F-150 battery drain

30

Asked by Guru29BV May 09, 2017 at 01:46 PM about the 2000 Ford F-150 Work 4WD Extended Cab LB

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My 2000 F-150 has had 2 new batteries in
the last 3 months.  Parasitic drain Is
certain.  My amp meter fluctuates between
.05 and .01 amp.  I disconnect the negative
battery terminal and the cluster relay #2 in
the cab fuse panel alternates on and off.  
To my knowledge nothing is being
activated.  KOEO.  Brought the alternator
in to have it checked.  They put new
regulator in it.  Problem is still there.  
Battery dropped from full charge 12.8V to
11V in 24 hrs.  Anybody have ideas? We

7 Answers

30

Ok! Gotcha I'll check that out and get back. The #2 relay (instrument cluster) I think is being fed juice from a previous auto start that was remove (probably didn't work and was badly connected). But I'll do the sequence of checks as you described. Thanks Tennisshoes :-)

30

Well I disconnected the alternator and still get that blinking relay #2 under the dash. I got rid of all the remote starter wiring and rechecked. Same same. Then I pulled one plug at a time under the dash and still same same. Even unbolted harness to steering column and no change. I'm starting to wonder if this cluster relay is supposed to be on all the time? I switched with #1 relay and no difference. However that position #1 only has juice with door open switch. So I still can't isolate the problem yet with #2 cluster relay. If it is supposed to be on all the time then I have a circuit that draws too much current somewhere in the cluster gauges etc. Not having a diagram makes this difficult. Any suggestions please?

1 people found this helpful.
30

In case you're interested I disconnected and reconnected every darn thing I could lay my hands on under the dash and...it works. No drain and everything works. Go figure. Just hope it lasts...

1 people found this helpful.

I'm having that problem in my '94 F150 XLT. The keyless entry system is supposed to open the circuits to lots of courtesy lamps and other things after a delay. If you leave a door open, the dome light and door courtesy light should not drain the battery as the keyless entry system should open the circuit (fuse 8 on mine) I now have to see it the timeout removes the approximately 120 ma current that shows with everything off. i just discovered this feature and have not looked into it yet.

My problem turned out to be the recall cable assembly and master cylinder switch. The switch was failing to ground and draining the battery through the brake fluid soaked cable. The fuse in the cable was open. Replace both and cruise control returned along with no battery drain.

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