I am new here so please bear with me...lol
I have a 2003 ford ranger 2.3l with manual transmission and no power windows or door locks. My problem is that after truck sits for a couple days(sometimes 1 day) the battery has drained down to the point it wont start. I have narrowed down my parasitic draw to fuse #26 which controls GEM, INSTRUMENT CLUSTER, RCM, BATTERY SAVER RELAY, AND AUXILLARY RELAY BOX and fuse #17 which is for CIGAR LIGHTER AND DLC. When I removed battery saver relay my draw dropped to around 100 milliamps. If I also remove fuse # 17 at the same time it drops to 50 milliamps. That being said, now I am stuck and not sure what to do next. I have checked glove box light, interior light etc... Please help! Thank you so much!

 

Welcome to the forum

Check battery voltage FIRST
New battery will be 12.8volts
3 year old battery 12.5volts
5/6 year old battery 12.3volts and time to shop for battery sale

12.2v or less is a dead/dying battery and will self drain
Best test is to unhook either battery cable and test voltage, write it down
Then test it the next day, should be EXACTLY the same, if its dropping then it has a shorted cell so will self drain over a few days

The 50milliamps is what it should be after 30minutes or so, 30-70milliamps is spec

Hard to do a test on these because the other modules stay active for a bit, the battery saver relay is for the lights, GEM should open that relay after 30 minutes or so, pulling it can take that off the table but not the other modules

Also check the under hood light but that should have no power with battery saver relay pulled

 

Thank you for replying Ron! I actually did that for 3 days and with negative battery cable disconnected the voltage has remained at 12.77. I looked for light under hood but I dont believe my truck has one. Even with the battery saver relay pulled could the draw drop after a period of time if I leave the doors shut due to the GEM since that is where the relay gets its power?? I'm just lost. I actually own my own electrical business, but residential and commercial electric is much different in some ways when I try to troubleshoot. I sold the truck to my brother but dont want the battery to drain on him after he picks it up. I just dont know what to do or try now.

 

Did you look in the cigar lighter, maybe something is in there

Or the OBD Plug, but longshots

Have you tried testing battery voltage, then leaving fuse 17 out over night and then testing battery in the morning, see if thats the big problem, take battery saver relay off the table that way