Parasitic Draw

[mwarney52]

I'm about to start tracing a 250 ma draw on my 2013 Explorer XLT 6cyl that is killing my battery every few days. I see a number of threads on this subject already but I had a question that I didn't see addressed. Maybe a dumb question too but when pulling fuses to identify the draw, should I also be pulling those large square block fuses? I read somewhere that they can be damaged if not removed properly.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum.
Unfortunately, I don't have the answer. Good luck.

Peter

 

[texsn95]

Do you mean the relays? Those are large, square and usually have three prongs, and yes can sometimes stick internally and cause a drain. There shouldn't be any issues pulling those.

 

[mwarney52]

Do you mean the relays? Those are large, square and usually have three prongs, and yes can sometimes stick internally and cause a drain. There shouldn't be any issues pulling those.

No, There are large cube shaped fuses along with the regular blade fuses. Not sure if I can (or should) pull them straight out. This is the under hood fuse box. There is another fuse box behind the steering wheel with quite a few more blade fuses. I any case, I plan on going through all the blade fuses first.

 

[texsn95]

Ah ok, apparently those are called Jcase fuses, and are a pain to remove without breaking them. I read where they can break if you use standard needle-nose pliers, and folks had success with a thin screwdriver and alot of patience. Or something like this

 

[J_C]

Are you aware that after any wakeup event, like disconnecting the battery, opening a door, opening hood with switch, etc, can wake the vehicle up and then the 250mA draw is normal till some period of time (like maybe 30 min to 1 hr) has passed?

Anyway, the easier way to test draw is not to pull the fuses but rather to measure voltage drop across them while still installed. This assumes you still have the factory fuses or at least a major brand, not generic chinese fuses which are often too conductive for their rating and throw off the readings.

Web search for "fuse voltage drop test" to see instructions how to do that. You'll also find charts that show voltage reading vs current flowing for each type and current value of fuse.

 

[mwarney52]

Are you aware that after any wakeup event, like disconnecting the battery, opening a door, opening hood with switch, etc, can wake the vehicle up and then the 250mA draw is normal till some period of time (like maybe 30 min to 1 hr) has passed?

Anyway, the easier way to test draw is not to pull the fuses but rather to measure voltage drop across them while still installed. This assumes you still have the factor fuses or at least a major brand, not generic chinese fuses which are often too conductive for their rating and throw off the readings.

Web search for "fuse voltage drop test" to see instructions how to do that. You'll also find charts that show voltage reading vs current flowing for each type and current value of fuse.

Yes, I found that out when I disconnected the battery. Amps jump up to around 2.5 then settle down after a while to around .25 (250 ma) and stay there. I left it for an hour and was still drawing .25 amps. Takes about three or four days to kill the battery. I did find the voltage drop method on line and will give that a try first.

 

[mwarney52]

Are you aware that after any wakeup event, like disconnecting the battery, opening a door, opening hood with switch, etc, can wake the vehicle up and then the 250mA draw is normal till some period of time (like maybe 30 min to 1 hr) has passed?

Anyway, the easier way to test draw is not to pull the fuses but rather to measure voltage drop across them while still installed. This assumes you still have the factory fuses or at least a major brand, not generic chinese fuses which are often too conductive for their rating and throw off the readings.

Web search for "fuse voltage drop test" to see instructions how to do that. You'll also find charts that show voltage reading vs current flowing for each type and current value of fuse.

Well... Thanks for the tip, and I was looking forward to giving it a shot, but unfortunately I am not able to contort my body enough to get test leads on the under dash fuses. Grrr... I'd like to know who thought it was a good ide to put the fuse box up there Argh! Maybe if I remove the driver seat.

 

[peterk9]

Well... Thanks for the tip, and I was looking forward to giving it a shot, but unfortunately I am not able to contort my body enough to get test leads on the under dash fuses. Grrr... I'd like to know who thought it was a good ide to put the fuse box up there Argh! Maybe if I remove the driver seat.

It's the same location in all 5th gen Explorers. They only changed it in the 6th gen.

Peter