Power draw?

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04EddyExpy

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I’ve gone thru two batteries in the past year. Every few months I have to clean a bunch of corrosion off my battery terminals. I don’t have any tools to check for a parasitic power drain. I also have an aftermarket stereo with a wiring harness from Crutchfield. I’ve noticed that my turn signals don’t always blink with the same rhythm unless I have my foot on the gas. Are these all symptoms of some kind of power drain?
 
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04EddyExpy

04EddyExpy

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Yesterday I disconnected the batter to replace my steering wheel controls. All went fine and it cranked as usual, drove it around and came back home. This morning it's dead as a doornail, so my buddy jumped it. I made it about 200ft up the street and everything just died. So it looks like the alternator is the culprit. Maybe it's slowly been going bad for several months.
 

Plati

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Are you jumping a conclusion too fast? Sure its the alternator?
Sounds like it might be but I would want more definitive proof, myself.
 

kramerpage

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I got the idiot light on the dash when my alternator went bad.

I had a power drain and found it was the rear wiper motor stuck. You could feel the heat through the plastic trim piece. When I removed the trim it was red hot. I disassembled and cleaned up gears and it was fine after that. It nagged my for a year or more. Take a look at it.
https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/the-dreaded-rear-wiper-drain.7691/
 
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04EddyExpy

04EddyExpy

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The shop is checking on the alternator.

kramerpage - did your wiper motor work at all, despite being stuck? Mine works fine but I haven't checked to see if it is staying engaged when I turn it off.
 

Plati

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Yes, rear wiper has to park to stop drawing power (to try to park). Easy way to test it is to pop the back window (open it a bit). If you can move the rear wiper through its range of motion pretty easily by hand -- probably OK. Close window and move it back to park position. If it "clicks in there" its parked. All good. You'll know if its bound up.

Other people have noticed parasitic loss (like rear wiper) by a CD stuck in changer or a charger left plugged in or many other causes like a light left on.

another Forum thread on charging system
https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/charging-system-woes.33844/
 

1955moose

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Since you already have it at the shop, why not have your mechanic check the wiper motor, or whatever's causing your drain, and fix your problem. I've said it many times here, don't just go by someone else's past experience. If that's not your problem, that's a lot of time and in your case wasted money at the mechanics. Our members mean well, we all do, but tell your mechanic what's going on, and fix it the first time. You can suggest to your mechanic, what similar problems turned out to be, but let him/her do their own diagnostic work.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk
 

Cooper

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As far as the corrosion put some de electric grease on the terminals and buy some anti corrosion pads for the battery.
Easy way to see if your alternator is charging is to have your head light on and turn off your car. If they head light dim you know you are getting some charge. Doesnt mean its charging properly thought. Need to take it to Auto Zone and let them stress test it.
 
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04EddyExpy

04EddyExpy

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I completely forgot I created this thread -- basically the whole thing was my fault -- I didn't reconnect the battery terminal tight enough and it was losing connection. Made me feel like an idiot. But the good news is the battery & alternator are fine -- they put it under one helluva load and it passed with flying colors. :)

As for the power draw, I don't know if I have one, or some other kind of issue with the electrical current. I have an aftermarket stereo in the truck, with a wiring harness from Crutchfield. On many FM stations, when I use the turn signal or press the brake, the stereo goes to static. Other FM stations are fine. My turn signals like to speed up and slow down.
 
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