Old & New battery drain, please help
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
From: Lakeside Ca
Old & New battery drain, please help
I have a 86 that runs like a champ, the only problem I have is the battery keeps going dead if it sits for longer then a week or two, I'm showing about 14.6 on the volt meter and the alternator was replaced not long ago, I thought maybe it was the battery which had about 5 years on it so I replaced it and the same thing happens. I don't hear or see anything running after I shut her down. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions, this is getting old, I had to have a FORD give me a jump start today :(
Thanks Mike
Thanks Mike
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 1,994
Likes: 0
From: Charleston, WV
Re: Old & New battery drain, please help (GoNavy)
This will be the same old deal that has been discussed a lot recentley...... you need to determine what the drain is from. In the event that you don't have a meter I like to use a test light. Unhook the negative side of the batt, put the test light in series with the cables so you are using the test light to make the connection. If it lights there is a drain.......... You will need to start by removing fuses one at a time until the light goes out. If your car is like my 85 the fuse panel is only accessible with the pass side door open so you will have to devise a method of keeping the door button pushed in and the timer will have to "time out" .......and it might not with the test light in there. anyway ...........if it's not fused then you will need to try the alt wires and on and on............ I have even seen a bad oil pressure switch do this keeping the fuel pum ON......... :seeya
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
From: Lakeside Ca
Re: Old & New battery drain, please help (jeepie91)
Thanks for the advise, I disconnected the hood lights awhile back so that wasn't it, I will try the light thing this weekend, thanks again.
Racer
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 378
Likes: 0
From: Dunmore, Pennsylvania
Re: Old & New battery drain, please help (GoNavy)
The first thing I would try is unplug both your under hood lights and see if that helps. If not I would get a screw type disconnect switch and install it on the negative battery term. The switch will cause your radio presets and clock to be reset, but it will also give you a perfect setup to hookup your amp meter. Once your switch is installed you can read how much current your car is drawing just sitting, I believe if is more than 50ma you have a problem (there should be no draw since your hood lights are unplugged and all doors are closed). In order to kill your battery in a couple days I would guess you are drawing a lot more than that. If that is the case I would remove the battery and remove all the wires from your jump start block, which is located behind the battery, and check the draw again with all the wires removed. This pretty much removes everything except the starter, if you are below 50ma start testing each wire one at a time untill you find the wire that is over 50ma, then you will have to find what circuit it is and what is connected to it in the manual. You can leave the battery out and use jumper cables to hook it up while testing.
Good luck.
Good luck.
