1982 CE with Draining Battery
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Joined: Dec 2002
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From: Santa Fe NM
1982 CE with Draining Battery
I had this started with a previous post on another electrical problem.
My battery drains in about 10 to 12 hours. Tried charging it and putting a amp meter (fluke set to milli amps) in between the postive battery connection and the positive battery post. Did not read any amps being drawn?
My guess is the battery is 2 years old. I am ready to just go ahead and replace both battery cables and the battery. Any suggestions?
Patrick Opsahl
Lathrop, CA
1982 CE
1973 Coupe LS4
My battery drains in about 10 to 12 hours. Tried charging it and putting a amp meter (fluke set to milli amps) in between the postive battery connection and the positive battery post. Did not read any amps being drawn?
My guess is the battery is 2 years old. I am ready to just go ahead and replace both battery cables and the battery. Any suggestions?
Patrick Opsahl
Lathrop, CA
1982 CE
1973 Coupe LS4
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 502
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From: macomb mi
Re: 1982 CE with Draining Battery (PatOpsahl)
Mine was doing the same thing turned out the power antenna was not all the way down so the relay did not shut off the power killing the battery. Might check that out. Good luck :thumbs:
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 5,000
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From: Minneapolis, Mn USA
Re: 1982 CE with Draining Battery (PatOpsahl)
Take your battery and charge it up and then bring it to a battery store where they can test it for you. They will load it down to see how many Amps they can pull from it. This will determine if your battery has a dead cell or any other issues going on.
If the battery proves to be good, check your alternator. Sometimes these are known to go bad. If in doubt, go get a new one or rebuild kit from a local auto parts store and try it out to see if this stops it.
If it is still bad, I have heard of the interior light delay box going bad and causing this problem. This box is located behind the glove box. Unplug this box to see if this stops your problem.
If all else fails, I would check your Ammeter connections again and see if you can get a reading across the terminals as you checked it before. If you can find a few hundred milliamps of draw, then start disconnecting fuses to isolate the problem down to a specific circuit.
Its all about the process of elimination.
Brent...
If the battery proves to be good, check your alternator. Sometimes these are known to go bad. If in doubt, go get a new one or rebuild kit from a local auto parts store and try it out to see if this stops it.
If it is still bad, I have heard of the interior light delay box going bad and causing this problem. This box is located behind the glove box. Unplug this box to see if this stops your problem.
If all else fails, I would check your Ammeter connections again and see if you can get a reading across the terminals as you checked it before. If you can find a few hundred milliamps of draw, then start disconnecting fuses to isolate the problem down to a specific circuit.
Its all about the process of elimination.
Brent...
Race Director
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 11,121
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From: SE Pennsylvania
St. Jude Donor '03 thru '26
Oldtimer
Re: 1982 CE with Draining Battery (PatOpsahl)
Make sure at night that the underhood light is going off when the hood is closed. The switch was bad on my 79.
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Joined: Jan 2002
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From: Palm Bay FL
Re: 1982 CE with Draining Battery (PatOpsahl)
Not reading any current ay. Check the simple things first...There is a "current" fuse in the fluke meter, check it. When you connected the meter in line with the power cable, did you make sure the ignition key was in the "run" position? If you turn the key too far you will enter the "starting " position...the current fuse will blow if this happens. Even though I know this, I still have accidentally turned the key too far and popped the fuse. :cheers: