Ford Windstar Draining Battery

klb96klb96 Member Posts: 2
edited June 2014 in Ford

Hello all I'm new to the forum. Nonetheless, I've been reading the questions and replies, and it appears that I'm in the right place. Something has been draining the power from my battery. It started about a month ago when my dashboard illumination just went out, I simply would disconnect the negative terminal, and that seemed to do the trick. Within the past week, it has gotten progressively worst to the point that I have to disconnect both sides of my terminal, but that doesn't seem to do the trick either. Every time I cut off my engine, I have to jump it to get it going again. I need help before it kills my battery. FYI...everytime I jump my battery, it continues to hold the charge.

Answers

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited June 2014

    What model Ford? Year?

    Have you done a load test on the battery or trickle charged it for a day or two? Simply jumping it and driving it around may not be sufficient to "charge" the battery.

  • klb96klb96 Member Posts: 2

    96 Ford Windstar. I've put it on a slow trickle charge, and it has held the charge. It originally began when my "door ajar" chime came on, but I sprayed all of the doors with WD40, and all the dose were closed, so I yanked the door chime fuse, and the interior lights fuse. I have a sneaky suspicion that it is indeed an electrical problem, but I don't know where/how to began. Can you tell me how to test fuse shorts with a digital multimeter?

  • klb96klb96 Member Posts: 2
    edited June 2014

    So when I put my charger on my battery, when I put it on the slow trickle charge, the charger shows that the battery is fully charged within 10-15 min. However, when I connect the battery to the terminals, apparently it's not enough "voltage" (5 VOLTS) to be exact, to turn the engine over. Should I fill the cells with distilled water and put it on a trickle charge overnight and see if she'll crank then? Also, how do test fuses with a digital multi-meter? Please help. This is the first "major" electrical issue that I've had with my Windstar, and after 224k miles, I think that's pretty good. The engine purrs, and I keep waiting for the tranny to go, but it not showing any signs of weakness. This is my dilemma./

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