Hi,

I am hoping to find someone who has had the same problem that we are having with our '89 Ford Ranger. Unless my boyfriend disconnects the battery cables everytime he parks, his battery loses its charge and frequently needs to be jumped to get it started. We have replaced the alternator recently and re-wired the stereo system, but neither has fixed the problem. We don't have a lot of money for diagnostics right now or we would just take it in. Does anyone know what might be draining the battery and is it something that he and his car savvy friends could fix themselves?

 

Courtney,

Sounds like a direct short (you might smell something) or something is still on when you remove the key. As a kid, I wired my car stereo directly to the fuse panel/battery; if I didn't remember to shutoff the stereo and amplifier, dead battery when I woke up.

Since the battery is apparently taking the charge and the alternator is charging it up, something is draining the battery. Who did the electrical on the stereo? What is meant by re-wiring? Hopefully you folks aren't experiencing my past. Try an Advanced Search here and see what you can find out. Maybe this is a known gremlin.

Kevin

 

Courtney,

I did a search on “dead battery” + stereo and got a few hits. These were the only two that had any promise. Try different word combinations and see if you can get better direction. There are lots of smart folks here as I’m more the novice weekend warrior, so hopefully they can bail you out.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/283783-something-is-draining-the-battery-97-mount.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/326688-1992-ranger-dead-battery.html

I’m still wondering about the stereo wiring...

Kevin

 

Yeah that AND CHECK YOUR ACID LEVELS, Alot of times when there goin out like that its just that there low on acid, and its like 5 bucks, so id give that a try

 

for a battery to drain like that there has to be a short , could be your dorm light is staying on , undo one of the post on the battery and rub the terminal to the post and you should see a spark , now pull your fuses ( 1 at a time ) and check for spark on the battery post , do all the fuses till you find no spark or very small spark and you will find the circuit that the short is on ! if your radio is wired right there should be a tiny spark dew to the clock and memory !

 

Did this problem come about suddenly after some event????

As has been suggested, a number of things could cause your problem, so maybe consider taking this puppy by your favorite autoparts store for a no cost, in vehicle, electrical system check up, via their portable electrical system tester. Properly used, it can spot problems like leaky or shorted alternator diodes, or battery cells, excessive parasitic drain from things like add on electrical components, stuck on interior lamps as has been suggested, stuck on brake lamps, a computer thats not timing out & going to sleep, ect.

Let us know what you find.

 

well sounds like were not goin to hear from her again, but if we do,, seriously check ur acid leves

 

You could install a battery kill switch for an immediate fix. Also you could take a simple test light and disconnect the battery and test for a battery drain. Only remove the ground cable and hook the clamp of the test light and hook it to the cable end and touch the other end of the test light and touch the battery post. If the light comes on you have a drain. Make sure everything is turned off. Then remove one fuse at a time, rechecking for drain after each individual fuse is checked. If you remove a fuse and the test light will not light, check the manual to confirm which system that fuse operates. Then start checking things related to that. Not much but it is a start. Hope this will help.