2000 taurus

[kads]

2000 taurus my mothers car, battery won.t stay chargerd.. installed new battery three days later dead battery,, dealer is doing this work but after three batteries , i took it home ,, any suggestions, only has 38ooo on it she only drives around town and sometimes about 20 miles away one way..

[shorod]

First, check the glovebox and trunk to make sure the lights aren't staying on. Next, pull fuses one at a time to find out which one causes the current draw to drop. Check that circuit for items on that fuse.

-Rod

[Airjer_]

Anything more than .050 amps is too much and will drain the battery overnight.

[shorod]

Originally Posted by Airjer_

Anything more than .050 amps is too much and will drain the battery overnight.

I've been victim to this. The car may need to sit for 45 minutes or more though before all the electronics go into standby mode and show the true long-term current draw. Up until that point, you may see 1 - 2 amps of draw.

-Rod

[Airjer_]

I forgot about that! most cars it is really important to monitor the draw for at least 30 minutes for jumping to conclusions. The fords will not shut down the modules until there has been no activity between them for at least 30 minutes sometimes longer. Other vehicles have similar protocols. Most newer vehicles will appear to have a draw right off the bat but the current draw will typically drop after a given time. At that point if the draw is more than the above its time to dig in and start pulling fuses.

The nice thing about the fords is you can use a screw driver to trip the latch in the closed position on the door. This will turn off all the interior lights and allow the door to be open for easy access to the cab without resetting the "draw". Every time you open the door the countdown will start over!

[kads]

thanks for the answers for moms ford..how do i go about checking the amp draw?? do i just let the car sit for 30 minutes after triping the door lock with a screwdriver.and start pulling fusses?? thanks

[Airjer_]

You'll need a multi meter with an amp setting or a low amp probe. Then you will need to either clamp the probe around the positive cable or remove the cable from the battery and install the multi meter leads in series. Positive lead to the battery negative lead to the cable end.

It might be a better idea to bring it in and have them check for draws.

[shorod]

Yep, and an in-series current meter would need to be installed prior to the 30-minute (or more) sitting since, if you disconnected the battery, the sleep timer would restart.

-Rod