Question.... My dad needs to replace the whole fuse panel in his 2000 Ford F-150. the dealer quoted him $700 bucks to do it (mostly labor however) Is it going to be a hard job to do on his own? Also any advice or websites that might help out would be great. I've looked at the ford forums but can't really find anything on doing this.

 

ya can hand him the keys to a chevy that would fix this problem real fast and easily to.

but honest;ly if you or he wants to do it most of the time they are not real bad if he has to just plug and unplg things but on fords im not real sure how much of it is actually running wires places .

my tool box for fords is a match and a long fuse with a sing that say light and run!!

honestly i wish i knew more about that year ford truck I know the ones i have put in to project ccars that i have done wernt that bad. it just somethign you have to take your time with and it will be atleast a all day job for a first timer that is not real sure what they are gettign in to.

have to ask why ius replaceing the fuse pannel to begin with?

 

i'm probably the least patient person on the site, i dont think i could do that with all the wires going into it...i'd have to have someoen do that for me...give me too much of a headache...

but yah ...like mickey said i think the main problem is that its a ford

 

You may want to try www.pickuptruck.com

 

I agree with you guys the problem is that it is a ford... HEHEHE

The truck won't hold a charge overnight anymore. He hashadall the work done at the dealer and they have replaced everything that there is possible with the starter and ignition. They at once thought it was that maybe the interior light would stay on but even that wasn't it. This last winter they found that some water was dripping down by the fuse box and now they think that the fuse panel has a short in it.

Personally I think they are just trying to rip him off but he is older and can't really do that much work on the truck on his own anymore. My brother will help him but he knows more about "cosmetic" work than actual mechanical. I figured that i'd throw it out to you guys and see what ya had to say.

By the way dad said he would have bought a chevy but he wanted to actually drive the truck not work on it. (HIS WORDS NOT MINE!!!) You should have heard the ration of crap I bought when he found out I bought a Monte!!! But then he drove it and agreed that it is a fun car to drive.

 

I think who ever is working on the truck is trying to make a sell that is not needed.
The best way to find out what is discharging the battery is

First off (even if the mechanic has already done this) I would get the battery load tested. It is possible that the battery has shorted cells in it.

After that do the following

Disconect the negitive wire from the battery, take a test light and hook it up between the neg. battery post and the wire (use the end of the test light that has clip on it, on the battery side and position the test light so that it stays on the cable). If the test light lights up then there is a draw from the battery. Make sure the the doors are closed and if the truck has an under hood light pull the bulb. If the light still lights up, open the door and start pulling the fuses out of the fuse box. Start with the dome lights, radio and keep going from there. If all the fuses have been pulled and the test light is still lighted up then its not the fuse box. If the light goes out say when you pull the radio fuse then I would start looking at the radio or at least in the area (the radio should cause the light to be on for the most part, because it has a clock and it keeps a memory to hold the stations). If the test light is on, then go out to the alternator and pull the positive wire off it. Alternators a have diode in it (one way check valve) it only lets elecrity to flow one way. When this diode goes bad it will drain the battery down. If the light is still on, then start checking other things like the ecm, sensors on the engine ect.

 

Ask him if they have replaced the battery. If so did it start having this problem before or just after it was replaced.

 

He's replaced the battery like 4 times now, the alternator 2, the starter 1 time, and the list goes on and on... I don't think the dealer is trying to rip him off to bad because all of the workthey do iswarrantied. Not the normal when you buy but their own so they're not getting any additional money out of the deal.

Thanks for all the help and I'll let him know what you guys have suggested.

 

if he decids to burn it to the grownd can ya take video for me??
J/K!!!

 

Not to worry... I'll be holding the lighter in1 hand and the camera in the other...