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Old 10-09-2005, 08:26 AM   #1
jumpytoad
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Need help with current draw

New battery goes dead in 1-2 days. Put amp meter to check current draw which would occilate between 170 and 220 milliamps and proceeded to pull fuses until the culprit was found. Fuse is marked wipers/ VAMPS. What is VAMPS? Interestingly, the battery would not start the car this morning after being charged yesterday. I left the offending fuse pulled overnight and the current draw was .01 miliamps overnight. Is my new battery a dud? 170 to 220 milliamps doesn't seem like enough current draw to discharge a new battery that quickly. Any help is greatly appreciated
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Old 10-10-2005, 12:53 PM   #2
shorod
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Re: Need help with current draw

Are you sure the circuit is labeled with "VAMPS" and not "VAPS?" My Taurus SHO has VAPS - Variable Assist Power Steering, but I'm not familiar with VAMPS. What year is your Taurus? It may or may not have VAPS.

Did you put the other fuses back in to verify that that is the only circuit that is causing the large current draw?
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Old 10-10-2005, 01:25 PM   #3
65comet
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Re: Need help with current draw

My 98' got rear-ended. It was just enough that the trunk ajar was barely making contact. But at night when it got colder, the switch would open and the light inside the trunk would come on. Took forever to figure that one out. Happened to leave the back seats folded down and glanced out the window late that night and saw the glow from the trunk light. Just to show you that overnight, there can be something else causing the draw.
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Old 03-10-2006, 12:50 PM   #4
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Re: Need help with current draw

Hi just discovered the same problem on my 97 Taurus for a quick fix I have pulled the battery saver relay which has stopped the current draw while still having the wiper fuse in to operate wipers etc. I'm going to pull the wiper module out and then the VAPS module to try and isolate the current draw. Did you have any luck in isolating the problem?
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Old 03-10-2006, 07:09 PM   #5
jumpytoad
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Re: Need help with current draw

It ended up being a bad battery from Tire Kingdom. I should have known better when the new battery failed to start the car after initial installation. But, it was a good lesson I won't soon forget.
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