Please Help Me!!

My wife's 2003 Ford Expedition has a dead battery - every morning!!

I've taken it to Batteries Plus - where they performed a load test and declared the battery fine and they also measured the alternator as charging at 13.4 amps (which was OK to them). I then took it to a good local mechanic - who correctly diagnosed that the cause of my Door Ajar problem could be fixed with a lubricant spray - but that wasn't enough to be the cause of my problem. He also measured the battery as discharging at .2 amps when not running - which he didn't think was a problem and could be attributable to the security system that is factory built-in. He's thinking it may be a problem with a computer chip but he doesn't want to just replace expensive parts without knowing for sure - which I appreciate. His SnapOn analyzer couldn't pinpoint the problem either when it was hooked up to the car.

The problem is still there. If the Expedition sits for more than 6 hours, it's pretty much a given that it will need to be jump started. Once running, it runs fine.

Has anybody had a similar problem? If so, what was the cause and approximate cost to fix? If not, do you have a theory?

PLEASE HELP ME!!!

Thanks,
Mark
Oronoco, MN

while this is not a "solution" it'll work for the short term, install a battery cutoff switch, one that disconnects the battery from any electrical drain.
at least untill the problem can be found
hth
Rick, Ore

Thanks for the feedback - I've thought of that but I'm not sure if it is worth the effort since I'm going to eventually have to get it fixed anyway.

Has anybody had any problems with 2003 Expedition's electrical systems - computer chips?

Any help is appreciated?

Mark

You can disconnect one of the battery cables and put a test light(prefer a ammeter) between the post and the cable. If the light lights up, pull one fuse at a time until the light goes out. I prefer ammeter, cause the GEM keeps modules powered up for a few minutes upto an hour. When light goes out with fuse, find out what is on that circuit. Also check to be sure no inside lights are on.

Since the one mechanic found a draw of 0.2 Amps, and that is OK, but at the upper end of OK, you do NOT have a draw problem. More likely your battery is just bad.

Given that your Expy is only two years old, a bad battery is not the most likely problem, but given the test results that you have, I would bet that it is bad.

Also, your alternator should charge far more than 13.4 amps, and/or 13.4volts. The MINIMUM charging Voltage is 13.6V, and the Amperage varies with load, but with everything on it should be 95Amps or more at an engine speed of 1200 rpm or so. The voltage during this test may be slightly lower than 13.6V IF it is 13.85 V or more at idle with all accessories off.

I had the same problem with my 97 expedition and oddly enough after a couple of trips to the dealer they found it was the starter that was causing the drain,replaced it,no more problems.

I had the same problem with my 2003 Expedition. I remembered when it happened that my rear wiper motor had stopped working just before that. I unhooked the wiring harness in the door and fixed the problem. I went back in later and discovered that the "arm" that connects the motor to the wiper blade that swivels was frozen. This was causing the motor to continuously be on trying to push the wiper blade. Luckily I caught it before it burned the motor up and was able to identify the part at the dealer and replace. Never had the battery problem again when I got it working.