Hot relay & draining battery

[marvel9]

Hi,
Suddenly my battery is dead, so I got my battery changed. But I suspect my battery is draining because the current flowing over the battery cable was 570mA with engine stopped, door closed.
I found two relays on the left side in the fusebox under driver seat is always hot. After pulling out these relays, it dropped to 280mA.
I went to mechanics and he said the current should be less than 50mA and I should wait for 45 minutes to get the electric system settled down with series connected multimeter.
I still think that 50mA is too high. How much should it be?
Should I wait for 45 minutes?
What are these two relays on the left side in the fuse box under driver seat for? Does anybody have realy map?

[rivguy]

I normaly look for under 30ma - ford calls for 30 but I wouldn't worry too much about 50 - you HAVE TO WAIT - if the modules aren't asleep your never going to get an accurate result

[catvents]

Originally Posted by marvel9

Hi,
Suddenly my battery is dead, so I got my battery changed. But I suspect my battery is draining because the current flowing over the battery cable was 570mA with engine stopped, door closed.
I found two relays on the left side in the fusebox under driver seat is always hot. After pulling out these relays, it dropped to 280mA.
I went to mechanics and he said the current should be less than 50mA and I should wait for 45 minutes to get the electric system settled down with series connected multimeter.
I still think that 50mA is too high. How much should it be?
Should I wait for 45 minutes?
What are these two relays on the left side in the fuse box under driver seat for? Does anybody have realy map?

I would like to look in my Windstar 2001 electrical wiring diagram book, however you have mentioned that the relays are located in the fuse box under the driver seat. But the fuse box is located under the dash panel (driver side).
I'm not aware of what could be the current draining but I could try to find which relay could be involve ( those hot relay). Are they located in the fuse box, under the dash panel ?

[marvel9]

Originally Posted by catvents

I would like to look in my Windstar 2001 electrical wiring diagram book, however you have mentioned that the relays are located in the fuse box under the driver seat. But the fuse box is located under the dash panel (driver side).
I'm not aware of what could be the current draining but I could try to find which relay could be involve ( those hot relay). Are they located in the fuse box, under the dash panel ?

Yes, they are in the fuse box under the dash panel. Thanks.

[RickMN]

6 relays in the fuse box.
Upper left Relay #1= Switched System Power Relay #4
Lower left Relay #4= Switched System Power Relay #3
Upper middle Relay#2= Accessory Delay Relay
Upper Right Relay #3= Front Blower Motor Relay
Lower Middle Relay #5= Rear Defrost Relay
Lower Right Relay #6= Aux Blower Motor Relay

[marvel9]

Originally Posted by RickMN

6 relays in the fuse box.
Upper left Relay #1= Switched System Power Relay #4
Lower left Relay #4= Switched System Power Relay #3
Upper middle Relay#2= Accessory Delay Relay
Upper Right Relay #3= Front Blower Motor Relay
Lower Middle Relay #5= Rear Defrost Relay
Lower Right Relay #6= Aux Blower Motor Relay

Thanks a lot.
By the way What is 'Switched System'??

[12Ounce]

Good question. I have tried to fiqure out why Ford installed these relays. Could be they offer a bit of time delay when first installing a battery or something ... ???

I've finally decided, instead, that they must have been thought of as a trouble shooting aide ... by separating the electric load into "pieces" that could easily be dropped when hunting for problems. ??? Fuses would have worked just as well ... and would not have had the nuisance constant relay coil drainage load. ????

Perhaps they are to protect the on-board "brains". If you are losing system voltage for whatever reason, perhaps they are expected to fall out early ... leaving enough battery voltage to keep the PCM alive. ????