Current drain with ignition off ? - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Hyena · 07-27-2003, 22:32

Hey guys.
I'm just wondering if anyone has measured or knows off the top of their head what the current draw of a lateish model falcon should be with the ignition and everything else off - ie. as you would leave it when to lock and walk away.

I recently came back from holidays to find my EF2 futura 6 wouldn't start with a dead battery. I brought a new one only to find the same thing a few weeks later after a week of not driving it. I measured the current draw at rest and found it to be 0.15 amps. Does this sound about right ? The only thing I can think of that should be drawing power is the flashing led in the dash, the memory for the radio(non standard)and what ever the computer needs.

Is this normal ?
(I admit the battery I brought is a little under powered but I wouldnt have thought it'd die this quick)

Thanks

russellw · 07-28-2003, 00:43

Current drain should not exceed 50 milliamps after all the power saving features are activated (20 minutes or so).

There were a number of current leakage issues from EF through AU but a good starting place is the interior light circuit.

Cheers
Russ

Hyena · 07-29-2003, 21:54

I guess the best way to test the interior light circuit is to throw the multimetre in series with the interior light fuse ? Assuming there's current drain there with everything turned off how does one go about fixing these issues ???

gregaust · 07-30-2003, 03:27

Another source to check is the boot light and check it switches off..

TopGhia · 07-30-2003, 10:23

Best way is to disconnect the neg cable and put a meter/test lamp between the neg cable and neg post. If the light shines, pull fuses till the light goes out, that will be the circuit.

If you don't want to disable the computer, use an ammeter and keep the connection between battery and cable alive throught the meter.

Hooking up your amp meter will be tricky try this method. Loosen the neg. battery cable, slide the cable upward, connect your amp meter lead to the exposed post under the cable. Connect other meter lead to cable, remove cable completely from battery post. An alligator clip/s on the meter will help.

If done carefully, it will save having to reset the electronic gizmos.

Don't forget that bad diodes in the alternator can also cause a parasitic drain on the battery.

Let us know how you go with it.
cheers

Hyena · 07-30-2003, 16:06

TopGhia, I've currently got the +ve battery lead off for charging so losing settings/resetting the computer isn't an issue. I assume using the +ve lead vs the -ve to measure between doesn't matter ? If it was a crook earth you'd think the drain would be more than 150ma. I'll do the fuse pulling trick this weekend and report back.