chasing the short.....

[IDIoit]

and its the worst part of working on a vehicle!

WIRING!!!

a couple of weeks ago i left my lights on.
went out the next day to a dead vehicle. (1998 E350)

well i swapped the primary battery for a good one, and let it sit overnight...

i was hoping i just had a dead battery.

NOPE

its gotta have a short somewhere....

i pulled the headlight switch and the pig tail isnt the best but it isnt all burnt up like i thought it was.

i plan on charging it today, and leaving the switch disconnected.

i hope its just the switch.....

any comments or suggestions would be very helpfull....

ive got to get my 87 done!!!!

 

[79jasper]

With everything shut off, see what still has power.
Don't forget checking the alternator.
I've heard of the pcm relay sticking.

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[junk]

Check out Eric the Car guy. He has a good youtube video on finding parasitic drains that kill batteries. He's all over Youtube and has his own website.

THose suck! I wish you luck.

 

[79jasper]

https://youtu.be/KF1gijj03_0

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[F350camper]

One thing I've done before. pull every fuse and see if it still kills the bat. if not put half of them back in and sort of play the price is right game till you figure out who the freeloader is.

 

[greenskeeper]

One thing I've done before. pull every fuse and see if it still kills the bat. if not put half of them back in and sort of play the price is right game till you figure out who the freeloader is.

or put a meter on each fuse space and check for draw with the key off.

 

[IDIoit]

lastnight i swapped headlight switches

i bought the pig tail to install also...

charged a battery overnight, and didnt have a problem today, but we shall see, i suspct it will be dead again in the AM

works crazy busy, no time for my trucks/boats

 

[IDIoit]

well, it wasnt the headlight switch!
deader than a door nail this morning.
guess i get to chase the wires

 

[IDIoit]

so, i do not have a parasitic loss, according to the meter.

one battery disconnected,
meter on the front battery,
meter on 10A
and it reads 0.05, which according to the video, is good.

i went ahead and replaced both batterys, with the thinking that the underneath battery was dead.
and perhaps grounding out?
the water cap was off and had a huge dent in it...

i really hope this fixes the issue.

 

[79jasper]

I wander if on a 2 battery setup, you have to disconnect both to get a good reading?
But yeah, sounds like that battery could've been toast.

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[IDIoit]

secondary batt was disconnected

i had both unhooked, and used ohms to see if i can find the short,
pulled fuse #4, ok door int lamp and main light switch...
then i remembered to push the door button in lol

no draw.

 

[79jasper]

Probably just the battery then.

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[94f450sd]

With dual batts always replace as a pair with dates close as possible.

If one battery is bad itll draw the other battery down.

 

[IDIoit]

both batterys are dated 11/2015

 

[IDIoit]

and success!
it was just a battery.