To those interested here is what happened on my 02 3.0l Ranger 4x2 XLT.
In 2005 found the Ranger with drainned battery totaly dead. Had it towed in and fixed under warranty. Dealer strugelled to fix this but eventually, after a week at the dealer, according to them it was the battery. No problem till last week. Once again the Ranger died. I figured that it's odd so I recharged the battery, check charging rate, checked battery under load, everything looked fine. Checked for the usual bad battery connection and fused link, all fine. But there was a current leak at times from the battery when the ignition switch was in the off position. I did remember complaining about the air conditioning clutch being switched on and off too often. Well I opened the fuse box in the engine compartment and when the the A/C relay/solenoid was touched or wiggled it activated the A/C clutch switch, you can hear it go on and off. Removed the A/C solenoid/relay and wow problem solved no current leak, truck was fine and started everytime oven when left overnight. Repeated theis one more time by insalling the old solenoid back and found the truck dead the next am. Ok, recharged A/C it was showing low and had a lot of condensation. BTW this was all pointed out to the dealer all along. Anyway recharged the A/C and bought a new solenoid for $12. While I had the solenoids out I compared the resistance values accross the terminals side by side. These did not compare. The old solenoid indicated open circuits where the new one showed closed circuit. This confirmed my suspicion. Replaced the solenoid charged up the battery and no problems for a week so far with the truck standing for 4 days with no use. Do not always assume that it is your battery or alternator having the problems. I suspect all along the underlying cause was the low A/C coolant that overworked the A/C switch and caused the solenoid/relay to short out.

 

Good to hear you figured it out. Thanks for the detailed feedback.