CLB drained my battery!?!?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,200
Likes: 0
From: Branchburg, NJ
CLB drained my battery!?!?
Like the title says, I installed the CLB last night while switching to a Hurst shifter. Didn't have the right screws to put the shifter in, so I left the dash in pieces over night and all day and when I just went to play with it, no power. AT ALL 
I tried hooking up a trickle charger, but it seems the battery is too dead for it to work! While it was hooked up though, I noticed a veeerrrry quiet ticking coming from the CLB, so I ripped that **** outta there and I guess I'll jump it tomorrow. Can ANYBODY tell me WTF is going on? I am VERY VERY angry @ the car right now. 
I tried hooking up a trickle charger, but it seems the battery is too dead for it to work! While it was hooked up though, I noticed a veeerrrry quiet ticking coming from the CLB, so I ripped that **** outta there and I guess I'll jump it tomorrow. Can ANYBODY tell me WTF is going on? I am VERY VERY angry @ the car right now.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,132
Likes: 1
From: Morganton, NC, USA
Could be a defective CLB with an internal short. Use an Ohm meter to check out all the connected wire possibilities. If you get zero Ohms between any 2 wires, it's probably a short. I had a '78 which was going to be left in the garage while going on vacation. I decided to check it out the night before to make sure I didn't have any interior lights on. I don't know why, but I reached under the dash to feel around, and sure enough, one of those little black boxes was very hot, like hot water out of the faucet. The car had been sitting for about 4 or 5 hours. Needless to say, I pulled the plug and removed it. I'm sure the battery would have been dead the next morning, never mind a week later. Never found our what that little balck box did either. 
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,200
Likes: 0
From: Branchburg, NJ
Yeah, I think I figured out the problem- I jumped it this morning and found ALL the interior lights on! 
I must have turned the light dimmer switch thingy all the way to the right to click them on while I was working on the car and left it sitting like that all night! 
:o 
Will driving around for a while be enough to charge it back up, or will I need a new battery? 
I must have turned the light dimmer switch thingy all the way to the right to click them on while I was working on the car and left it sitting like that all night! :o Will driving around for a while be enough to charge it back up, or will I need a new battery?
Pro
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 512
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Your battery may charge back up but be ready for possible battery troubles soon. Car batteries intended for starting the car (as opposed to deep cycle batteries) take a big hit if ever deep discharged like yours was.
It really does a number on them. I had a new battery I installed in a truck that had a constant battery drain that I didn't know about. When I came back to use the truck a couple of days later the battery was dead. I charged it back up and I fixed the problem with the truck that was draining the battery. The problem was a bad alternator that would charge the battery while the truck was running, but drain the battery while the truck was not running. After I changed the alternator the new battery only lasted about 2 months and it was toast. I had to go get another new battery.
It really does a number on them. I had a new battery I installed in a truck that had a constant battery drain that I didn't know about. When I came back to use the truck a couple of days later the battery was dead. I charged it back up and I fixed the problem with the truck that was draining the battery. The problem was a bad alternator that would charge the battery while the truck was running, but drain the battery while the truck was not running. After I changed the alternator the new battery only lasted about 2 months and it was toast. I had to go get another new battery.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 24,652
Likes: 298
From: NJ
St. Jude Donor '05-'08
Originally Posted by C5 ChemE
Yeah, I think I figured out the problem- I jumped it this morning and found ALL the interior lights on! I must have turned the light dimmer switch thingy all the way to the right to click them on while I was working on the car and left it sitting like that all night! :o Will driving around for a while be enough to charge it back up, or will I need a new battery?
I must have turned the light dimmer switch thingy all the way to the right to click them on while I was working on the car and left it sitting like that all night! :o Will driving around for a while be enough to charge it back up, or will I need a new battery? Your giving us Yellow Car Owners a bad name...
glad it was not serious. I have heard that once you kill a battery that you might want to get a new one because it never performs the same. though yours might not have been totally dead so you might not have any problems.... How do you like that for hopping around a definate answer!!!
