Battery Drain / Power consumption

[ulwur]

Hi All!

I have a ´97 Windstar. Not thet the cold season starts (here in Sweden) my Winstar have developed a battery problem.

The battery is probably "sulfated", as it was dead when I bought the car in April, the dealer had to use jump-cables to start it (I should probably have demanded he change the battery, but well I didn't) and now when the temeperatures fall below freezeinpoint in the mornings the battery is dead...

I have to change the battery sooner or later, the later the better as Ford charges a hefty $330 for a battery !!

Well, for my question. To delay the inevitable I have checked the power consumtion, and the car drains almost 0.3 amps from the battery when it's parked with alls lamps off etc.
220 mAmps of that current goes through the "battery saver relay" (the relay is not activated, doors shut, not playing ith the power windows etc..) 80 mAmps drains through a rely in the engine compartment labeled "Extra equipment"... (Probably the receiver of the radio-controlled car alarm).

Is 300 mAmps drain from the battery normal? I can't figure out what's eating the current..

/Ulwur
Uppsala, Sweden

[CoachKarl]

Good Question Ulwur. What if you disconnected the battery when you park the car overnight, then re-connect it when you want to drive the car in the morning? Will the battery start the car? If it doesn't, get a new battery. I wouldn't buy it from a Ford dealer though. I guess, in your case, you've got a "foreign" car on your hands. Try to find one cheaper.

CoachKarl

[ulwur]

Thank you CoachCarl for your reply.

Sure if I discnnect the battery leads there's no problem starting the car. I discnnected the "battey saver relay" and left it for 6 days with no problems starting it.

This is to everyone:
Haven't anyone measured the amps consumtion in your WindStar? I need a reference to decide wether I need to investigate the 200 mili-amps through the powersaver realy or if it's a normal figure.

Shut off the motor. Disconnect the positive terminal om the battery, and connect it through an amps-meter. (10 Amp scale). Shut all doors and wait for the interior lighting to turn off. (5-6 Amps with interior lighting on). What's the reading on the amps-meter ?

/Ulwur

[12Ounce]

ulwur
There once was a posting in the "The Windstar Report" @ cartrackers.com that covered the subject in great detail. Unfortunately that site is now in a somewhat catatonic state. But you can still search back ...for a year.

If you do a search for "battery drain" there, you may get some useful info....but that really good string is no longer there.

[DRW1000]

UlWur,

I think 300 mA sounds high but there are several items that still draw power when the car is sitting:

-PCM Memory
-Stereo Memory
-Remote Keyless standby circuit
-Some Relays
-Anti theft

You may or may not have all of the above. If I get a chance I will measure mine this weekend

[lewisnc100]

Any chance the 97 has a pull fuse like the 99+ Windstars have to save the battery for extended periods?

[swocky1]

This is just a guess and I could be totally wrong but if you battery is not charging it could be your alternator.

Just a thought!

[tiredlazydog]

I believe the windstar has a sleep mode after an hour or so after which it drains considerable less (30ma)

[ulwur]

Well. Just to sum up what happened.

The car still sucks 300 mA while parked, but I eventuellay had to get a new battery ($280 Yuck!! Even the salesperson couldn't believe his eyes when he looked up the price)

However, with the new battery it's no problem leaving the car parked two weeks in the cold, starts just fine.

Shuld have replaced the battery right from the beginning and spared me so much headace this last winter..

/Ulwur

[kevink1955]

I think the battery saver relay stays pulled in for about an hour after you shut the van down. Try leaving the meter connected for 1 or 2 hours and see if the current draw changes.

[wiswind]

Replacing the battery was a good thing, as a weak battery can place a high load on the alternator......which is trying to charge up the battery....causing the alternator to go bad.

[Riordan3]

Man thats a lot of cash for a battery. Got mine at Walmart last year for around $40.00. Also there was a issue with my 98 Windstar with the daytime running lights relay turning the headlights on intermittenty when the vehicle was shut off. There is a inline fuse to this relay which you can pull to prevent this from happening. Of course your daytime running lights will not work after doing this but at least you will not end up with a dead battery. I just turn my lights on manually when I drive which I got into the habit of doing anyway since our company requires us to burn our headlights whenever we are driving a company vehicle along with using our seatbelts. I am not saying you have this problem but you may. I shut mine off one night in the garage and went in the house. I came back out because I left something in the van and to my surprise the headlights were on. I didn't know about the fuse thing at the time, so I had to disconnect the battery to get the lights out. Just something to be aware of because its often overlooked. Another guy I work with had the same problem with his 98 Windstar ( our company had these for company cars)

[Riordan3]

In my previous post about the fuse for the daylight running lamps I forgot to mention where the fuse is located. It is located under the dash on the driver's side slightly left of the steering wheel. The relay for the daylight running lights is also located there in the same bundle of wires.

[wiswind]

Daytime running lamps, for those windstars outside the USA, things may be different.
For example.....Daytime running lamps were required on all new vehicles in Canada well before the USA.
What this means is that older Windstars, which do not have daytime running lamps in the USA, have them in Canada......from the factory.
If your Windstar was made for the USA market, and then someone took it to Canada......and licensed it in Canada, then it had to have the daytime running lamps upgrade done to it in order to be registered.