Ford Repair: ford expedition battery draining and starting issue, neutral safety switch, altenator


Question
QUESTION: a few months ago i had a starting problem on my 1998 ford expedition 5.4 liter. we would hear a click when we tried to start it. so i would charge the battery with the bettery charger but the bettery was still good so i just jumped it and it started. we changed the positive wire to the starter (battery wire) we had the stator rebuilt twice, and we changed the battery to a much better one cause a guy said if you got a cheap battery it will mess up the stator. so now we had a new stator, cables and duralast battery and alternator. the car starts now but the battery is draining. we keep starting it and it reads out 14.4 on the tester. so we waited to next day and the battery read 12.0 flat/low this battery/aternator tester. the only thing i know is wrong with the car is that we have (on passenger side) sidemarker light fell off and maybe the harness might get shorted out or something.. please if you can help it will be a real good help cause i got nothing!!!

ANSWER: hey there, there is one other quick test that i notice you hav not listed, you have to check the amperage that the altenator is putting out, you should be between 20- 30 amps at idle with no accesories turned on. do this and get back to me good luck
Chris

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: How would I do that?
All parts brought so far: alternator, starter (2), starter relay, battery positive
wire, ignition switch, battery. I've installed all of those parts and I brought a
neutral safety switch but did not install it. Do you need a special plug to take
it off because I took the two screws off the neutral safety switch and I tried
taking it off but it's stuck. Any help will be much appreciated because now I
have no clue beside the neutral safety switch. I still hears click noise when I
try to start. Thanks

ANSWER: some times the switch will seize onto the side of the transmission. it will take a bit of patience and lots of penetrating oil to get it unseized of the shaft going inside.  but if this switch was faulty then you would not get a click at all.if you try jumping the startor or the relay will it start then?? try that and get back to me.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey you was so right. It was the signal wire coming from the inside of the
truck. Well that wire as you know connects to the starter relay. We just had
to crimp it to the starter relay post tighter. Truck starts up no problem. We
changed alot or stuff but it's ok cause now I know that the whole starting
system and charging system is all fresh but now I have another problem. We
figured out the drain problem with the battery and that's because the interior
lights stay on and don't cut off. It used to happen awhile ago and the door
ajar light would stay on. Now it's happening again and this time the door ajar
light doesn't come on but the interior lights and the running board lights stay
on. I heard that it can be the gem module or the battery saver relay or interior
light relay or just a door lock switch. I sprayed with wd-40 and no luck.
Today I'm gonna try a silicone lube maybe that would work alil better than
the wd-40. Is there a way to check the relays an if I do check them what
would I use? A continunity tester or ohmmeter? It I use a ohmmeter what
should the reading say? Thanks alot in advance. You really helped me out
on the last question.

Answer
hey again, allthough i have bever seen a gem module fault out like that, i shouldnt say it is immposible.it does control all the lighting haits of the vehicle. you can have the gem module scanned for any trouble codes that may be present, and that may give you a good lead on what the actual problem is, good luck
Chris