Liberty intermittent battery drain solved finally

[wechols]

After battling an intermittent battery drain for a few years and 2 batteries, I finally found the culprit was the A/C Clutch relay contacts were occasionally sticking closed. This allowed a steady 1/2 amp draw which would completely drain the battery after a few days on sitting. Replaced the relay and all is well. Disassembled the relay out of curiosity and the contacts are quite small and were very burned up. I wonder if Chrysler puts any sort of spark arrestor across the clutch coil to prevent a voltage spike feeding back when the field collapses?

 

[RussWhite]

Nice find! I am a little surprised the source of power was not interrupted with the ignition off. Some general purpose relays can be purchsed with contact protection built in - either diode protection or an R/C network. Russ '05 Sport

 

[Ohio-white-kj]

Is that the normal ISO type / size relay you see for everything?

If so I worked at a manufacturer several years ago where we made those. Not that type, but a similar one was made for ford that had a diode to prevent feedback, also had one that was just a reed switch that fit in same profile.