electrical help
 

I have a 1997 F-150 and went out to start it the other day and the battery was dead. No big deal I jumped it but have gotten these problems since then.
wipers don't work
power windows don't work
4wd light doesn't work
accessory lights don't work
under hood lamp doesn't work
4wd will not come out(it was parked with it in 4wd)
and if I leave it over night then the battery is dead by morning(it's been 30 degrees at night so not that cold)

Everything else seems to work just fine.
I've checked all of the fuses and they're all fine.
I've tried anything I can think of and nothing works. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'll be glad to answer any questions.

97 F-150
auto
4x4
shift on fly 4x4
cat back
electric fans
microtuner
accel coil packs
fipk
3 inch body lift

Thanx Jeff

replace the battry it has to be at full amps to power that stufff second check the volt reg. and the alternator:banana:

I will try those things and let you know if it works or not. Thank you.


Jeff

I tested the alternator and it seems to charge fine: like 14.2 or something like that. The battery was dead so I swapped my battery out of my other 97 F-150 and there was no change(all of the stuff still didn't work). Now when you say check the voltage regulator that's for charge only right?
I also checked for a draw and it was only .04 so that's within specs.
Is it possibly that some wires fried and that's why all this stuff went out at the same time? I've checked the wires to the best of my ability and have not found anything wrong with them.
Are all these components connected in one spot somewhere?

Sorry for all the questions I'd just like to figure this out.

thanx
Jeff

Are you sure about the fuses?

It sounds like something is shorted somewhere if the battery drains till its dead. I would certainly check all the fuses again...

The power distribution box under the hood (1999 F150) has Maxi-Fuses along with other fuses and relays. The Maxi-Fuses are square and in the upper right portion of this photo. I don't mean to be an ass about checking all the fuses...

Did you put all the fuses back in the correct locations? I almost put one of mine back in the wrong place! There are so many open slots here...

https://www.f150online.com/galleries...4889-80698.jpg

If your battery is going dead overnight (8-10hrs), then you have to have a draw on the battery of at least 600 Milliamps, and probably more consedring you have a new battery. How are you testing the draw? Please post on how you are testing, and a list of what is not functioning, and I will check Alldata for a common circuit or??

Shawn

Heh, Your situation kind of reminds me of a problem I had with a Maxima I owned one time. I finally nailed the problem down to a wireing harness in the door. It was rubbing against the window and had rubbed some of the wires bare. It would blow a fuse when I used the power windows. I also lost the instrument panel when it blew this particular fuse.

Haku has a good point...
If it were me, I would pull the fuses for power windows, instrument panel, wipers etc. one at a time and check for amps flowing with my amp-meter. My amp-meter only goes to 20 amps so I could only check fuses rated 20 amps or less. You would have a place to start if you find amps flowing thru one of the fuses.

Funny for you to say that!!! There is a TSB on that excact problem on his F150. Harness rubbin throu on the door handle, causing fuse 14 to blow, which powers the door locks, windows ect...

Shawn

You might want to check the cables from the battery. If they are very corroded, this could be causing your problem.
Have you checked the negative cable for a proper ground at the frame?

I will check and recheck everything today and let you guys know what I find.

Thanx for all the info and I'll recheck the draw. The draw was checked by unhooking the positive battery cable and putting the meter inbetween to complete the circuit. The draw was only 40 milliamps.

Thanx for all the help
Jeff

Was that with the hood light in the circuit? They may account for the 40mA.

Negative, 40 milliamps is WAY below acceptable, a under hood light would pull over 400Milliamps. There is no way that a good battery would go dead overnight without a draw on it. What kind of meter are you using for this? The way your testing it is correct, but there has to be somthing with the meter, or how you are reading it. I dont want to come across like a @#$, but like I said before, it is impossible for a good battery to go dead overnight without a draw. Whether or not it is present during your testing is another question. By the readin you got (.04), your using the Amp setting on the meter, try using the MA setting if it has it.

Shawn

Haku:

After thinking about that one your right. 40mA is more like a LED, I do agree if the battery is draining overnight it is going to need a good draw, even 400mA (light) could draw it down.

Correct me if I am wrong but it can't be any lights anywhere that may be drawing it down, right? Or is it just the interior lights that cut off after a few minutes? Could the hood light be staying on?

Just thinking out load...

No, the voltage regulator is for limiting the alternators voltage to a preset value. That prevents power surges, circuit overloads etc. during peak voltage output.

One way to test the voltage regulator is by checking the battery when your truck is running which it sounds like you did. The battery should read between 14 – 15vdc. You stated it was reading 14.2vdc so your voltage regulator is fine and your battery is getting a charge when your truck is running.

It could be a light, relay stuck on powering up a circuit, ect... But he says there is only a 40mA draw, which will not drain the battery overnight. The industry standard is 150-200mA draw MAX, anything over that is a problem. Fords have been going to a "battery save" mode with the GEM's, and in my expierence, 100mA draw should be the max. Once he can see the draw on the meter, he can start pulling fuses to locate the draw, once he does that, I can check Alldata for what that fuse powers up, and it should be easy from there. As far as checking the voltage regulator, he is checking that correctly, however.... I would check the diodes in the alternator. Turn your meter to AC Volts, and check for AC voltage at the alternator, using the case as ground.
You should have very minimal AC voltage, (.20ACV MAX, generally speaking) But I dont think the problem is there anyway. Whats the chances of you hooking up the jump incorreclty (sorry, have to ask)?? If that was the case, diagnosis would be a little different.

I agree with you that 40mA will not drain a battery. This is a little off topic but since you brought up the “standard is 150-200mA draw MAX” is that due to, or better yet I should ask, does the PMC not take some power to maintain settings, as well as the blinking “security” light inside the truck? I could see that easily taken at least 40mA.

Again, I don’t really know much about our truck circuits and power requirements when the ignition is off except I know there is that blinking “security” light in the dash panel and that if you disconnect the battery it resets the PCM so taking that into account there must be some battery draw. Granted no where near enough to draw a battery down, and most likely not enough to draw a batter down in storage.

Perhaps that is why he is seeing a 40mA draw on the battery when he measured it?

Yes, 40mA is normal. The security light does not pull alot, nor does the keep alive power to the PCM. Fords have a battery save mode, that turns everything off, including door locks. If you have a newer Ford (does not apply to all), lock the doors with the door open, and close the door (window open), after a few minutes try to unlock the doors by reaching inside the window. They wont work. Just an example of that battery save mode. That is why I say 100mA max. We will get this figured out for him...

Be sure to let us know what happens, Jeff...

;)

Sorry for the long wait on the reply but I wanted to make sure this fixed it. I can't believe what it turned out to be!!

Okay here goes:
1st I rechecked the draw and it is only 40 milliamps and that was with the hood open(but remember the hood light and all in truck lights weren't working so there was no draw from them)

2nd Swapped the battery out again and retried; still no lights or other stuff(but did start)

3rd Left good battery in over night started fine in morning but still no stuff working(that wasn't working before)

4th Took out new battery and charged old battery overnight(no battery in truck overnight)

5th Put old battery back in and holy crap everything works(I'm thinking how the heck is this possible)

6th 2 days later battery dead

7th Many beers later it hits me: I didn't wait long enough for the computer reset and it was shutting down that area of circuits.(right; I'm really fishing here)

8th Buy new battery(waited a day so computer reset) and it's been perfect ever since.


I think that's what it was(that's the only thing I could come up with).

Thank you everyone for all your help and I completely understand why you questioned my draw checking because that's all I could come up with too.

THANK YOU
Jeff:beers:

Draw
 

Jeff
If the problem reoccurs (windows not working, not the draw) have the codes pulled from the Gem module. That will provide much help. The unofficial spec on a draw from Ford is .050A
or 50 milliamps, checked after a 1 hour timeout . .temp 1 is correct about the fuses being overlooked (Not the case here). I have seen many dealer Techs spend hours on ele. problems that eventually lead back to a blown fuse.temp 1

Thanks for the post Jeff. Sounds like it is working for now, but still not fixed.

I don't know if we have some those fuses that reset themselves (more like circuit breakers) in our trucks but they can be lots of fun. The fuse blows so that something does not work but then the fuse reset's itself later. You end up with something that works part of the time but you can't find any blown fuses.

fuses
 

Fuses dont reset, but you may have had a relay sticking.

It's still working fine but I noticed something. I had my brother disconnect the battery and reconnect it(while I had the door open and the key in) and after a slight pause I heard a click in the dash(by the relays and fuses) then the door chime and dome light came on. I let the truck sit for 4 days this time and it didn't drain the battery or kill any circuits. Is it really possible that's all it was; was a stuck relay and a dead battery?? I also noticed that with the heat on, lights on and radio on the alternator seems to be struggling a bit(at idle that is). But as soon as I get on the gas everything is up to snuff. I'll test the output on it again tommorrow.

What kind of codes does the GEM module store? Can I pull them myself or is this a manufacturers job.

Thanx for all the info guys I really appreciate it.
Jeff

codes? GEM
 

AutoZone maybe able to pull GEM codes for you? Someone on here will know. Here is a list .


GEM Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) Reference Chart
DTC Circuit Description Test Mode
B1313 Fuse Junction Panel Battery Saver Relay Coil Circuit Open or Shorted to Ground On-Demand, Continuous
B1315 Fuse Junction Panel Battery Saver Relay Coil Circuit Short to Battery On-Demand, Continuous
B1322 344 (BK/Y) LH Door Open Warning Lamp Switch Circuit Short to Ground On-Demand
B1330 345 (BK/PK) RH Door Open Warning Lamp Switch Circuit Short to Ground On-Demand
B1342 N/A GEM Defective On-Demand, Continuous
B1355 1040 (R/LB) Ignition RUN Circuit Failure On-Demand
B1359 297 (BK/LG) Ignition RUN/ACC Circuit Failure On-Demand, Continuous
B1365 32 (R/LB), 481 (GY/Y) Ignition START Circuit Short to Battery On-Demand, Continuous
B1373 Fuse Junction Panel Interior Lamp Relay Coil Circuit Shorted to Battery On-Demand, Continuous
B1445 930 (PK/LG) Interior Lamp Switch Circuit Short to Ground On-Demand
B1610 1013 (BR/LG) Illuminated Entry Input Request (From Remote Anti-Theft Personality Module) Circuit Short to Ground Continuous
P0500 676 (PK/O), 679 (GY/BK) Vehicle Speed Sensor Malfunction Continuous