1997 Ford F150 - Battery Drain FIXED

[Goose]

Have a 97 F150 that drains tge battery over a week long period. It has about a 1.6 amp drain and when I unplug fuse # 15 in the interior fuse box the drain is gone. Fuse 15 feeds the GEM Module pin number 4 and 16. I thought that maybe the multi function switch might be bad but have wiggled it and the drain is still there. Door switches also seem to be ok. Is the GEM Module a part of the fuse box or is it separate? The component locater indicates that it is in the left kick panel but if it is it seems to be invisible. Help!

[steven kiser]

week long period huh. it seems that the gem may be the culprit. you also may have an issue with the kam in the pcm. if the capicator is kaput the pcm can and will suck down a battery. is there any added crappola on this truck? i've seen amps that need no warm up time pull down batteries. now back to the gem. no it's not part of the fuse box. it may in fact be attached to the back of it. there are little screws that hold it on. if in fact the gem is attached to the fuse box and you replace it "PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL ALL THE SCREWS" i've seen way too many of these trucks that come in and the top screws (the pain in the a&% ones) missing and the gem backs out enough to cause some real wierd issues. if the screws are already missing on this one securing it may or may not solve your problem. how are you checking for draw? are you connecting a meter across an open circuit? on minnimal draws i will attach one probe of the multimeter to the battery cable and the other to the post. lift the cable off the post and than read the draw. that draw may be necessary for kam. i've seen batteries with surface draws as well that will cause batteries to fail after a week or so. if the top of the battery is dirty clean it. you can test for a surface draw by putting one probe on the post and the other on the surface of the battery. these era trucks had huge issues with gem's. if they were worth 5 bucks a piece to the junkie i'de be rich. good luck. oh ya, make sure that the cab isn't rotted and water is dripping on the gem. man what a ramble here huh. the door switches can in fact cause this. with your scanner attached check for door being open. the switches are two stage because it also feeds srs.

[wbuxton]

"A" pillar post water leak at windshield corner, Ford is aware of this isssue on certain models.

[Goose]

I am checking for the draw with a 10 ohm resistor across the battery cables with my Fluke 98. I did scan this and the switches are ok. Got to thinking that maybe one of the relays controled by the GEM may be causing the problem also. Forgot to mention that I also unplugged the transfer case connectors and still had the drain.
Thanks for the quick response I will let you know the outcome.

[ricmorin]

Have a 97 F150 that drains tge battery over a week long period. It has about a 1.6 amp drain and when I unplug fuse # 15 in the interior fuse box the drain is gone. Fuse 15 feeds the GEM Module pin number 4 and 16. I thought that maybe the multi function switch might be bad but have wiggled it and the drain is still there. Door switches also seem to be ok. Is the GEM Module a part of the fuse box or is it separate? The component locater indicates that it is in the left kick panel but if it is it seems to be invisible. Help!

Many GEM's live in the center of the IP. My locator indicates center IP.

[Goose]

Well......This morning I went out and unplugged the battery saver relay and the drain is gone, so I switched the battery saver relay with the interior lamp relay. They are identical and have the same part number. Still had the drain so I have to assume, (we all know what that means), that the GEM is bad. The customer decided he did not want to spend $285.00 on the module on a truck with 200k on the clock so it will get a battery disconnect installed. When he goes to the cabin he will hook it up for the weekend and diconnect it when he leaves. When he forgets to diconnect he will buy a battery. I will charge for my time and everyone is happy. Oh ,By the way I did look and did not see any signs of water leakage under the dash. Thanks all for the input

[steven kiser]

i hope you install the battery disconnect for him so it's correct. i have a printer that will print out stickers and wouls print a sticker out and put it on the lip of the dash in front of the steering wheel. another think i've done is to install a trickel chsrger under the hood, wired it into the battery cables and had the plug hanging out of the grill. if he does this he'll be glad he did so if it's pouring rain and he's got to open the hood and secure the battery shut off. he'll be soaked to the bone by the time he gets into the cab. nothing is more pleasant than the rain running down your back into the crack in your.......................... if the seat isn't dried out and cracked he'll be sitting in a puddle all the way home. i can go a long way with this but it's early and i'm being somewhat, mmmmmmmm, oh i don't know. maybe i'm being cautious. no that's not it, i can't figgure out what words to use that won't be censored.