A couple weeks ago I went to crank my 05 Forman and the battery was dead.It had'nt been cranked in a couple weeks and I just figured the battery ran dead.The battery would'nt hold charge so I bought another.Things seemed fine for a week or so.Then I did'nt crank it for about 2-3 days and went to crank it yesterday and the battery was again completly dead,which leads me to belive I have a drain somewhere.I kind of wonder if it has something to do with the instrument cluster.It has been acting a little crazy lately.The clock intermitently flashes as if it needs to be set even after I set it,and the indicator works sometimes and sometimes not.The neutral light also comes on a lot in 5th gear.It seems if some moisture has accumulated in there some how.The screen has condensation on the inside that does'nt seem to want to dry.Anybody have any idea how I could go about diagnosing this problem?Not to good with electrical components and I'm sure the dealer would charge me an arm and leg to look for it.Anybody run into something similar?
Any help would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks,
James

 

I saw a post about the LCD instrument pod fogging up once , it was about a year or so ago and i can't rerember the brand ; i think it was on an AC but not sure you might find it by doing a general search for LCD pod fogging to find it !

But here's a sure way to find out if it's a drainage shortage causing the battery to die , you can check this best in the dark ; remove the positive or negitive battery cable and touch the cable to the battery post if it makes a spark with everything turned off then you have a short somewhere for sure !

But if the LCD instrument pod/panel is fogging up this is most likly the source of the drainage , so do a search for this first ; or maybe someone will jump in by tomorrow that can find the post with the fix for this problem ; good luck and i hope it doesn't need the Pod replaced they are expensive !......

 

If you have an amp meter you can unhook the negative battery cable and take a reading.

If there is a draw, try disconnecting the regulator/rectifier. If that isn't it, I'd look at any electrical accessories you have added. I think these things are generally wired so that everything else is only hot when the key is on.

As far as the electric stuff acting strange, it would be a good idea to disconnect the battery, then take every connector you can find apart, clean it up good, blow out with compressed air, and hit them with some diaelectric grease.