1990 Ford E-150

[vlad]

Good day everyone, I have a beautiful 1990 Ford E-150. Problem is the battery keeps draining overnight. Been going on for some time now. I've changed the battery 3 times, new alternator, new battery connections. Works for 2 months with every new battery then dies every morning.
Any advice to retifying this issue.

 

[[email protected]]

Good day everyone, I have a beautiful 1990 Ford E-150. Problem is the battery keeps draining overnight. Been going on for some time now. I've changed the battery 3 times, new alternator, new battery connections. Works for 2 months with every new battery then dies every morning.
Any advice to rectifying this issue.

it sounds to me like you have an electrical short, probably a pinched wire. What I do is to disconnect the fuse one at a time at night to isolate the circuit that is shorting. Its a slow process but its better than just tearing wires out looking for it. Good luck on your safari hunt.

 

[bullfrog !]

Ford clocks used to be famous for running down batteries after they got old. Putting a test light between a disconnected battery cable and the post may help you find the circuit using the most battery power at the same time pulling fuses and putting them back one at a time. The test light should not be bright and if pulling a fuse substantially dims the light even more then you have found the circuit most likely causing the battery to run down. Lighting circuits like dome/dash/footwell lights with bad bulbs can stay on and short through the burned element to ground. Replace any burned out bulbs with good working ones and make sure they all go off when they should. Have your “new” alternator checked by an automotive electrical shop. Sometimes they can have shorted components that will run the battery down while setting but still charge normally when the engine is running. Most chain parts stores just check to see if they charge while running.

 

[eDJ_]

I have a 90 E-350 and listened to some other Econoline owners speak of weird things that they have encountered.

Your situation reminds me of one of them. He found his ignition switch to be the problem. He had quite a few miles on it and the rig had been used mainly in the city for delivery. (lots of stop & starting)

I would agree with Bullfrog that you need to find a qualified electrician (better a qualified automotive electrician) to trouble shoot your system.

One other guy was having problems with his fuel pumps and the problem was in the ignition switch where the contact points are located to signal the relay to the pumps. The electrical tech turned the key to on and there no sounds from the pumps coming up. He checked the relay and it was good. He noticed the mileage was high and asked the owner if the rig would start from time to time. The answer was yes.....so his diagnosis was the ignition switch where contact points may have been burnt out from wear. But if other points weren't working properly, it would have caused the battery to discharge over night.

 

[Carla618]

Good day everyone, I have a beautiful 1990 Ford E-150. Problem is the battery keeps draining overnight. Been going on for some time now. I've changed the battery 3 times, new alternator, new battery connections. Works for 2 months with every new battery then dies every morning.
Any advice to retifying this issue.

I had the same problem for two years with my 1995 F250. There are many posts here in the truck forum about my battery problem. Went through two new Interstate batteries. If the problem was a parasitic draw (drain), a more powerful battery seemed to have fixed it.

Got a bigger battery a year ago and the issue went away. Starts every morning.

 

[wayne49]

More likely the draw is not enough to drain the more powerful battery overnight, yet.

Given enough time the issue may come back.

 

[Geneeus]

I had the same problem for two years with my 1995 F250. There are many posts here in the truck forum about my battery problem. Went through two new Interstate batteries. If the problem was a parasitic draw (drain), a more powerful battery seemed to have fixed it.

Got a bigger battery a year ago and the issue went away. Starts every morning.

Hi
Every device connected to the battery without a “real” on/off switch continuously drains your battery. The USB charger for your phone, the inverter to charge your laptop, etc. for example, my cooler when "off" draws 1/5th of an amp. When you add that to other devices which aren't off when they are in sleep mode, and you can have a significant draw over 10 or 12 hours. Chinese products, which include most USB chargers, are known culprits. Not only do they draw a lot of current when they are charging a device (They're not always very efficient) but they can draw a lot of current when not in use. And, they can degrade over time. (For the technical minded, the problem is with the cheap filter caps, which have increased leakage over time).

Replacing the battery with a larger one is a great way to enrichen the retailer, but it doesn't fix the problem.

 

[travelinsu]

Do you have any beeping noises when you first turn the key? My parasitic draw in my 1996 E-350 turned out to be the air bag module which emitted a trouble code beep when I would first turn the key.

 

[BelgianPup]

Re: parasitic draw... I don't know much about mechanical stuff, but if you tow a trailer and don't disconnect it when you're parked overnight, I understand you'll usually affect the truck battery. Just tossing this out there. It was news to me when I read it.

 

[Carla618]

Replacing the battery with a larger one is a great way to enrichen the retailer, but it doesn't fix the problem.

The last mechanic who worked on my truck tested it for a drain. He didn't find one, so he suggested a bigger battery. Turns out my last two batteries were not rated high enough for my truck. That mechanic had replaced a bad battery with one the same (wrong) size. I didn't complain because he saved me a bundle on repairs and gave me a "new" truck. Just glad the problem went away.

Btw, the only thing plugged into my truck is a USB for my music. I don't have anything in it to charge.

 

[Carla618]

More likely the draw is not enough to drain the more powerful battery overnight, yet.

Given enough time the issue may come back.

It came back

 

[Carla618]

Replacing the battery with a larger one is a great way to enrichen the retailer, but it doesn't fix the problem.

The drain is back. I didn't drive the truck for three days and battery died. Taking it into the shop to see if the owner can find the drain.

 

[Gr8ful]

An easy way to see if you have parasitic drain is to disconnect the ground cable from the battery & in the dark or cover the battery so it's dark then touch the grd cable to the neg post & if you see a spark you have a draw. A quick fix for a draw is a disconnect switch on the battery post. Cheap & easy until you can find the draw. The '93 E350 Ambo has a 7.3l diesel with 2 huge batteries & a master switch in the cab which I left on for 3 or 4 weeks. It started but was charging @ 150 amps, way more than normal but it has a 250 amp alt. I'd buy a portable jump box as it's also handy for charging phones, laptops, running inverters, etc. Amazon runs them for about 1/2 price often. I paid under $50 for one of the most powerful. Good luck!

 

[Carla618]

An easy way to see if you have parasitic drain is to disconnect the ground cable from the battery & in the dark or cover the battery so it's dark then touch the grd cable to the neg post & if you see a spark you have a draw. A quick fix for a draw is a disconnect switch on the battery post. Cheap & easy until you can find the draw. The '93 E350 Ambo has a 7.3l diesel with 2 huge batteries & a master switch in the cab which I left on for 3 or 4 weeks. It started but was charging @ 150 amps, way more than normal but it has a 250 amp alt. I'd buy a portable jump box as it's also handy for charging phones, laptops, running inverters, etc. Amazon runs them for about 1/2 price often. I paid under $50 for one of the most powerful. Good luck!

When I went to jump my truck with my trusty jumper thing, I found out I killed it. It won't take a charge. But, my fault because I forgot to put it on the charger after I used it last time. Guessing that is what happened. It was $150.00 at O'Reilly auto parts about 3 years ago. I was going to ask here for suggestions for a replacement. It worked great for the time I had it. Got many, many jumps out of it. This is it:

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/super-start/battery---accessories/battery-jump-starters/f1ed73b0a83b/super-start-1000-amp-jump-starter-with-air-compressor/ss02/55003?pos=1

 

[Gr8ful]

Here's one of the 2 I have $49 on Amazon, good reviews & an Amazon choice. I paid $31 last January so you may get it on sale. It doesn't have an air compressor like yours but you could take it off & use with a new jump box or replace the battery in your old jump box.
It's the one on the left says $71 but $49 if you're a prime member.

2000A 12V Auto Jump Starter 20000mAh Car Starter Jumper Power Bank Battery Booster Jump Starter Pack QC 3.0 Smart Jumper Cable for Truck up to 8.0L Gas/6.5L Diesel​

Visit the BooKoo Store
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 750 ratings

| 20 answered questions

Amazon'sChoicefor "car starter jumper power

 

[Carla618]

Here's one of the 2 I have $49 on Amazon, good reviews & an Amazon choice.

Thanks so much! My compressor didn't work that great anyway.

 

[Carla618]

More likely the draw is not enough to drain the more powerful battery overnight, yet.

Given enough time the issue may come back.

You were right