mjhpadi Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 As some of you know my car is at the dealer currently for state inspection. Also, an ugly problem has reared it's head. Seems that since having the gauges installed, my battery has been going dead after 3-4 days of non-driving. And it has gotten worst in the cold weather...was dead yesterday after only 2 days of sitting. I get the feeling that maybe the guy that installed my gauges either has done something to add to the draw of the battery while the car is off or he has the gauges hooked to a constant "hot" so they are drawing power when the car is off. When it first happened back in July, I assumed my original battery had just given up the ghost, after all it was going on 6 1/2 years old. Got a new Motorcraft Max battery but still have had it go dead like 4 or 5 times since. Not a happy camper, hopefully the dealer can figure what is drawing the excess power with the car off. Will be sure to keep everyone updated as I find out what is up. ReneteX 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mval Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 i would agree with you mark, somehow the installer has a gauge or two hot. i got 3 gauges no issue. what you could do until you get with installer is get a battery trickle charger & just keep it on. SHOdded 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpd1151 Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 I have a cockpit's worth of gauges, as you all know, and no problems to report here. I would agree with Mark's assessment, and source the parasitic draw at the gauges 1st, and then proceed from there, looking at all OEM wiring afterwards. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk SHOdded 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjhpadi Posted December 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 Car passed state inspection without incident! However, when the dealer checked for parasitic draw, there tester showed a 7 amp draw, and then it blew the fuse in the tester. Gauges were hooked to a constant hot fuse, so the dealer switched it to a "power only when the car is on" fuse. Should correct the problem..will see in a few days, since I probably will not start the car for at least 3 days and see what is happening. Just amazed at the amount of draw was being pulled with the car turned off, sure explains why the battery problem. SHOdded and mval 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHOdded Posted December 21, 2016 Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 7 amps??? Wowza. Hope the problem is corrected, Mark, and good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjhpadi Posted December 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 Seems to be corrected, had to run the car today, and it started normally, of course I did drive it yesterday. But the gauges now read like they are off when the car is shut down...before the needles seemed to be in a different position. So hopefully, everything is fixed. SHOdded 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveE Posted December 21, 2016 Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 Good news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjhpadi Posted December 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 7 amps??? Wowza. Hope the problem is corrected, Mark, and good luck! The service manager said the draw went up to 10 amps before it blew the fuse in the tester!...makes me wonder what was going on, because the gauges worked fine before and after the switch of wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamsho Posted December 23, 2016 Report Share Posted December 23, 2016 Interesting, very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mval Posted December 27, 2016 Report Share Posted December 27, 2016 mark- that's always the problem with modding cars. luckily when i did my gauges, installer was familiar with crash's pod & was on evo's list of gauge installers. just wish he'd have told me ahead of time that glare really cuts down how well you can see the evo gauges. really love them & work just fine just tough to read when sunny. hope you get it all sorted out. having a bout with chally not wanting to start after sitting a couple days, but took to advance auto & battery checked out fine. got a feeling may have a starter going bad. that car takes a lot of chranking amps to make it turn over unlike the sho. battery is as big as a boat battery. SHOdded 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjhpadi Posted December 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2016 Mike, my installer was un the authorized installer list for both Glow Shift and for Auto Meter....and I really think if my car was a daily driver the problem would have never shown up until the battery was old and giving out. I am thankful that it showed up when it did...I haven't driven the car since last Friday, so tomorrow will be a big test to see if the problem is corrected. BTW, my wife did get me a Black & Decker Powermax battery jumper with compressor for Christmas, just in case! LOL mval and SHOdded 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjhpadi Posted December 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2016 Great news...went to use the car this morning and it cranked over very strongly...no problem at all! Remember I had left the car sit since Friday without starting it. So seems like the battery problem has been solved, it was my gauges drawing excess electricity out of the battery while the car was not powered....just glad to have it resolved! SHOdded, mval and tss 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHOdded Posted December 27, 2016 Report Share Posted December 27, 2016 Enjoy, Mark, looks like the dealer did good tss 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tss Posted December 28, 2016 Report Share Posted December 28, 2016 Glad it seems to be resolved Mark. What a pain. You had such troubles with the install. I hope it's finally worked its way through. Not bad that you got a new battery after six and a half years anyway. And really cool that the dealer figured it out! SHOdded 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjhpadi Posted December 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2016 Agreed Todd! I figured when this problem showed, that it was the battery. After all, others were having the original battery die sooner than mine. But 120 bucks for a new Motorcraft Max was the best battery deal I could find. And just FTI, I am going to take your advice and try to get new tires and sell the old ones regardless of condition so that they remain new. Really like the idea of new tires every 3 years. tss 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tss Posted January 1, 2017 Report Share Posted January 1, 2017 You won't regret it Mark! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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