96 Sable draining battery - Car Troubleshooting


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96 Sable draining battery

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scarletandgrayfans
New User

Nov 7, 2010, 9:14 AM

Post #1 of 3 (1740 views)

96 Sable draining battery	Sign In

200K mi. school car. New battery put in within the last year. A few months later one morning, battery dead. Thought teenager left lights..on. Recharged battery and fine for another few weeks. Now I've charged the battery 8-10 times over the last few months. Battery tests good, I've cleaned the terminals, sprayed some WD-40 in the drivers latch and tried pulling fuses to bypass the problem (which I think may be in one of the door latches). I haven's noticed the dome light staying on but can't be sure since this doesn't happen every day. If I can pull a fuse to fix the problem that would be great. Just trying to find the simplest/cheapest fix for a teenagers transportation. Found a link (somewhere) that mentioned I could be dealing with a bad relay switch ($5 part) that is soldiered to the fuse box and would run $175 or so. I hope this isn't the case. Thanks for any help you could send me.

Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 7, 2010, 9:18 AM

Post #2 of 3 (1738 views)

Re: 96 Sable draining battery	Sign In

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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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.

scarletandgrayfans
New User

Nov 7, 2010, 9:36 AM

Post #3 of 3 (1732 views)

Re: 96 Sable draining battery	Sign In

Thanks, I'll give that a try to the best of my abilities and let you know what I come up with.

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