I just picked up a 2011 Escape XLT for a work truck. After the 2nd day I had it, the battery drained completely overnight. I did a parasitic test, and found that the car is drawing 4.7-5 amps every 25 seconds, for 25 seconds then drops below an amp for 25 seconds and repeats very consistiently (cycles 5amp to 0 amp EVERY 25 seconds).

I pulled every fuse and relay located under the hood and under the dash, and could not find the culprit. I also disconnected what I believe is the remote start antenna module .. not the control module because I don't know where that is yet.

Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? I'm assuming 5 amps every 25 seconds and for 25 seconds would be enough to drain the batter overnight.. and I mean the battery is completely dead.

Right now, I have the battery fully charged, but disconnected and will leave that overnight to see if the battery itself is bad (which I doubt). I have a battery and charge circuit tester but it is on my boat which is in Winter storage and not readily accessible until next week.

The other day, when I jumped it, I used the truck all day, and didnt have any problem. The ALT is putting our 14.6 volts when running so I'm able to use the truck all day as running keeps the battery charged enough to use, but obviously I need to find this problem.

I really appreciate any suggestions.. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

I sort of remember when the teacher in math class was giving us a written problem to solve in class and she threw in some unnecessary piece of info and we fell for it. It threw us all off, but we did learn to be concerned with only what info we needed to know to solve the problem At this time, I believe the "every 25 seconds" is one of those pieces of info.
There are only so many circuits on a vehicle that are not protected by a fuse or some device tp prevent a fire or dead battery. If you were to remove ALL the fuses at the same time and relays , the only things left are the alt and some add on feature that is not protected by the fuse panel(s). Don't overlook the possibility of a visitor(rodent) having had dinner under the fuse/relay panel. Circumstances can be such that a short circuit is opening every 25 seconds due to expansion. It has to be on the positive side of the system. I would start with suggesting that you check under the outside fuse/relay panel because almost everything is fed from there.
You can take the heavy gauge wire on the alt off to eliminate that piece.

At this time we don't know if someone got loose in there doing something and created a TID, Technician Induced Difficulty !

 

To the contrary, I feel like the "every 25 seconds" is quite significant to my problem. To me, that would indicate the action of a system specific sequence. This is certainly not a random event. When I say every 25 seconds, I mean this amp draw is literally cycling every 25 seconds continuously without fail. I have a stopwatch timing it. I have also let the truck sit for over an hour, to allow for all the systems to go to sleep. I rechecked after about 2 hours, and they symptoms are still present.

I have also disconnected the main battery terminal from the alternator, and still experiencing the same issue.

I'm wondering if there is anything related to the anti-theft system, or perhaps the remote start that could be causing this. I would like to disable the anti-theft but dont know if that is possible.. noting in the manual about that.

 

I believe the simplest thing to do is to isolate the circuit, one at a time. Eventually you will come across the area involved and isolate it from there. That was the purpose of removing all the fuses at the same time. What appears to be happening sounds like a capacitor charging then discharging in 25 seconds through the circuit. I don't believe there is a "Silver Bullet" for this type problem and detailed elimination will pin it down .Remote keyless entry seems like a likely candidate, have you checked if any of the key fobs are constantly active , if this applies?

 

hard to say without seeing a power distribution diagram. if i had to do this blind....if you had no luck pulling fuses...start unplugging components or modules...maybe it will give you a clue to what circuit the faulty component is on.

 

Well, I'm pleased to post that I "think", I may have found the problem. At least a problem in the making, if not "the" problem.

I noticed a faint "clicking" sound coming from the back of the truck (I didnt hear this previously because I have a garage heater that was running full blast while I was working in the garage). After hearing this, I traced it to the rear wiper motor on the back window. It was actually slightly warm to the touch. I found that fuse, and pulled it. The clicking stopped. I have it fully charged and will see if that solves my problem in the morning. It's -5 degrees here now, so this will be a great test.

I was going to check for amp draw after pulling the fuse, but my ammeter is not working now (ugh). I'll just have to test in the AM.

From the research I found. Apparently, the wiper motor must "park" in a specific position. If it does not, it will retry.. apparently every 25 seconds ( see Hanky?? That information is pretty significant to the problem).

Thanks again for all of your suggestions. Hopefully, someone else will find this info useful as well.

 

and that is why you don't pull the fuse and then put it back in...pull them out and leave them out till the testing is done.

 

If it was 30, 40 491/2 seconds the time is not important !!! Finding the cause is !
Primem said at all , you just didn't follow directions huh? Glad you fixed it, thanks for the update.