swag

Hi all;

So, I had best buy try to install the center bezel for me and he had tons of issues. I know, why would I take it to best buy? The guy acted like he knew how to do old cars. Fooled me!

He did get the radio in; however, he disconnected the fuel gauge wire, broke the bezel and disconnected the power antenna wire.

I fixed all those problems; however, now I have a Parasitic drain of about 2 1/2 amps on my battery.

I pulled each fuse in the fusebox to see what was causing it.

After pulling all the fuses, I am still getting the drain.

Is there anything that bypasses the fuse box and could still be drawing power? Or is there another fuse box I am missing besides the one on the driver's side floorboard?

I do have a battery shutoff switch and when I enable that the battery drain goes to zero. At least that works!

Thank you for your help!

swag

Oh, I have a '68 corvette. Also, I pulled the ignition switch wire to see if that was doing anything and didn't help.

thanks!

SwampeastMike

While I'm not intimately familiar with the '68 electrical system, with all fuses removed and ignition switch disconnected there should be nothing in the factory system that would cause a draw.

If you and the guy at Best Buy are at all on speaking terms I suggest finding out if he ran power direct from the battery.

swag

Yes, we were on ok terms. He wasn't the one who installed the radio.

But, I looked near the battery and found a wire with a fuse. I pulled the fuse and am still getting the power drain.

Odd thing, that was supposed to be for always on power; however, if I look at the wiring harness, it looks like it is connected to the pink wire on the ignition switch. If I understand that correctly, it shouldn't have always on power.


I tried to follow the red wire but lost it after it got out of the battery storage area.

I don't see it under the dash anywhere. I'll have to dig a bit further to see where it goes.

Could there be a drain from the battery to the fuse box? Where does the battery cable go?


Thanks for your help.

Richard454

Pulling 2½Amps is a lot-

If you just had a radio installed w/o an amplifier- that doesn't sound like the problem.

I'd check the Wiper ELECTRICAL override switch...which is unique to the 68 and could drain the battery down by the warning lamp staying on.

Somebody unfamiliar w/ the car or accidentally could have turned it.

Richard

Rescue Rogers

I agree with the wiper override **** under the dash. Get your car running and vacuum up, then turn on your wipers, turn the **** and mark the on position with a white paint stick, just a dot, so you know when its on or off.

There should be 3 powers to your radio, 1 for main power fused from the fuse box, 1 from the lights, and 1 for the memory from the battery, the llights could draw some amps but the memory should draw many at all.

Get yourself the Oh So Ez wiring harness diagrams for the 68 from Doc Rebuild. They are priceless for wiring problems, it has all the wire colors and plug ends and its in the order of the harness. Its copyrighted, don't post pics of it. theres 2 different ones, you need both.

http://docrebuild.com/oosoez/8968101.html

Richard454

On most 12V car stereos (at least since the early 90's) as I worked for Kenwood at the time-

The yellow wire carries the vast majority of the 12V DC load so it serves as not only a memory wire but also your head units power source feed.

Usually a larger gauge wire than the red/ignition wire. Sort of the industry standard as the red wire is simply ignition/remote turn on -and consumes very little power.

henrikse

Red Battery cable goes right to the starter.

swag

Yes you might be onto something. I had this issue a while back in a previous post and it magically went away. Also, it looks like there is an aftermarket switch there. Just has a toggle instead of the wheel.

I'll dig around that wiring. If I remember, it was grounded to the steering wheel.

Thanks!

swag

Yes, I got those. Very handy!

I was studying them and didn't see where the wiper override switch was mapped. I'll look a little harder.

Also, I have the early 68 that doesn't have the warning light.

Thanks!

Rescue Rogers

Same here, Oct 67 build, the wire is labeled as teh wiper door switch connector, its next to the tach bulbs at the top





brown wire white stripe


I have a etter pic I'll add when it transfers to my computer

swag

Great! same month as my 68.


So, I was looking over my old thread and it was mentioned that the horn relay can get a constant pull from the battery. The interesting thing, my horn stopped working after the radio was done.

By the way, I have completely disassembled the radio and bezel.

So, I pulled the horn relay (Attached a pic to make sure it is really the horn relay). Drivers side next to the alternator?

I unattached each wire and and it seemed to have dropped .15 amps so I don't think that is the problem.

I pulled the override switch out to see the wiring. Looks like the same brown and white wire is eventually attached. Where does your ground go?

Also, attached a pic of the switch I have. Not a **** but more of a toggle switch.

Thank you!

Rescue Rogers

Yes that's the horn relay. It's also the key buzzer for the ignition, I found that out when I replaced mine. Sound like a lot of coincidences that happened all at once, hmmmm.

Rescue Rogers

The ground for that switch went to the wiring harness, which attached to the birdcage and had multiple grounds for the dash, the light switch, tach and speedo, the radio, the gauges, etc....

Is your ground attached to that little bezel the toggle is attached to?

swag

Great, I just ordered one. My key buzzer never has worked so maybe it's all directed to the horn relay. Also, not sure if this has any correlation, but the last time I had this issue and it magically went away I was messing with the wires on the alternator.

The horn relay is right near there!

swag

No, looks like they just ground it to the nut under the steering column.

(Attached a pic)

Thanks a log!

swag

Oh, the yellow wire is soldered onto the headlight switch.

Rescue Rogers

I would test that ground to your ground for the wiring harness. See if its a straight short or if there is any resistance. It should be a straight short

swag

I might just run the wire to where it should go. I don't see a ground wire close by so I might run a wire. Looking at the willcox diagram, it looks like that ground needs to be attached to the wiper switch black wire. Is that correct?

By the way, when I got the car, the wiper door wouldn't open without the override switch. Looking behind the dash, the wiper solenoid had a broken vacuum connector and it was bypassed. So, I got a new solenoid and it still wasn't working. I even got a new relay and that didn't help.

So, all this might be interrelated.

Also, is it common to have a ground connected to the side of the light switch? There wasn't a connector, it was just soldered to the side. Thought that was odd.

Thank you!

Rescue Rogers

there is a ground on the light switch for the dash dimmer. Remember there isnt alot of metal in the car so everything grounded is tied together with the wiring harness. The ground should be tied into the harness and then over to the birdcage. I don't know what happened under there but it sounds like its all mickey moused together.

The following came from taking the switches and motors apart to trace the path. I had drawn a diagram, if I find them I will add them when i can, im fighting acold right now The problem with the 68 is its unlike all the other years. It always has power and the motor case is grounded to the blower motor. The ground itself for the motor is the blue wire, So for it to opertate the switch is turned on( it is actually moving the power to different posts on the motor), it provides a power path on the blue wire to terminal 3 through the motor to a relay that provides power to the tach relay switch on the brown wire. This closes and vents the door actuator switch and opens the wiper door.

The other blue wire is the ground coming out of the motor, it goes into the plug, then to the black wire to the door limit switch which is still open. . The door opening connects the limit switch which provide the motor itself a ground for operation.

So connecting the motor bypass to the wiper switch could be bad, it needs to go to ground. when you open it the motor loses its ground but the casing still has ground so its using power to keep the internal relay open which drains the battery. I dont know if the radio guy cut a wire or hooked up one in correctly, but you could disconnect the red wire going to the motor and see if you lose the parasitic drain