battery charging problem

[I_luv_HP&trq]

every morning now i have to jump my car because there's a power draw somewhere. i've had this problem for months off and on. I had a mechanic look at it but he couldn't figure it out and it cost me $ for him to tell me that. If i don't drive it for a whole day, it will be completely dead the next day.

the battery is new and passes all the tests. I've unplugged my fog lights, amplifiers, and everything else that has to do with my sound system and that didn't solve the problem. about 3 weeks ago i had a tune up and my car worked fine for a couple weeks. no slow starts or anything. but out of the blue it's been giving me problems again. i've unplugged all the extra stuff and i'm stumped. does anyone know what else i can do?
from what i've noticed it takes at least 8 hours or more for my car to sit and have trouble starting it after those 8 hours or so. i don't know if that's considred a slow draw or not. anyways any advice will help.

[I_luv_HP&trq]

nobody has any ideas???

[lowflyn]

Hm...don't really know what to tell you besides checking for anything that might be drawing power.

[Smokedya95stang]

check your alternator fuse in the engine bay fuse box. Then get your alternator checked with a multimeter with the engine running it should be at 14v idle. There may not be a power draw.

[slvr2000stang]

You could also pull accessory fuses to see if one of them is the cause.
Unfortunately this is a tough one to chase.

[Ponycarman]

If the alternator was dead he'd not be able to run for long on just a jump. Modern EFI cars use alot of electricity and if the battery gets drained down far enough to needa jump it won;t run the car for long and surely won't start it back up again later in the day.

First thing you need to ask yourself is "have I done anything that started this problem?". Had a coworker that kept blown radio fuses. He was just gonna replace the feed wire. But after asking him a few questions I determined the problem was in the dash. Pulled the radio and someone had hacked the radio wiring harness and used electrical tape to cover the wiring hack job. Probably the PO, he bought the car used.

Anyway, if nothing electrical has been done then you need to get a test light. Pull the fses one at a time and put the test light across the two spade connections the fuse plugs into. If the light lights you have a draw. Now some factory systems draw 24/7 but those are very small draws and are not likely to light the test light up. The brighter the light the bigger the draw. That will at least point you in the direction you need to go.

[I_luv_HP&trq]

yea a while back i had a guy install a equalizer and head unit in my car. somehow he blew out my cars factory amplifier so we just had everything running off the amps i had bought previously. he did a lot of splicing and reconnecting wires all over... However i've unplugged everything connected to the amps and the equalizer for a week and that still didn't solve my problem.
the only other thing i've done that might affect it is my smaller harmonic balancer that i put in around the same time as the stereo. i've heard of people having trouble after messing with their pulley set up. anyways maybe this will be more relevant and helpful. i'll try testing the fuses next when i get a chance. thanks for the ideas.

[SpectorV]

I had issues with my battery, if I let teh car sit for more than two days it wouldnt crank... I got a new battery and so far no problems.

[I_luv_HP&trq]

the battery is fine. had a couple mechanics test it more then once over the past few months.... haven't had time to test the fuses yet.

[SpectorV]

you have anything you installed in the car that draws power?

[I_luv_HP&trq]

Quote: Originally Posted by SpectorV you have anything you installed in the car that draws power?

that's what i'm trying to figure out. i listed some things i've put in, a couple comments up on the thread. the thing that's irritating is that it was doing fine for a week or more after my tune up but now it's getting worse and worse... it goes off and on like that but more of a problem then not.

[DarkShadow]

I have a 42% reduction crank pulley and if I idle or drive slow like in traffic, my car will just barely crank after much praying and deliberation and even then sometimes it will die anyway. But usualy if I drive it for about 20-30 minutes or sit and hold my rpms at 2000 for about 15 minutes and it's fine. I don't know if that balancer would affect charging if you didn't install a UDP with it...

[I_luv_HP&trq]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ponycarman If the alternator was dead he'd not be able to run for long on just a jump. Modern EFI cars use alot of electricity and if the battery gets drained down far enough to needa jump it won;t run the car for long and surely won't start it back up again later in the day. First thing you need to ask yourself is "have I done anything that started this problem?". Had a coworker that kept blown radio fuses. He was just gonna replace the feed wire. But after asking him a few questions I determined the problem was in the dash. Pulled the radio and someone had hacked the radio wiring harness and used electrical tape to cover the wiring hack job. Probably the PO, he bought the car used. Anyway, if nothing electrical has been done then you need to get a test light. Pull the fses one at a time and put the test light across the two spade connections the fuse plugs into. If the light lights you have a draw. Now some factory systems draw 24/7 but those are very small draws and are not likely to light the test light up. The brighter the light the bigger the draw. That will at least point you in the direction you need to go.

ok i had time to test about 5 or 6 fuse connections under the hood and every one of them lit up. the light was just as bright as when i touched it to the battery.
i unplugged absolutely everything again except of course the cables to the battery. if it's dead in the morning then i'm totally stumped.

[I_luv_HP&trq]

somebody Help

[Smokedya95stang]

Yes, Take it to an electrical specialist. Not just a place that will check your battery and alternator. Theres a problem somewhere and its going to take a dude with alot of patience and a multimeter to figure it out.

[I_luv_HP&trq]

thanks i knew i was going to end up having to do that again but all the shops around me are general maintinance and none that i've found specialize in electrical systems. and i'm sure as hell not gonna take it to Ford. i'll keep looking for a specialist and if we find the problem i'll let you guys know just in case something similar happens to you all.

[Dom]

How many amps is the battery putting out? How many amps is the alternator putting out?

[Danger Dude]

I suggest looking for a possible contact point problem. First off Check all the obvious things like the Trunk light and visor mirror light if so equipted. My wifes car was doing this sort of thing and it was the visor mirror light was staying on. I found it by accident when I went to pull the visor down it was very hot.

If the obvious is not doing it you need to look for shorts or corroded battery cables or a hung solenoid. I would also look for a possible power wire grounding on something.

[Ponycarman]

Quote: Originally Posted by I_luv_HP&trq ok i had time to test about 5 or 6 fuse connections under the hood and every one of them lit up. the light was just as bright as when i touched it to the battery. i unplugged absolutely everything again except of course the cables to the battery. if it's dead in the morning then i'm totally stumped.

You can't test the fuse to the battery, that will always light the light.

You have to pull the fuse out, then take your test light and put the clip on one of the spade connectors the fuse plugs into and the other end of the test light on the other spade connector the fuse plugs into, in essence you are replacing the fuse with the test light. If the test light lights up then it has a current draw thru that circuit. Assuming you don't have anything in that circuit turned on then that is the problem circuit.