AceofSpades
Registered
Just got a newer mark (97), and I have a short in the elec sys. Pulled all fuses under the hood and the dash and still have the short. Help 
Electrical trouble
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AceofSpades
Registered
The battery keeps dying and I put my meter on the connections and got a 95% short on my meter (with the battery disconected)
Define 95% short in electrical terms.
Old school method was to disconnect the ground cable and rig up a small 12V lamp to connect in series between the ground cable and battery negative post. If the bulb lit up, you had a short. Intensity of the light was relative to the short.
With today's electronics, you need to hook up a milliamp meter in series as above and measure the drain.
FWIW, I would have the battery load tested. If the battery has been drained more than a couple times, chances are it is very weak and will not hold a charge for very long.
You may also have a dead cell which will cause the other cells to deplete their charge as well. In a wet cell battery(non-sealed) the best way to determine this is with an electrolyte tester. Alternatively you can remove the battery caps and hook up a battery charger. Observe the bubbling in the cells showing the cell is charging. A dead cell will have none or very little bubble activity relative to the other good cells.
Old school method was to disconnect the ground cable and rig up a small 12V lamp to connect in series between the ground cable and battery negative post. If the bulb lit up, you had a short. Intensity of the light was relative to the short.
With today's electronics, you need to hook up a milliamp meter in series as above and measure the drain.
FWIW, I would have the battery load tested. If the battery has been drained more than a couple times, chances are it is very weak and will not hold a charge for very long.
You may also have a dead cell which will cause the other cells to deplete their charge as well. In a wet cell battery(non-sealed) the best way to determine this is with an electrolyte tester. Alternatively you can remove the battery caps and hook up a battery charger. Observe the bubbling in the cells showing the cell is charging. A dead cell will have none or very little bubble activity relative to the other good cells.
AceofSpades
Registered
Ok I found out the short I was seeing was from the computer sys. Looks like its supposed to be there. For kicks I tested the alternator again and its not charging, decided to test it 3-4 times and sometimes it kicks in sometimes it doesn't so i'm changing that and I'll see if the bat holds a charge, thanks for all the help I'll post back to tell how it went.
+1 on replacing the battery. A bad alt can kill a battery and a bad battery can kill a new alt.... its a vicious circle of life Lion King kinda thing....
Also, ONLY go with Ford reman or new alts or you WILL be replacing it and the battery again soon. There have been a GREAT MANY who have reported premature failures with other brand alternators... just a heads up!
Also, ONLY go with Ford reman or new alts or you WILL be replacing it and the battery again soon. There have been a GREAT MANY who have reported premature failures with other brand alternators... just a heads up!