I am really stumped on this issue with my 1996 Ranger 3.0, manual trans. I have had a mysterious battery drain on the truck for nearly a year. I have repeatedly checked the dome light, hood light, etc. and everything is off when the Ranger is parked. But, in a week the battery loses nearly 3 volts with everything OFF. The battery was replaced after I had another nearly new battery. I thought it was a bad battery, but it is not the case. Also, the brake light switch is working fine with no dimly lit light bulb, no electric windows, but it does have a very rare cruise control. There is something in the car draining the battery, but I can not find it. My suspect it is something in the key ignition switch with no real reason or the CPU is on for some unknown reason?

Has anyone else had this similar issue? Thanks for any help.

 

Just to conclude this post, I found out what was the real issue. The steering column key lock system was worn after 300,000 miles. You had to make sure that the key lock is firmly in the lock and key withdraw position before removing the key. Also, as a double check I make sure that ALL systems in the car are also turned off - the radio, fan, AC, etc. No battery drain issue now.