Hi there, I have a 1999 expy Eddie Bauer 5.4l that has been to the shop to the tune of $400.00 to find a battery draw problem. They pulled fuses and did all the checks they could and couln'nt find it. There is definitely a draw because it will drain a battery in 5 days. No lights stay on, only the theft blinking light on the dash. Is there a chance the alternator is back feeding through itself? Is there a test for that? The shop checked output of the alternator and its fine. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Battery draw woes!!!
- Thread starter ungus92
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KWT2000
Full Access Members
just my .02
im not good with electrical draw problems... but did you take it to a general repair shop ( which generally are not good at this niether are the stealers ) i take my problems like this to an auto electric shop because all they do all day long is fix electrical problems and they have all the special tools to do so
im not good with electrical draw problems... but did you take it to a general repair shop ( which generally are not good at this niether are the stealers ) i take my problems like this to an auto electric shop because all they do all day long is fix electrical problems and they have all the special tools to do so
tonydiv
technical advisor
What kind of aftermarket goodies are installed?
gijohn45
Member
the stereo has a lead that draws power continuously even though its small it will still drain a battery in 5 days...
If you are going to let it sit for a few days at a time go to harbor freight and get a solar panel that plugs into the cig lighter socket... the good ones run about $40 but put out about 5 watts... I have one on my battery and it keeps it fully charged for months on end...
If you are going to let it sit for a few days at a time go to harbor freight and get a solar panel that plugs into the cig lighter socket... the good ones run about $40 but put out about 5 watts... I have one on my battery and it keeps it fully charged for months on end...
BavarianFanatic
New Member
The memory retain function in the stereo won't drain a good battery in 5 days.
OP - Do you have a multimeter? You can do this yourself by disconnecting the battery and placing a meter in series with the negative cable. Then let it sit for about 30 minutes or so to allow all modules to "go to sleep". Once it settles out read your amperage. It should be very low, on the order of maybe 30 - 50 mA. If it's higher than that you start the process of pulling fuses one at a time to see if they affect the draw. I'm more inclined to think it's the ECU or one of the other body modules that's staying awake for some reason.
Also, it's not unheard of to have a battery with a bad cell or two that simply discharges on its own. However, it sounds like you already have a new battery so that's less likely...
tonydiv
technical advisor
Tip: don't forget to pull out the under hood light bulb. It will skew your readings.
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