What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
Ford focus titanium x 2ltr 2012 reg. - testing for parasitic drain - joewright

Further to my recent posts regarding lost battery power. I have replaced the battery, I have had an Alternator / Battery check done at my local garage both checked out as having no problems. I moved on to an Auto Electrical Co, They have pulled fuses as a test / connected a diagnostic machine and still not found the cause of the parasitic drain. All they say is it may be time to have the car to a Ford Dealership to see if they can find something. Having been online it seems as though Dealerships can run out of ideas as well. Tried spending my way out of the problem, no luck so far.

Ford focus titanium x 2ltr 2012 reg. - testing for parasitic drain - hardway

I'd suggest a real parasitic drain test,

this isn't done with a diagnostic machine but an ameter.

There's usually an amp function on better multi meters.

Mines rated at 20 A.

and I remove the battery negative terminal and then connect the ameter IN SERIES between the battery neg terminal and the neg/ground lead that normally fits on the battery neg terminal then read the meter.

Now on an old school vehicle it'll read 0,

newer vehicles will continue to draw current until the security systems go quiet.

This time can vary and be quite long,

I'm sure a Jag took over 20 mins to go quiet!!

Anyway Ohms law can help to work the source of current drain out but if it's say drawing

3 Amps that's quite a lot so unplug electricals until it drops.

Not just fuses,

Multi plug connectors.

This has to be a systematic process

Not so much a costly one as you could do this yourself if capeable.

There's any number of Youtube vids demonstrating this process,

On springs to mind is Scanner danner's.

He's American but parsitic draws don't have borders!

Go Youtube and type in "Parasitic draws".

Ford focus titanium x 2ltr 2012 reg. - testing for parasitic drain - elekie&a/c doctor
Finding a battery drain on a modern can can be very difficult and time consuming.However ,old school methods need to used along with a newer approach with different equipment.Pulling fuses is not the way forward and is counter productive,as this causes modules to wake up .A good digimeter and an accurate low amp clamp together with info accessible via the obd socket are required to make any analysis.I have seen faults with phone Bluetooth modules causing battery drain issues
Ford focus titanium x 2ltr 2012 reg. - testing for parasitic drain - joewright

having looked at the report sheet I was given it say's ' Removed fuses/Relays/ and Wiring Blocks. Plugged in Diagnostics cleared faults found and tested. Just to enlighten me, what is obd socket?

Ford focus titanium x 2ltr 2012 reg. - testing for parasitic drain - Ian D
OBD is the onboard diagnostic socket, where you plug in your fault code reader or diagnostic system