Battery Problems
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Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Havelock NC
Battery Problems
I've been having problems with my battery in my 63 SWC holding a charge. The battery was replaced with an Interstate Battery this past fall and has worked fine until this last month. The car sits for a week or so between starts and I had to jump it to start it this past weekend. After starting, the car stalled and not even a jump would get it started again. Before the battery was changed this past fall, the negative battery cable was contacting the battery hold-down bracket and causing it to lose charge. I fixed that but it's still not holding a charge. Any suggestions?
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Joined: Jun 1999
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From: Dove Mountain Arizona
First off the neg. battery terminal touching ground (hold down) will not cause it to discharge. This is why you're still having the problem. Here's a few things to check... (1) put your hand on the wiper motor, if it's warm/hot you have a drain there. (2) I'd replace the regulator with an electronic one, cost $10. The points have a nasty habit of sticking. (3) Ign switch could be dirty also. 
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Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Camp Verde AZ
C1 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
2017 C1 of Year Finalist
Originally Posted by wombvette
You need to find the drain. The most common locations on a midyear are the courtesy/clock circuit and the alternator diodes.
I just found a bad diode on a 5 month old alternator.
Use a VOM meter on the alternator.
Disconnect the BAT terminal wire and set the VOM to OHMS, touch one lead to the alt case and one lead to the BAT stud, then reverse the leads, you should get zero ohms in one direction,a nd 10 or so ohms in the other direction, if they both show the same, you ahve a bad alternator.
PS: Batteries can only be fully drained 17-20 times before they go bad and won't hold a charge.
Doug
