Parasitic Battery drain -any autoelectricians around?

I put a new battery on it, found a largish voltage drop across the battery/lead, and pulled all the fuses but could not find a circuit that made much difference.

I'm not an electrician, but I think you need to me measuring the current draw from the battery, not the voltage.

My in laws had a similar issue when they bought a secondhand focus last year. For them it turned out to be a faulty sensor related to the key-less entry (can't remember if it was boot foot waggle one or something on one of the main doors) that wasn't going into standby when it should.

They garage managed to track it down after quite a bit of effort by pulling fuses and then disconnecting individual parts on that circuit. Short term fix was to simply unplug the faulty sensor but they did eventually manage to get a replacement after some initial issues with a lack of parts supply.

Alarm battery could be on its way out, so it will pull current from the battery to charge it.

Check for current across each of the fuse positions (there might be two fuse boxes)

Don't forget to measure current the meter must be in the circuit so the current goes through it. Putting the test leads across a fuse will just measure voltage drop (which will be very small if the current is tiny).

dont mention age - but corroded earth straps with high resistance can also cause this .

Like i (tried to) say,i was looking for less current drop as i pulled each fuse, but didnt really find any, so want to try other things.
The battery earth strap is good but i havent tried the others yet

Sorry if you know all this, but you don't really measure current drop, you measure either current flow or voltage drop. Can you explain where you're putting the test leads and how they are connected to the meter.

im sure i got it right. i tried with the ammeter leads between the battery negative and the earth clamp

You need to measure the current flow, so one way to do it is with the meter between the negative battery terminal and an earth point on the chassis, and remove the lead from the battery negative to the chassis. Now all the current is going through the meter.

You need to measure the current flow, so one way to do it is with the meter between the negative battery terminal and an earth point on the chassis, and remove the lead from the battery negative to the chassis. Now all the current is going through the meter.

Yes, i did that, but nothing showed up, so is there anywhere else i could look?

How sensitive is your meter? It only takes a small current to flatten the battery if its flowing 24 hours a day.

You should see something if you have a leak.

(And I should have said before, with the meter in between the battery and earth, don't try to start the engine!)

Not a Ford but an Audi A3, and dicky door lock did this for me.

Not a Ford but an Audi A3, and dicky door lock did this for me.

The only fault code relates to the lock on the tailgate,though it seems to work fine. Although there is no corresponding difference in current when that fuse is removed,would it be worth getting at the mechanism with some contact cleaner?

If your not seeing any drop with the standard fuses pull the starter relay out and try again.

You may also find 2 fuse boards

What draw are you showing on the meter?

Faulty boot switch leaving 5w bulb on flattened my battery and ruined a new one - so it can be something simple.

Faulty boot switch leaving 5w bulb on flattened my battery

yes but the circuit would show the cchange in voltage drop?

Anyway its all academic now, as someone just bought the car

I get obsessed with not being able to sort out such things, and end up spending way too much time on them, so Im glad its out of my mind
there was like one amp showing on the meter

Just came to say that's a great name for a band.