Need help with electrical 1999 Exp.

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ldgee

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1999 Ford Exp. Here goes.. I disconnected the ground on the battery and changed the mfs out and when I reconnected the battery it soon died and would not charge. Got a new battery and everything worked fine, cranked it and moved to normal parking spot in the drive and next day it was dead. Charged it up and found I have a ground somewhere. Everything seemed to work normal, cranked, left and right turn signals and all but I had a battery drain. Checked the ma's between the disconnected neg battery cable and the body and it pegged the needle on the tester. I pulled every fuse and relay I could find and no change so I gave up for the night. Left neg. disconnected. Went back out this morning to test and seemed to have a low ma. reading so I connected the battery back up and my right turn signal would not turn off. It cranked but signal would not turn off. Also yesterday I disconnected the mfs to see it that was the problem and nothing changed hooked it back up. Bout ready to put a match to it. Can anyone out there offer any help.
 
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bedrck46

Read your other post about this problem some information was sent to you
 
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ldgee

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Does anyone have a part #? I am taking this mfs back tomorrow and exchange it. Got to be the problem. Everything went crazy after hooking it up.
 
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ldgee

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OK, replaced mfs and put battery connections back on the battery. Everything worked as it should. Got up this morning to a dead battery. Took it back to WM to have it checked and it just showed needs charging. Evidently still have a short somewhere that is draining the battery. Read the drain, drain go away thread but no conclusion was ever posted.
 
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bedrck46

again check your other post on this problem I sent you some information and prints
 
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ldgee

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Sorry for my forum ignorance and starting another thread. This all started with a blown left rear turn signal bulb. I guess I got a spell of the ******** and I was checking the wrong bulb since I didn't see a broken element in the right bulb. My son came over and pointed out that the bulb was bad. Feeling really stupid at this point. Maybe old age or something. I was in the process of changing the mfs, that needed changing anyway. My bright light would come on when switching the turn signals and was getting sloppy. Replaced bulb and everything worked fine so parked it for the night. After installing the new mfs all hell broke loose with the electrical. Next morning the battery was dead and would not charge. Took it to WM and replaced it. Hooked new battery up and left it overnight and was dead the next morning. Disconnected the ground and had tested from cable to the frame and it pegged the amp meter. Pulled every fuse I could find while someone watched the meter and nothing changed. Hooked neg. back up and right turn signal started blinking and would not turn off. Took mfs back and swapped for another one. Hooked it up and everything worked fine so left it overnight. Went out this morning and battery was dead. Took battery back to WM and it tested that in needed charging. On charger now. When charged I will hook back up and chack all the fuses mentioned in other post.
 
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stamp11127

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Need to know the amount of current draw with everything turned off in the car including closed doors. Nothing should be on or running.

If you have a 2-3 amp draw see if it drops into milliamps in a few seconds. Anything higher you have a big problem, if it doesn't drop down you also have a problem.
 
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ldgee

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Got 12V between the disconnected neg battery cable and the neg post on battery. DC amps pegs the meter.

Rundown
replaced tail light bulb
removed key switch
replaced mfs
replaced battery.

Did charge the battery and everything worked - just runs battery down fast.
 
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ldgee

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Also, when pulling fuses and relays, will the meter change instantly?
 

stamp11127

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When you disconnect the circuit that has the high load the meter will show the difference in a reduced current load (meter reading).

One of your problems is the load is more than what the meter is rated to handle. You should remove the load prior to testing the circuits.
This means removing all the fuses after noting their respective location. Then after connecting the meter between the negative battery cable and the negative battery post, install each fuse one at a time watching the meter reading. Keep in mind there may be more than one circuit that is contributing to the total load. Keep the routine going until all fuses are replaced. When you locate the load keep the fuse out while testing the rest of the circuits.
 
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bedrck46

you can get a copy of the fuse locations in your owners manual. That will help you when you reinstall the fuses so you get them in the correct location If you don't have a owners manual you can download one from owner.ford.com
 
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ldgee

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Still having battery drain. set multimeter on 10A setting and it blows fuses in the multimeter. would that much draw be tied to the ignition switch? Remember now that it was getting a little sloppy, sometimes you would pull the key out and the door chime would sound. wiggle the switch and it would stop. Maybe pulling the key cylinder damaged something.
 
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bedrck46

Pull the following fuses in the battery junction box Under the hood 102,103,111 and 113 and then check your amp draw
 

stamp11127

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Until you cut power to all the circuits by pulling all the fuses your wasting your time. If you have performed the test and it blows the meter fuse then you have a draw prior to the fuse boxes that is above 10amp.

Alternator problems can also cause a battery to drain. If you haven't found the problem you could check current draw on the positive connections to it. Of course with the engine not running.
 
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ldgee

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Took multimeter back to sears and swaped for a clamp meter that reads 400A. hooked neg lead back to battery and read 8.9 -9.4 amps. pulled fusses and found 116 to be the culprit. dropped down to .1 amp. it's a 40A fuse that controls the rear window defroster and heated mirrors. not sure how to fix.
 
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ldgee

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If I would have spent that extra $30 to start with would have save a lot of headache. Still got off less than a mechanic visit and have a good tool to boot. Don't think this new meter reads ma. it is showing a .30A draw with fuse out.
 
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bedrck46

fuse 116 is for the heated grid relay Suggest you pull the heated grid relay located in fuse bloc under dash then re install fuse 116 and take a amp reading if amps are low then replace the relay if amps go back to being high it would indicate a wiring problem My guess is you have a bad relay

Agree with you about spending the extra $30.00

but now to be a smart ass Had you listened to Stamp and I
9 days ago we could have saved you the $30.00 and you would have had the problem resolved You came here for help but it took you a long time to listen
 
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