This is an additional inquiry regarding my Taurus. My 1998 Ford Taurus has a battery that keeps dying in about 1-2 days. The battery is new, and I was having the same problem with the old battery as well. This battery drain is occuring when the car is turned off. Unless I am using the multimeter incorrectly, the drain is about 500 miliamps. When the battery is almost drained I can hear the faint clicking sound of the battery saver relay/battery isolater relay. This clicking sound from the battery saver relay occurs when the car is not turned on. I replaced the battery saver relay (and stops when I pull the battery saver relay out), thinking that it was the source of the power drain, and the clicking noise is still there. Also, I just checked the fuse box inside the car. There is a 270 milliamps drain on the battery saver relay (fuse 27; the old and new battery saver relays have the same draw,I checked them both), 180 millamps drain on the ICP, RCC, Speedometer (fuse 24), and 330 millamps drain on GEM, RAP, PATS (fuse 23). First of all, this is confusing to me since all of these add up to more than 500 milliamps. Second, what are these fuses? What specifically do they control? I'd really appreciate if someone could suggest what all this means?

The best way to check for a power drain or a "draw" on the battery is to dis-connect the negative, or "Neg" (-) side battery cable and then connect a test light not a meter, between the "Neg" (-) side battery post and the battery terminal at the end of the battery cable.

With the key removed, all of the doors closed, and no accessories turned on, and also if there is a light under the hood dis-connect it for now. Normally the test light when connected should start off bright and then quickly dim down until the test light is almost not even showing a connection and the filament inside of bulb that is inside of the test light will barely glow and not even light up, this is normal and the only thing that should be drawing power is the KAM (Keep Alive Memory) for any control moudules or accessories that require a KAM. If this is the case then the condition of the battery would be suspected of being at fault and an internal short inside of the battery will not show up as a draw on the battery, and the battery voltage will slowly drop off all by itself with nothing even connected to the battery.

If the test light does not dim down and stays bright, or it will dim down but will also still dully light up the test light, then there is a draw on the battery and if you start removing the fuses until the test light dims down and barely makes the test light filament glow, then you will know what circuit is at fault, but if the light never dims down with all of the fuses removed, the doors are all closed, and no accessories are turned on, then dis-connect the wiring to the alternator and if the test light dims down to almost nothing, then the draw is in the alternator itself.

Common places to find a draw are the vanity lights inside of the sun visors are not turning off or are shorted, the power door lock(s) are faulty, or after-market accessories that are not properly installed, and there is even the possibility that something metal has dropped down into a cigarette lighter or a power point and is making a connection there, such as a watch battery. Also check the wiring for any wires that have been melted together or if they are missing insulation allowing the wires to touch each other or a body ground.