1996 Ford Windstar battery charge

Tiny
BARBSTEPHE
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 FORD WINDSTAR
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 200,000 MILES
Some days the van will start an other days it will not
the battery has to be jumped even thro its a new battery new to know what causes this. It make run for a week or day and it has to be jumped again
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Thursday, November 11th, 2010 AT 6:29 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,757 POSTS
You could have a bad battery, a connection problem or a parasitic draw that may even be intermittent.

There is a procedure for finding a battery draw like that.

You will need a digital ammeter and a jumper wire with clips on the ends to do this.
First rig any door switches so you can have a door open without triggering the interior lights and unplug the hood light. Remove one battery cable and attach the meter in series between the battery cable and battery post. Take the jumper wire and also attach it the same way. Leave the jumper wire on for at least 10 minutes to expire all the automatic timers. Now remove the jumper wire and read the meter. Anything over 50ma is too much draw. The way you locate this is to start removing fuses one at a time until the meter drops to normal level. This will be the circuit with something staying on. Determine what components are part of that circuit and check them individually until the problem is isolated.
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Thursday, November 11th, 2010 AT 6:59 AM

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