I'M HAVING A PROBLEM WITH MY BATTERY BEING DRAINED OVERNIGHT. THE ORIGINAL BATTERY IN THE VEHICLE WAS COMPLETEY SHOT SO I REPLACED IT. WITH THE NEW BATTERY IT RAN PERFECTLY FOR 2-3WEEKS, BUT ONE MORNING I WENT TO START IT AND IT WAS COMPLETELY DEAD...NOT EVEN A CLICK. SO I FULLY CHARGED IT AND RAN VOLTAGE TESTS TO SEE IF IT WAS CORRECTLY CHARGED, HOLDING THE CHARGE, AND BEING CHARGED. THEN I CLEANED THE BATTERY CABLES. EVERYTHING CHECKED OUT NORMAL

THE NEXT MORNING IT'S DEAD AGAIN, SO I REMOVED THE BATTERY AND HOOKED UP A BOOSTER PACK TO FURTHER DIAGNOS A POSSIBLE PROBLEM (IN THE MEANTIME I'M CHARGING THE BATTERY AGAIN). IT TURNS OUT THAT SOMETHING IS PULLING FULL DRAW OFF THE PACK. I MADE SURE EVERYTHING WAS OFF AND STARTED PULLING FUSE CIRCUITS AND RELAYS, NOTHING STOPPED THE FULL DRAW. BY NOW THE BATTERY IS FULLY CHARGED AGAIN SO I HOOKED IT UP AND RAN THE SAME TESTS THAT I DID WITH THE PACK...FULL DRAW WAS STILL HAPPENING.

THINKING IT WAS ALTERNATOR OR REGULATOR, I DISCONNECTED THEM FROM THE SYSTEM AND RAN A BYPASS TEST...FULL DRAW WAS STILL EVIDENT ON VOLTMETER OF 13.2 VOLTS. THE POSITIVE CABLE TO POS TERMINAL ON BATTERY SPARKS.

I'VE TESTED EVERYTHING THAT I PERSONALLY KNOW HOW TO...HAS ANYBODY HAD THIS PROBLEM? WHAT ELSE CAN I CHECK? ANY HELP WITH THIS IS MUCH APPRECIATED.

THIS IS A '97 F-150 W/4.6L POWER EVERYTHING WITH NO AFTERMARKET PRODUCTS.

THANX,




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'97 F-150 XLT 3rd Door; 4.6L engine; Power Window/lock/Anti-Theft System

 

Does your hood light shut off when it closes? A bad switch on a trunk light did the same thing to my dad's car..

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2000 F150 XLT 4x4 Short Bed. Amazon Green, 5.4L, SuperCab, ORP, Tow Package, Sliding Rear Window, Electronic Shift, Keyless Entry, LT265-70-17 Tires, Clarion Pro Audio, Herculiner Bedliner, Air Silencer Removed.

1994 SVT Mustang Cobra. #1032 of 6009. Black coupe with black leather int., 3.73 rear, Bassani Exhaust, Aluminum D/S, Bridgestone RE-71 255-45-ZR17

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[This message has been edited by 2000 F150 4x4 (edited 05-08-2001).]

 

is it a big spark or little? the hood lite will make a little spark. if it's big, start unhooking cables at the starter relay to find where it's coming from.

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97 Lariet-sc-4.6-4x off road-auto-3.55 LS-
superchip-Airraid-Perma-cool electric fan & controller

 

Big Spark! I already eliminated the hood light from the equation. Will check from starter relay...will post results update when I take a look at it.

Thanx for the help man! It's greatly appreciated.

Any other suggestions until then are completely welcome.

 

Ok, this one has got me stumped. I was thinking it might be the alt., but then you said you unhooked it. You said that you charged and tested the original battery and that it was shot, My qustion is have you tested this new battery? Just something little you may of over looked? If not hope you find what it is.

 

Sounds like somewhere you are losing voltage to ground. Might want to check battery connections and cables. If not that, something in the truck is drawing too much power overnight. Hope this helps.

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1997 XLT Reg. Cab, 4.2L V6, 5spd, Superchipped, '99 Lightning Grill, '99 XLT White Bumper w/Fog Light Kit, K&N Air Filter, Dash Mat, Clear Corner Lenses, Clear Tailights, MagnaFlow Muffler, Hellwig Rear Sway Bar, Edelbrock Shocks, Duraliner, Extang Saber Tonneau, Painted Tailgate Handle, Bell-Tech 2" Rear Drop, Amer. Rac. Atlas Wheels Clad in 275/60/17 Eagle GTII. Likes straightaways, loves twisties.
"If you're in control, you're going too slow."--Mario Andretti

[This message has been edited by Frank S (edited 05-09-2001).]

 

OK Got an update...along with new questions.

Went to Auto Electric Rebuilder's today. Did an amp test this time, which I should have done instead of the volt test.

The Amp draw off of my battery is .20 to .39. The guy told me that ideally any draw should be around .05 . So I started pulling fuses and found that the #14 Fuse (interior lamp, accessory delay relay), when pulled, dropped it to .07....#15 (GEM Module, CTM Module)pulled, dropped it to .01-.02

Now my first new question is....1)Is .20 or even .39 Amp enough to kill a battery in a short amount of time? 2) Is this a possible GEM issue where I have to trace wires?


We re-checked the alternator and it is charging correctly. My truck does not sit longer than overnight, it is always being driven until as of late, so it is getting charged.

Thanx again for all the helpful insight

 

Sounds like you found it.