[RichMusson]

As for grounds, yes I have several. The engine is separately grounded/ the transmission is separately grounded / there are two separate grounds off of the battery/ also the dash panel is grounded/ there are probably more – I just do not remember.

Blas, you are 100% right; I am confused as to the total loss of power.
Also assume I had something near 12volts when I left the picnic. I probably only drove a couple of miles maybe the car ran for 5 minutes or so. I had a total power loss; the when I got it back I was showing 9 volts. Wow! That’s a major power drain. I mean even when I got ignition power back my battery was drained to the point that it was functionally dead!

Blas, the idea of ‘jumping’ the car from my own battery is also and excellent idea, I thought of that afterwords. I really wish I would have tried it.

I know some EFI systems will shut down when the power goes below a certain point. It is in order to preserve the computer. Does anyone know if Fords do that?

Still I lost all that power then on the ride home – which could not have taken 35 minutes or so and the battery was up to 18 volts???

I don’t know. I will try and get under the car today and see if I can figure anything out.