See my earlier post ( wiper power with key off ).After reading Glockguy reply I went and double checked my wires. Wires ok. Then I check Bat. ground cable to neg side of Bat. and I got power.( test light ) With Bat. ground cable still off of Bat. I checked cable to Pos. side of bat. and no power .So I am thinking this is a ground problem. I hope so.

Gary

 

Let me get this straight. You disconnected the neg side batt cable (to frame) at the batt, then put the test light from the cable to the neg side of the batt. **It will light, full 12 volts will move to the open. **

Then you moved the test light to the POS side of the batt and no light with the neg side disconnected? it won't light. You need to get a Wiring diagram if you don't have one, and get a basic understanding of electricity to have any hope of finding a problem.

Best way to look at DC voltage (12V) is like a pressure system. The Battery is a pressure chamber (like a chamber on a compressor), rated in electrical pressure (volts) and the wires are like hollow pressure lines, and the devices are like the devices that the pressure lines plug into. The only difference, is that each device needs a return line to the "low" side of the pressure chamber (ground), in order to work. So, in order to work, there needs to be a complete "circuit", from the High pressure side (+ of the battery) through the hoses (wires) to the device being powered (= into your device) and then at the back of the device a hose (wire) back to the low pressure side of the chamber (- of the battery). A light can be used several ways in troubleshooting, hook it to the + side and hunt around for a wire or piece of metal or part of a device that should be hooked up to ground (- side of the battery). Or you can hook it to the Neg side of the battery by way of a known good ground- (engine block bare metal or frame bare metal are a few) and you can hunt around for + voltage that will make the light light up. a light works because of two reasons 1. It's a safe way to look for voltage, because the bulb uses all the voltage when it lights, and doesn't create a short,, and --
2. It lights when there is 12 volts "across" it. It's a basic 12V circuit go/nogo test if used correctly, bare in mind that one of the most important things to consider is that if you are trying to test for the presence of 12volts that the ground (-) must be "sure". and vice-versa, if your looking for a ground, the 12 V in on one side must also be "sure" . C.

 

This is what I am doing to make sure I have a short.

First, lets make sure you have a short.Electrical systems have a
specific route for electricity to travel along and any change from this route causes problems. If electricity can find an easier route it will always take it. So lets find out if the electricity in your car is finding a ground sooner than it's suppose to... What we're going to do is take a test light and attach the clip end to the negative battery cable and put the tip on the negative battery post. Then we're going to remove the negative battery cable making sure we don't touch the test light. Now we haven't broken the electrical connection here. All we're doing is letting the current, if any, flow out of the negative battery post, through our test light to see if it illuminates, and continue on along the negative battery cable to the short. Word of caution, If you're
attempting this on a computer controlled car it is very important not to
break the connection of the test light to the negative battery post.

 

The 1st part of this, "bat. ground cable to neg side of bat. and got power", means you have a parasitic drain on the battery. You can narrow it down to which circuit the constant drain is on by pulling fuses until the test light goes out.
The 2nd part, "checked ground cable (off the bat) to Pos. side of bat. and no power" is meaningless.

 

You got too many things going on, for instance, if your door was open while you were testing with the light between the Neg batt cable and the Neg post of the batt, you would be seeing the current draw of the courtesy lights. The doors would need to be closed, first. Then with the doors closed, and the ignition off, test all the accessories in your car. Radio, blower motor, blinkers, wipers, ect, noting what works and what doesn't. Once you've done that, you can isolate where the voltage is feeding in, that is, to what control circuit, it may effect more then one device. At that point, you would pull the fuse for that leg, if it is fused, and see which side still has the voltage, this is done to narrow down the problem to it's source, where ever that may be. C. Keep us informed on what you find, and i, along with other knowledgeable forum members will try to help. C.

 

I will check what you guys are saying to check and will let you know what I find. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Gary