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1996 Mercury grand marquis parasitic draw


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Akboy99
New User

Jan 13, 2024, 2:48 PM

Post #1 of 4 (312 views)
1996 Mercury grand marquis parasitic draw Sign In

So I've been attempting to troubleshoot my car it's been dying a lot lately basically in a matter of hours I had been jump starting it to get it going until i learned that that kills a battery so I charged my battery for a couple of hours on two amps trickle charge it was reading approximately 12.5 volts so I figured it was strong enough to do a parasitic draw test I installed it under the hood with only the pos cable attached and I began to do my test with my multi meter on 10 amps i was reading a 0.09 draw 30 minutes later I do a volt test on my battery and it's reading around 12.25 volts so I'm figuring the battery could possibly be no good even though it's not even a year old anyways I narrow the draw down to fuse number 8 when I unplug it and test the battery for a draw it bounces from 0.03 to 0.09 draw and never flat lines to a certain number this fuse protects many different circuits the LCM, power mirrors, remote keyless entry, clock memory, EATC, power locks, power seats, power windows. I guess I'm just at a loss for what I should do next notable problems with this car do include the ignition switches on off start is broken but kills any draw as long as it's in the right position and starts still when you rotate it as long as the battery isn't dead any tips would be very much appreciated thank you


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Jan 13, 2024, 2:58 PM

Post #2 of 4 (305 views)
Re: 1996 Mercury grand marquis parasitic draw Sign In

90% of the time people have problem finding draws because they are doing the test wrong.

The first thing to do is have the battery tested.

Here is the correct procedure


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 30 to 40 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.
Note that the act of pulling fuses will often restart some timers so you may have to wait for them to expire if that happens



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Akboy99
New User

Jan 13, 2024, 3:26 PM

Post #3 of 4 (297 views)
Re: 1996 Mercury grand marquis parasitic draw Sign In

Okay I have a friend coming with an ammeter and a jumper wire with clips tomorrow and im going to go have the battery tested at oreileys right now but I'm understanding your procedure all the way up until the jumper wire... so just like how I am using my meter in series with the battery and the negative battery cable where am I supposed to attach this jumper wire from the negative battery post to the cable? Thank you for the advice thus far


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Jan 13, 2024, 3:29 PM

Post #4 of 4 (296 views)
Re: 1996 Mercury grand marquis parasitic draw Sign In

The jumper wire is just there to expire the timers without going through the meter. If you get a current surge over 10A it will burn out your meter.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.







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