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battery drain by relay?

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Ashten Alexander

Proven Member
32
0
Oct 13, 2015
Houston, Texas
Hey guys i know a thread like this has been posted a million times ,but non addressed a situation like mine. So i started having issues months ago when my alternator caught on fire. my power steering pump had a slow leak and the ground bolt had fallen out some how. the next day i get a new battery and alt , plugged them in and everything is working fine except i'm facing major battery drain . My dash lights will always stay on with the car off and key out( cel , srs, and oil light ). The windows and sun roof will have power even when the key is not in the ignition. so my short term remedy for that was to get a battery switch . So every time i parked the car i would pop the hood and disconnect the negative cable. This method worked for about 2 months . Now I'm actually trying to fix the issue i found something else causing the largest part of drain . Its a relay that uses the 20 amp Engine fuse. When i disconnect the fuse the high amp draw stops . When i plug it back in the battery will drop from 12v to 2v in about a minuet or so . I've read that the relay shouldn't click unless the key is turned , but i hear it click as soon as the battery is connected . So i try unplugging the relay and sure enough the battery drain stops , well the larger portion of it. The relay number is E8T1017Y11 , located under the radio on passenger side panel. Its the one on the left that has the light blue wire and 3 red wires going to it . I was thinking bad ECU so i bought a used one and sure enough I'm still having the same issue. Please help , i just want to get her back on the road asap. :idontknow::banghead:
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The yellow light on the right is the coolant low indicator which doesn't even have a sensor for on the 97-99 (90-96 used it) so it shouldn't ever be on for your 98. So if on, you have some non-stock wiring or a short there.

I'm concerned over this solid yellow wire. Are you sure there isn't a faded black stripe on it? Or more likely, is it really a solid blue that's faded into a solid looking yellow? Because a solid blue is the one that goes to the dash battery light.

A test: With key on (engine not running), measure voltage on this unconnected solid yellow. Is it at least +12v? If so, try temporarily touching this solid yellow to ground while someone watches the dash lights. If the dash battery light comes on then we know for sure where this wire goes to. And then it should be connected permanently to the alt plug's black/yellow (to provide alt field coil voltage).

With black/yellow connected to solid yellow and engine running you say voltage is jumping all over the place. Please describe better and what happens when engine is above idle (>2000rpm). If it stays above 14v with engine revving, the alt is working.
 
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