Battery flat after 1 week standing

[badgb21]

Hi

Normally drive my car every day.

Left my 2011 Ford Edge SEL for a week and on return, battery was completely flat.

Got a jump start and ran ok.

trip meter held data, but clock had stopped.

Had battery tested and all good 98%?

 

I had a recall done on the PCM - emission error 13E04 safety test?

and I fitted HID lights with capacitors a few months ago.

 

it's difficult to know whether either of these things contribute to the problem as I didn't leave the car un-driven beforehand and therefore know about any battery drain.

 

Any ideas of things I could check before returning to my unfriendly dealer (yes I will probably change, but it's a pain to travel further!)

 

Not sure my ammeter has sufficient current ability to check a full current drain.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

Kev

Norfolk MA

 

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Original battery? could be time to replace (2-3 yrs is avg nowadays, and with the past winter, ...). Depending on how much HID usage you see, the capacitors may have pushed the current battery over the E...

 

Check to see if all cables are tightly attached and corrosion free. Are you leaving anything plugged into the cabin power points that could cause a drain?

[badgb21]

Hi

I got the car with 20k miles and has now done 48k, so I'm assuming it's the original battery.

I fitted the capacitors to fix the 'won't both turn on in auto switch mode' which didn't work anyway!

 

Battery terminals and wiring in general is clean and tight.

I never leave anything plugged in the cabin outlet. Only use it for GPS on the move.

 

I need to do some kind of leak test. I'd prefer to do it, rather than see the cust serv guy's face when I try and explain it at the dealership.

There is an accessory retro fit company nearby, so I might check them out if I get stuck.

 

My suspicion at the moment is either the PCM or the capacitors.

 

Thanks

Kev

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Do you have 35w HIDs or 55w? Self-built capacitors or bought from a vendor? If you have the 55w set, you should put the harness and take power directly from the battery. Unless you want to put each headlight on its' own fuse. OEM HID equipped Edges have separate fuses.

[badgb21]

I have 35w HID with vendor caps' from HD Extra.

I have no problems with the lights other than a common problem of them "not both turning on with the switch in the auto position''.

The Caps did not help with this problem.

 

I need to get hold of a good multimeter and try a leak test across a few things, to see if I can narrow my problem down.

 

Is there any problems if I disconnect the battery for this or anything I need to do when finished to reset anything?

 

Thanks

Kev

Edited July 14, 2014 by badgb21

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

No known problems really with disconnecting the battery. But the PCM will have to relearn your driving habits/parameters, so you should follow the relearn/retrain process in the OM (pg 331 I believe). Pg 330 also has some good info on battery maintenance.

[badgb21]

Thanks for that.

Any idea what level of current draw is 'normal' when doing a leak test? Be good to know what I'm targeting.

Assuming everything switched off.

 

Thanks

Kevan

[badgb21]

UPDATE

 

I tested with multimeter.

I got 2.5A in initial connection that went down to 250mA each time after 30 seconds or so.

Then after 15-30 mins it dropped to 10mA

I pulled HID's and all under hood fuses and could not affect any reading, so it seems ok.

 

It's a mystery why the battery drained, maybe something didn't shut down properly.

Had battery checked again, was ok, but is 3.5 yrs old so may think about changing before the winter.

Autozone reckoned it was only just big enough for the car and suggested a slightly bigger one would be better.

 

Kev

Edited July 19, 2014 by badgb21