95 Explorer battery discharging

Hello folks,
I have a 95 Explorer 4 door XLT with manual transmission and 133,000
miles. I was in Ottawa on business last week and my wife called and
told me that Exp. was barely turning over when she tried to start it,
but it would run fine when it did start. When I got home and tried to
start it, it would even turn over. A volt meter across the battery read
9.2 volts. So I removed the battery and charged it and reinstalled it.
I then measured the current draw with the key out of the ignition. I
got a reading of 390 mA. This seems to be excessive. I believe I read
that the draw should be no more than 50 mA. I verified that all of the
interior lights were off. I then went to the power distribution panel
and started removing fuses. Current draw went to zero when I pulled the
60A I/P fuse panel fuse. I reinstalled that fuse and went to the fuse
panel inside. When I pulled fuse 27 the current draw dropped to 220 mA.
I think this is the fuse that protects the interior lights. When I
pulled fuse 25, current went to zero. This fuse protects the always
hot, 12v feed to the GEM. So I think I have sort of isolated the
problem, but I don't know what to do now? Does anyone have an
suggestions or ideas? Thanks.

Jay

When measuring parasitic draw, the car needs to be "prepared" beforehand. It
can take up to 45 minutes for all modules to "go to sleep". Something as
simple as opening a door can wake a module up.

Preferred method... open all the doors and trip the latches so that the GEM
"sees" them as being closed. Make your connections with your ampmeter and
leave the car for at least 45 minutes. When you pull fuses, start with the
CJB (underdash fuse panel)... Keep track - once a fuse is removed - do not
reinstall it until the process is finished. If the fuse is reinstalled too
early, it can wake a module up and skew your test results....


"Jay" > wrote in message
. ..
> Hello folks,
> I have a 95 Explorer 4 door XLT with manual transmission and 133,000
> miles. I was in Ottawa on business last week and my wife called and told
> me that Exp. was barely turning over when she tried to start it, but it
> would run fine when it did start. When I got home and tried to start it,
> it would even turn over. A volt meter across the battery read 9.2 volts.
> So I removed the battery and charged it and reinstalled it. I then
> measured the current draw with the key out of the ignition. I got a
> reading of 390 mA. This seems to be excessive. I believe I read that the
> draw should be no more than 50 mA. I verified that all of the interior
> lights were off. I then went to the power distribution panel and started
> removing fuses. Current draw went to zero when I pulled the 60A I/P fuse
> panel fuse. I reinstalled that fuse and went to the fuse panel inside.
> When I pulled fuse 27 the current draw dropped to 220 mA. I think this is
> the fuse that protects the interior lights. When I pulled fuse 25,
> current went to zero. This fuse protects the always hot, 12v feed to the
> GEM. So I think I have sort of isolated the problem, but I don't know
> what to do now? Does anyone have an suggestions or ideas? Thanks.
>
> Jay

Jim,
Thanks for the info. Parasitic draw was closer to 10 mA. One thing I
did notice was that the battery voltage had dropped overnight. The last
time I measured the voltage on the battery yesterday, it 12.8v and I
left the negative terminal disconnected. This morning it was 10.6v.
Jay


Jim Warman wrote:
> When measuring parasitic draw, the car needs to be "prepared" beforehand. It
> can take up to 45 minutes for all modules to "go to sleep". Something as
> simple as opening a door can wake a module up.
>
> Preferred method... open all the doors and trip the latches so that the GEM
> "sees" them as being closed. Make your connections with your ampmeter and
> leave the car for at least 45 minutes. When you pull fuses, start with the
> CJB (underdash fuse panel)... Keep track - once a fuse is removed - do not
> reinstall it until the process is finished. If the fuse is reinstalled too
> early, it can wake a module up and skew your test results....
>
>
> "Jay" > wrote in message
> . ..
>> Hello folks,
>> I have a 95 Explorer 4 door XLT with manual transmission and 133,000
>> miles. I was in Ottawa on business last week and my wife called and told
>> me that Exp. was barely turning over when she tried to start it, but it
>> would run fine when it did start. When I got home and tried to start it,
>> it would even turn over. A volt meter across the battery read 9.2 volts.
>> So I removed the battery and charged it and reinstalled it. I then
>> measured the current draw with the key out of the ignition. I got a
>> reading of 390 mA. This seems to be excessive. I believe I read that the
>> draw should be no more than 50 mA. I verified that all of the interior
>> lights were off. I then went to the power distribution panel and started
>> removing fuses. Current draw went to zero when I pulled the 60A I/P fuse
>> panel fuse. I reinstalled that fuse and went to the fuse panel inside.
>> When I pulled fuse 27 the current draw dropped to 220 mA. I think this is
>> the fuse that protects the interior lights. When I pulled fuse 25,
>> current went to zero. This fuse protects the always hot, 12v feed to the
>> GEM. So I think I have sort of isolated the problem, but I don't know
>> what to do now? Does anyone have an suggestions or ideas? Thanks.
>>
>> Jay
>
>

If the battery is self-discharging without being fully hooked up (the neg
was disconnected you indicated) then it's time for a new battery I would
think...

--
Allan Williams



"Jay" > wrote in message
. ..
> Jim,
> Thanks for the info. Parasitic draw was closer to 10 mA. One thing I did
> notice was that the battery voltage had dropped overnight. The last time
> I measured the voltage on the battery yesterday, it 12.8v and I left the
> negative terminal disconnected. This morning it was 10.6v.
> Jay
>
>
> Jim Warman wrote:
>> When measuring parasitic draw, the car needs to be "prepared" beforehand.
>> It can take up to 45 minutes for all modules to "go to sleep". Something
>> as simple as opening a door can wake a module up.
>>
>> Preferred method... open all the doors and trip the latches so that the
>> GEM "sees" them as being closed. Make your connections with your ampmeter
>> and leave the car for at least 45 minutes. When you pull fuses, start
>> with the CJB (underdash fuse panel)... Keep track - once a fuse is
>> removed - do not reinstall it until the process is finished. If the fuse
>> is reinstalled too early, it can wake a module up and skew your test
>> results....
>>
>>
>> "Jay" > wrote in message
>> . ..
>>> Hello folks,
>>> I have a 95 Explorer 4 door XLT with manual transmission and 133,000
>>> miles. I was in Ottawa on business last week and my wife called and
>>> told me that Exp. was barely turning over when she tried to start it,
>>> but it would run fine when it did start. When I got home and tried to
>>> start it, it would even turn over. A volt meter across the battery read
>>> 9.2 volts. So I removed the battery and charged it and reinstalled it. I
>>> then measured the current draw with the key out of the ignition. I got
>>> a reading of 390 mA. This seems to be excessive. I believe I read that
>>> the draw should be no more than 50 mA. I verified that all of the
>>> interior lights were off. I then went to the power distribution panel
>>> and started removing fuses. Current draw went to zero when I pulled the
>>> 60A I/P fuse panel fuse. I reinstalled that fuse and went to the fuse
>>> panel inside. When I pulled fuse 27 the current draw dropped to 220 mA.
>>> I think this is the fuse that protects the interior lights. When I
>>> pulled fuse 25, current went to zero. This fuse protects the always
>>> hot, 12v feed to the GEM. So I think I have sort of isolated the
>>> problem, but I don't know what to do now? Does anyone have an
>>> suggestions or ideas? Thanks.
>>>
>>> Jay
>>

On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:03:06 -0500, Jay > wrote:
> time I measured the voltage on the battery yesterday, it 12.8v and I
> left the negative terminal disconnected. This morning it was 10.6v.

Bad cell. (cell voltage is about 2.1v so any time you see multiples of
that magic number, you know what it is) Time to replace the battery.
Probably what happened is one of the cells has disintegrated inside so
that almost no active material is left in the electrolyte.

sdb
--
What's seen on your screen? http://PcScreenWatch.com
sdbuse1 on mailhost bigfoot.com

All,
Thanks for the help and ideas. It was the battery.
Jay

sylvan butler wrote:
> On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:03:06 -0500, Jay > wrote:
>> time I measured the voltage on the battery yesterday, it 12.8v and I
>> left the negative terminal disconnected. This morning it was 10.6v.
>
> Bad cell. (cell voltage is about 2.1v so any time you see multiples of
> that magic number, you know what it is) Time to replace the battery.
> Probably what happened is one of the cells has disintegrated inside so
> that almost no active material is left in the electrolyte.
>
> sdb