Originally Posted by Shaggy1970

I'll find the drain before Ford does. I am free all day tomorrow and I will find it if its the last thing I will ever do with this POS. Anyone know exactly how many fuse boxes this thing has? I have found three so far will check every possible source and report back tomorrow night with findings.

Originally Posted by 13ecoboostlariat

Kansas City

Originally Posted by conger

Keep in mind that the message may not be the problem. The system may be doing exactly what it was programmed to do. It is shutting down non essential electrics in anticipation of an event or events that will drain the battery. The battery monitor system monitors battery current while the vehicle is off. So if a pattern of battery drain is occurring, then the message appears no matter how long you have driven it. Since the pattern has already been established, the system will still alert with the message because it thinks the battery will have excessive current draw after the engine gets switched off.

Originally Posted by conger

I got a called from the Ford Canada rep today. My case has been escalated to the next level now. It was a pretty good phone call. We spoke for about 20 minutes. We discussed some of what my dealer has done to troubleshoot so far. We also spoke about the real issue of the parasitic battery drain. Nothing I described about the issue with the truck surprised or was news to him. He seemed to be quite familiar with it already. Heard assured me that he will investigate my particular service history and will get the Ford engineers to work with the dealer for guidance. We spoke of some different troubleshooting approaches to the current drain. The truck's battery current sits at about 300 ma. when the engine is first switched off. Within about 15 minutes the battery current drops to about 30 ma. Which is normal. But at some point while the vehicle sits dormant, battery current increases again as some device turns on. Two things are: what is turning on and when does it happen. So this needs to be troubleshot when this event occurs. It will be a tricky thing. Data logging current meter will tell them when. That's when they have to start pulling fuses to isolate the system at fault. We both agreed that it will be difficult.
I will post new info as it comes.

Originally Posted by conger

Good luck, I wonder how hard it will be to get your hands on the wiring diagrams. When I started building my Cobra I started with the harnesses from an 89 mustang LX. It took me about 3 months to diet and restore the harnesses. I got the oem schematics which were 9 pages (draft table size) you're going to need the diags. They won't be cheap.
Have you got a clamp meter for current measurement. The typical off key current is around 30ma. The trick will be to wait till the current climbs and then start pulling fuses till it drops back to 30 ma.
Sorry I'm being a bit facetious. This type of snag is, a tough thing to troubleshoot. I hope you get somewher with it but I have my doubts. If it were as easy as pulling fuses, it would have been solved already.

Originally Posted by gsxr1216

Sounds like all the exact same things I heard from my rep also and my case was escalated also. At the end of the day Ford wont do anything to make it right in my case as they refuse to buy it back or replace it, they only offer to keep "trying" to fix it which they cant...

I can tell you when I have found my truck dead I have used a heat temp gun on all the fuses/relays and found NONE any warmer than ambient air temp... I have no idea if what is drawing is not fused, or if there are other fuse blocks I'm not finding on the truck and that is the circuit that's drawing?????

Originally Posted by conger

Your troubleshooting technique is flawed. This isn't a short circuit (high current) nothing will show up as a temperature increase. The type of draw that is causing the voltage to drop and eventually drain the battery is likely in the 300 to 500 ma. range. I've done this type of troubleshooting before and it is a slow and dragged out process. The normal key off draw is around 30 ma. With a clamp on ammeter, you wait until the draw climbs to 300ma or what you guess the fault current is at, then start pulling fuses while it is high. When it drops either you have found the system with the problem or the device has turned off. Then you repeat the process the next time the event happens starting where you left off.
Here's the down side. You maybe go through every fuse in the truck and not find the problem. Next step is to isolate with of the five major wire harnesses has the device causing the draw in it. Again the troubleshooting can only process during the higher current event.
I'm guessing this problem is going to involve something processor controlled.

Originally Posted by Atroz

Update:

After leaving my truck alone from 9PM to 4PM the next day my voltage dropped only slightly from 12.15 to 12.02 (and that is after opening the door and then letting it stabilize). So only a 0.13V drop over 19 hours. However I saw that same drop between 6 and 8 pm last night as well, but without opening the door but with the voltmeter connected. So it seems like it wants to drop to about 12V and then stabilize there. BTW, temperature was -20something C.

Originally Posted by gsxr1216

That wasnt my troubleshooting technique............ that was the when the truck is dead seeing if i could find a "warm" circuit because something that can suck a battery down from 12.8V to 6-7V in less than 8 hours is drawing decent current and should show a warm fuse/relay on that circuit.

I'm quite well aware as to how to do draw tests and isolate circuits as i'm an engineer. i have personally draw tested my truck several times and it goes down to 18ma when it goes to sleep. reality is the truck has been 9 times in 1.5 years, its never "acted up" the times i have draw tested it or the several times Ford has draw tested it. Had it shown a high draw i could have found the issue, with how sporadic it is the issue will never be found.....

Originally Posted by Shaggy1970

8 Hours spent tracking every possible angle, chased every single line of wire, pulled every single circuit breaker and there is no parasitic drag on the system other than the .41 ma which I am sure is for the resident memory of the ECU. Off all week, so I am spending all day tomorrow chasing down a hunch I got about the entire electrical system. Hope I find something at this point anything.