99 taurus Battery drain
jameswmadden
05-11-2007, 02:54 PM
My 99 taurus has 750Ma current draw while the car is turned off. 200ma is from the wiper/vaps fuse #23 and 500ma is from fuse 24 which is the always hot circuit fuse 24 for the radio, speedometer and part of the Heating cooling.
Does anyone know what normal limits are for current draw from the battery are when the car is off? Being an electrician this seems high.
Help please
Thanks
Does anyone know what normal limits are for current draw from the battery are when the car is off? Being an electrician this seems high.
Help please
Thanks
way2old
05-11-2007, 07:59 PM
Ford recommends less than .055 amp. It takes up to an hour for the GEM to turn everything off. So be sure you are giving it enough tiome to shut completely down.
lectra
05-11-2007, 08:01 PM
I would think that you shouldn't have squat on the wiper circuit and only a few milliamps on the radio circuit. I thought the wiper curcuit was off when the car was off.
Is it draining the battery down?
Is it draining the battery down?
jameswmadden
05-11-2007, 09:42 PM
I will have to check the current after it has been off for a while.My wife had the car not start for her on thursday.She had someone jumpstart the car.Since the car started i jumped on the battery thinking it had been drained.I had to jump start the car again last night.Once again this seemed to work,although It took longer than it should have.This morning she called me home from work because the car would not start again.The battery was disconnected after i started and ran the car for 30 inutes last night.I tried to jump the car but noticed that i did not get any spark from the cables when connecting.I checked the battery voltage and it was in the mid 13 range.Advance tested the battery and it was good. Turns out that our starter had gone bad.Once i changed it the car started fine.
The reason i jumped on the current drain to begin with is that an Advance system test showed a .7 amp drain with a good battery, alternator and Starter.
I suspect that the starter was the culprit all along.
As far as the wiper/VAPS circuit the GEM is also tied into it.The owners manual shows several different items, all abbreviated of course, and i haven't much of a clue as to what some of them are.
If it does not immediately shut everything down then what i have is probably completely normal.
Thanks for your help
The reason i jumped on the current drain to begin with is that an Advance system test showed a .7 amp drain with a good battery, alternator and Starter.
I suspect that the starter was the culprit all along.
As far as the wiper/VAPS circuit the GEM is also tied into it.The owners manual shows several different items, all abbreviated of course, and i haven't much of a clue as to what some of them are.
If it does not immediately shut everything down then what i have is probably completely normal.
Thanks for your help
way2old
05-13-2007, 07:49 PM
The GEM will shut things down in stages. The .700A is a starting point. After a few minutes it should drop to around .200 to .350A. Then the final drop will be around .055 or less. Good luck.
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