2000 Windstar Dead Battery

Hi All

I am working with a 2000 Winnie with a repeat dead battery after sitting overnight or for a few days. New battery, Alternator producing between 13.6 and 14.1 under all different load conditions, All battery leads and ground clean. No obvious draws - reading lights, glove box light etc.. I have tried to measure cold draw (no expert) and I believe I am getting about 220MA which I don't think is much. I have pulled every fuse and cannot change that draw. I had Ford check the Vin number for the PCM re-calibrate TSB and no luck there. I am good and totally stumped. Looking to charge the battery so it can be tested again and also to pull the alternator for a bench test at autozone.

Any other ideas?
Thanks

Hi All

I am working with a 2000 Winnie with a repeat dead battery after sitting overnight or for a few days. New battery, Alternator producing between 13.6 and 14.1 under all different load conditions, All battery leads and ground clean. No obvious draws - reading lights, glove box light etc.. I have tried to measure cold draw (no expert) and I believe I am getting about 220MA which I don't think is much. I have pulled every fuse and cannot change that draw. I had Ford check the Vin number for the PCM re-calibrate TSB and no luck there. I am good and totally stumped. Looking to charge the battery so it can be tested again and also to pull the alternator for a bench test at autozone.

Any other ideas?
Thanks
I have a 2002 Windstar and have exactly the same problem. About a year ago, after several incidents, I replaced the original battery which was dead at that point. I didn't have any problem until about a month ago, and now the thing is dead twice in the last two weeks. I've had my mechanic and an auto electrician go over the car, and they can't find anything - no excessive draws - nothing. Anybody that has any suggestions would make me real happy.

Do the courtesy lights go out after a reasonable amount of time?

Yes. Everything seems to work properly. All of the timers work, lights go off if left on, etc. Only, periodically I get a dead (or almost dead) battery.

I know this may sound like a silly question, but have you replaced the speakers lately??

No. Haven't replaced the speakers or anything else for that matter. This problem has been around for a while - it killed my original battery about a year ago. I thought nothing of it at the time - thought it might be the battery then. But now, the Interstate battery that I have is really a good one, so when it happened this time - twice in a couple of weeks - it really got my attention. First I took it to my regular mechanic, who checked all of the draws and found nothing. Then I took it to an auto electrician, who checked all of the modules and found nothing. So, whatever is going on is not apparent to at least one 'expert'. The car is still under warranty, but I suspect that when I call the dealer they a) won't know anything and b) will find nothing as well. Any suggestions will be useful when I get to the dealer.

I went through a lot of dead batterys..made several replacements... finally got the biggest and baddest that Sam's club had and the problem went away. But I still carry an extra battery around ... just in case.

Do you know about fuse #6? Read your glovebox manual. I used it quite often when I had the problem.

There is a TSB (PCM reprogram) that came out for this problem. It changes something about the "keep alert" system. I have not had it done... but it's next on my list if the problem reoccurs.

Another stoopid question :)

Your battery doesn't have top electrodes, does it? If it does (it shouldn't) then look at the hood over the battery area for corrosion. The battery can discharge slowly through the hood without direct contact in that case.

Addtionally, look for corrosion or corrosion products around the power box under the hood... corrosion implies current.

Well,
thanks for all the replies. My friend went ahead and took the van to a shop as he needed to get Momma's (4 Daughters) Van on the road. The shop traced a cold draw to the rear window wiper. Apparently, it can draw power to "park" itself if you shut it off in mid position. It was somehow (I did not see it or talk to the mechs) stuck away from park and was constantly pulling a load to right itself. Seems to me that a fuse should have blown, but that was/is the answer for now.

Makes sense! Thanks for the feedback.

My wife's 2003's battery had been dying every morning and my mechanic found a cold draw as well, reading about 6 every thirty seconds or so. We walked around the car listening and could hear a thunking sound coming from the rear window wiper arm area. Removed the appropriate fuse and the draw went away.
The wiper motor had been acting up before then. Turn it on and instead of completing a normal sweep pattern of the window, it would sweep down under the window.
My mechanic is ordering a schematic for the van so he can try to find why there is a draw.