1999 Windstar electrical problems...AGAIN!
 

Hi everyone.

I'm back on here to get some advice from you to help me get my friends 1999 Windstar to stop draining the battery.

A short history first: a year and a half ago he bought it and I couldn't get the right rear stoplight to work. The usual repairs were: light bulb, bulb socket, finally check wiring and grounds. When I got on this forum I found where others had a problem with the REM, so I found it's part number, then went to the local pick-n-pull to find a similar module. I did, installed it, and that took care of that issue.

Next, the battery started draining, so I took out the aftermarket remote start (which didn't work anyways) and inspected all the associated wiring and repaired as necessary. It was good for a while (a few months) then the driver's side power window wouldn't work. I delved into that door, checked for current to the switch then down to the motor, and while doing that last procedure it started working again. And a very audible click came from the FEM every time the window motor was activated.

Now the latest event. Last week here in Calgary we had 40 centimeters of snow drop on us. This van, plus my own 2 vehicles, are parked on a major street which gets cleared of snow after a major dump. I went to move this van and the battery was dead again! After a boost all was fine for me to move it. I took the battery out, took it to work to put on our charger, and tested it once it was charged and it turned out good. (It's a 8 month old Nationwide). Once I put it back in I could hear a click coming from the box beside the battery. The 2 SSP relays were the one's clicking.

These past 2 days I've been trying to diagnose where the power could be draining from. I've followed a TSB from here which showed how to test for drains, but as per those instructions nothing out of the ordinary cropped up. All the fuses are good, the relays don't have any unusual appearances, but the only thing which I thought was odd was when on pulling out fuses from the interior fuse panel, number 16 which does the REM and instrument cluster, when pulled it would stop the door chime and put out the interior lights. On the flip side of that, when the battery negative was pulled and re-installed, the blower motor and headlights would come on until I put that fuse back into it's place, of which the interior lights and door chime would resume.

One other item on the diagnose: I used a test light to check on brightness when I looked at the fuses, and when everything was hooked up the light would be pulsating. Is that normal? And when I disconnected the positive end on the alternator the light got dimmer but didn't pulsate.

Sorry for the long post people, but I feel that the more information the better.

If anyone has any ideas on what to do next, I'm all ears!!!!:confused:

I would like to offer some possible help, but I need some from you first, if you don't mind.
What is SSP for the relays?
Exactly what method are you using to pin down a battery drain?
Do you have or care to invest in a multimeter?

The pulsating of the light is not normal.
A common problem involved the rear wiper motor that for whatever reason was hung up and took lots of folks for a real ride trying to find the drain and it does sound like it might be a good idea to check that out.