The one issue many of us hate to deal with, PITA to track down, sometimes hours bent over with a meter. Its on an '82 60k mile mostly original and un-bubba'd car. 2 weeks ago I had take it to work on a SUnday. Leaving that night I noticed lights were a little dim, blower not blowing too hard, gauges bouncing all over etc. First I'm thinking alternator. SO I shut the lights and the heater and manage to make it home. Car died right in front of the house. Eventually I check the alt out and its putting out plenty of juice? 14 and change. Seemed strange, that night I was sure it was the alt. ok, So I charged the battery and starting pulling fuses 1 by 1 with a meter attached but quite frankly didn't notice any difference. By the way, it would drain down overnight. A buddy of mine said big draws like that were either starter or alternator? Tried re-charging the battery and unplugging the alt but it still drained down overnight. The only work I have done to it recently was a re-install of the original radio and to change out the harness connector that goes down to the starter, it was all melted. I would up buying a new battery, the other was 7 yrs old and today I installed, let it run for a while, alt was putting out 14+. I pulled the radio, guage and courtesy fuses and in an hour it still drained down from 12.4 to 10.4. Since its freezing here I'm not looking forward to getting underneath and disconnecting the starter. For now Ive got the battery disconnected and a tender on it till I figure out which way to go. ANy thoughts or ideas appreciated,,, Thx Cory.

 

Have the alternator tested. A bad diode will drain the battery fast like that.

 

ASSUMING that the starter extension wiring harness that goes from the connector behind your right valve cover down to your starter.,..IF it was all melted. Were the wires bad or broken/bad fusible links??? Hopefully IF you repaired this harness at the starter solenoid connections....you DID use the correct fusible links. NOW...this has nothing to do with your power drain..NOT a short.....assuming you correctly connected the terminals in the correct areas.

SO if I read what you wrote ...you have a NEW battery in the car.

There is a tool that can attach to your negative battery cable that will show you how many AMPS of draw the car has in it. Some people use a test light but that does not give you an actual value of amp draw. I know some people use a voltmeter that has the ability to switch it to a function that can detect DC amp draw. without you ahve a tool like this is almost a guessing game. When you have the tool...it will show itself when you get it right away....not knowing if your tool is allowing you not see the amp draw or not. You did not actually mention that.

Doing like you did by pulling some fuses....you need to keep in mind that the only fuses you need to pull are for those circuit is that stay HOT all the time...regardless if the ignition is on or not. SO pulling the WIPER fuse is mute due to it is not HOT with the key out of the ignition.

POWER SEAT can do it. The switch is stuck and drawing current but the seat is not moving.

Your theft system should NOT be a cause of this due to it is the upgraded design where it shuts down after a few minutes.

Generally it is the interior timer controller that allows the interior lights to stay on for about 30 seconds after the doors have been shut...is still staying energized even though the light bulbs are OFF. But seeing how you pulled the CTSY fuse..that should stop that draw.

DUB

 

It could be caused by something else but you might want to disconnect the 'courtesy light time delay' as it alone has caused many a dead battery.
It is behind the glove box in an orange case.
You can disconnect it or eliminate it by connecting the two white wires together.

Alternators can cause a drain but you have to disconnect all the wires to prove it.

82 schematic:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&p...TEwMTE5YTk0MWU

 

A shorted alternator or starter seems very plausible. You can validate this by connecting an ammeter in series with either the negative or positive side of the battery and observe the amps being drawn. Start pulling fuses one by one. If you pull all of them and you still have a significant draw, then it is the alternator or starter. I would disconnect the alternator first and then if that does not help the draw, it would be the starter (starter solenoid most likely).

I had a similar problem with my 2006 Solstice where I connected the back up wire accidentally to steady 12V instead of the back up switch. It took 2 - 3 days but the battery was drained as dead as a doorknob. I used the trick above and was able to nail where the drain originated from.

 

I did isolate the alternator and still had the drain,,,

 

Yes, redid with new water proof connectors, the fusible links were good, just the connector itself had gone bad, but that was a few months ago,,,

 

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...cal-issue.html

 

Confused. Did you isolate it, or just unplug it?

 

isn't that one and the same? Unplugged it and unscrewed the single feed.

 

looks like the new cable to the starter, melted?,
something ain't right and it is probably
the source of the amp draw.
good luck

 

Just thinking out loud, if it is the starter/solenoid, would it be warm to the touch since its drawing so hard?

 

the wire going to the starter sounds like it’s shorting. That would explain your car dying in front of your house but the alt was still charging. It would also explain your volt gauge bouncing around as it was shorting. It’s not a major job but you wouldn’t want to do it on your back in the driveway in 10 degree weather.

 

YES...you would think so and that makes sense if current is being used to power something.

Just asking.....but are you sure the wires in the connector that you have repaired previously are correctly positioned in the connector to complete that circuit properly???

Double check your wires at your solenoid. I have had some customers who did there own starter replacement and got the 12 gauge purple wire that allows your starter to engage. They positioned that terminal in a way where it was touching the block and when they went to crank the car it went dead....due to a short. But you have a drain...so I would still take a look.

DUB

 

I know its old and I should have posted sooner, turned out to be the alternator,,,