal" parasitic draw vs what is "abnormal".
As you pull the fuses you need to write down which fuse # and how much the amps dropped, then go through all the fuses in the owners manual to see if anything that caused a drop is something that should be off when the Expy is parked.

I can tell you some readings with an Ammeter based on my 2017. If I disconnect my battery and insert the Ammeter I initially measure 1.6 - 2.4 amps for about 30-40 seconds then it drops to 1/4 of an amp(this is power to keep the different computers and alarm system running). I had done this a few months ago when my battery was fine one day and 2 days later it was dead. I had no warnings so I assumed it was a parasitic draw. In my case it turned out the the battery was NG and it instantaneously failed. A draw of 1/4 amp would take a long time to draw a battery dead.

Kudos to Don Hall for the link. and remember, the amp values are different depending on make, model and year.

 

[plumcolr]

Happened to me once. Turned out to be the lighted mirror on the passenger sun visor. Couldn't see it with the mirror cover down.

 

[bc11]

Update. Had to deal with the storm and go to the VA hospital for my epidural shots. Checked the rear wiper and was seated in the holder but I pulled it out and down and let it hang. Tried to turn it window open, close, door open, close, and all combinations and it doesn't move unless I try breaking force. Checked the fuse diagrams and found the rear wiper is #12 under the hood. Ended up breaking the latch by the fender but got it open and removed the fuse. Raining too much to try to meter test all the fuses. Will watch it for a while and see if that was it. Could have used the wiper in the rain but oh well. How do I free up the wiper?

Saw an odd thing though. Was sitting in it and had my dome light on and turned it off. The wife tried to turn on her side of the dome light and it didn't work. Had us wondering. So I pushed the button on and off a bunch of times to try to see which was off and during one of the button pushes, that dome light flashed on for a second. Don't know if it is on or off now but will pull the cover tomorrow and check it. Don't know if that had anything to do with it but we never know. Will post back tomorrow again.

I've always liked the way the Exp drove so nice and easy and was comfortable. Just didn't like the 12-13 mpg and the steerinng has always been a little loosy/goosy going down the interstate and in the wind.. Since I hit a deer and totaled the Subaru Forester last month, guess I'll be driving it for a while. Mileage correction, it has 308K miles, not 323K. Plan on keeping this one till the engine blows or someone wrecks it.

I do have a few other issues with it and will start separate posts after I search the archive regarding the AWD light flashing and not engaging, front brakes have been chattering/stuttering since my last brake job with all new stuff, and I would like to find some new led/hid replacement headlights.

Thanks.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

Get that loose steering checked out right away. On top of having all sorts of wear problems with the "lifetime lubricated" tie rod ends, I found the steering shaft was barely connected to the steering box. An aluminum knuckle that connects the two had its spines totally worn through. I was hours or minutes from having no steering control.

The steering was "not right" from the day I purchased this 2001 vehicle in 2003 until years later when that problem was fixed. Ford failed to repair that when in for warranty repairs.

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