My battery is dead every morning, and I cant figure out what is doing it. I bought a new battery, and the only things I have recently installed are gauges. The only power the gauges use are for illumination, and all lights go out when I turn the key off. I even checked with a test light, nothing is hot going to the gauges. So I think it mustbe something else. I pretty much just built this entire car from the frame up (90 GT), so it really could be anything. Anyone know of any good methods besides fuse pulling and waiting over night? Or perhaps common culprits for battery draining? Thanks
Battery is being drained?
- Thread starter cobra11182
- Start date
The battery is brand new, and when I pull the positive lead from the battery, and put a test light in between the post and lead, (doors closed, key off, etc.) The light will come on jusdt barely enough to notice, like it is glowing just barely orange. No Idea how many amps this is, cause I dont have a multimeter yet. But I pulled every fuse in the car, and none of them made the glow die away. So I am thinking maybe this small amount of draw is normal? If so, with a new battery, and no drain, I wouldnt know where to start. ALT. is keeping a good charge when driving, and the battery was fully charged when I went to bed. ?
squall9393
New Member
So in turn, what are you trying to do, see how many amps the battery is???
You know amperage is the flow of electricity to a device in terms of speed. Therefore you cannot find the amperage with just hooking up an ammeter, there must be a load in the circuit. The only thing you can test for is voltage with a voltmeter obviously. How bright that test light glows is very unreliable and won't tell you much.
You know amperage is the flow of electricity to a device in terms of speed. Therefore you cannot find the amperage with just hooking up an ammeter, there must be a load in the circuit. The only thing you can test for is voltage with a voltmeter obviously. How bright that test light glows is very unreliable and won't tell you much.
I know the light is unreliable, what I am trying to find out is if there is supposed to be any current flowing when everything is off. Because in my case, there is obviously some current, to light up the light. I am thinking that whatever is drawing this current has to be what is draining the battery overnight. So I dont know how much current is flowing, but I do know there is some kind of draw when everything is off. I think this is the problem. So what I need to know is if there should be any significant current draw when everything is off. (when I open the door, or turn something on, the light gets bright, but when everything is off, it is a very dim glow, so there is still some current flow)
A vehicle is always going to have some parasites on it. Think about the keep alive memory, or the radio's clock, ect. By putting the light on there all you are doing is completing the circuit. As long as you provide a path to ground, electricty will flow to it. With that said, you are always going to have a little bit of power drain on the car's battery. Your best bet is too look for things that don't cut off, or try driving home one day and leave everything off. Maybe your alternator is so worn out that it's barely producing enough electricity to sufficiently charge your battery. There are too many things that could be the culprit, but i'll bet something is not cutting off.
I too thought something was staying on, but with the light hooked in series, I pulled each fuse from the box, and the light never changed. What runs on a car that is not fused through the box, that could stay on? Also, should a car run without the battery connected? If I start my car, then unhook the battery, it runs for a half minute or so, then cuts off. If the headlights are on, and I pull the battery, the lights stay on, so the alternator must be making power, but then the engine cuts off?
This definitely sounds like some kind of a short in the system.
I think about the only source of power drainage with all of the fuses pulled might be the computer.
Cars with electronic ignition cannot run w/o the 12v battery source.
Check to see what kind of voltage that alternator is returning to the battery at idle speed with and w/o full load on it. Look for about 13 to 14.5 VDC.
If the new battery isn't maintenance free, try checking each cell with a hydrometer to see if all the cells are good. Sometimes you can get a bad battery!
I once had a short in a car that caused the defroster fan to stay on. The only way to stop it was to unplug the battery. With every single fuse out of the box it still ran. Mysteriously it fixed itself the next day and never happened again.
Keep us posted!
I think about the only source of power drainage with all of the fuses pulled might be the computer.
Cars with electronic ignition cannot run w/o the 12v battery source.
Check to see what kind of voltage that alternator is returning to the battery at idle speed with and w/o full load on it. Look for about 13 to 14.5 VDC.
If the new battery isn't maintenance free, try checking each cell with a hydrometer to see if all the cells are good. Sometimes you can get a bad battery!
I once had a short in a car that caused the defroster fan to stay on. The only way to stop it was to unplug the battery. With every single fuse out of the box it still ran. Mysteriously it fixed itself the next day and never happened again.
Keep us posted!
houstonstangguy
Founding Member
my battery just started dying within the last 2 weeks. i couldnt figure out why. i replaced the battery and it still started draining. i took it around the corner and they told me the alt worked sometimes and sometimes it didnt. cost me 15.00 to find out for sure the alt either had a short or was going bad.
I called pep boys and oreilys for a 94-95 gt 130a alt. they wanted between 119.00 with a 35.00 core and 139.99 with a 20.00 core. I posted on my local club site and one of my buddies on there told me he just swapped out his for a 130 and the 96 up v6's are all the same 130s that the 94-95 gt used. he gave me the name of the name of the salvage yard he used and sure enough they had 3. I got a 2000 v6 130a alt. for 35.00 with a 10.00 core and a 91 day warranty. not bad at all. I had to get the plug with it and solder that plug on.
if you are stuck, then go get the alt tested. It might not be completely dead but shorted or dying like mine was.
good luck
I called pep boys and oreilys for a 94-95 gt 130a alt. they wanted between 119.00 with a 35.00 core and 139.99 with a 20.00 core. I posted on my local club site and one of my buddies on there told me he just swapped out his for a 130 and the 96 up v6's are all the same 130s that the 94-95 gt used. he gave me the name of the name of the salvage yard he used and sure enough they had 3. I got a 2000 v6 130a alt. for 35.00 with a 10.00 core and a 91 day warranty. not bad at all. I had to get the plug with it and solder that plug on.
if you are stuck, then go get the alt tested. It might not be completely dead but shorted or dying like mine was.
good luck
squall9393
New Member
Semper Fi!
houstonstangguy
Founding Member
Testing
Very good point houston... To check the alt for a parasitic draw, you can just hook up your test light the same way you had it and remove the wires from the alt. The only "exact" method is to use an ampmeter(multimeter) in series like you did with the test lamp... Before you go and hook up the multimeter make yourself an inline fuse setup with a ten amp(or less) fuse, and hook that up inline on the battery + just to make sure you arent going to blow the meters' internal fuse. The average acceptable draw is 40 milli amps.
Hook the meter up in series on the pos. cable and pull those fuses untill you are within the 40 ma draw. P.S. make sure you dont open the doors while meter is hooked up, that is enough to blow the meters fuse. If you do need to open the doors disable the door switches.. Hope this helps!!!
Very good point houston... To check the alt for a parasitic draw, you can just hook up your test light the same way you had it and remove the wires from the alt. The only "exact" method is to use an ampmeter(multimeter) in series like you did with the test lamp... Before you go and hook up the multimeter make yourself an inline fuse setup with a ten amp(or less) fuse, and hook that up inline on the battery + just to make sure you arent going to blow the meters' internal fuse. The average acceptable draw is 40 milli amps.
Hook the meter up in series on the pos. cable and pull those fuses untill you are within the 40 ma draw. P.S. make sure you dont open the doors while meter is hooked up, that is enough to blow the meters fuse. If you do need to open the doors disable the door switches.. Hope this helps!!!
squall9393
New Member
houstonstangguy
Founding Member
squall9393 said:
cool, how long you been in??
I would liked to have tried east coast but i was a hollywood marine! lol
i did my last year in okinawa though. love cali and oki. i logged 200+ dives in okinawa but did some in cali too. You guys head out west for the desert fir-ex at twentynine palms? "the stumps" sucks whether you have been there before or not.
one of my buddies that did his whole enlistment on the east coast said that once he went reserves last year and his unit went to iraq, when he came back they went to pendleton before shipping home and he said "west coast marines are different.............they are a bunch of inconsiderate *******s." I said I thought we all were! lol
Semper Fi hard dog!
squall9393
New Member
Just hit five years. Reenlisted back in October. Loved Oki. Did my first tour there and then i headed out to Lejeune. Yeah i diffenently know about palms man. Haven't done a fire-x yet but I know it's coming when I get out to Cali. The only experience I have with that place is that I've been to school out there twice. Sucked as a boot and the second time it sucked as an NCO. So 29 definitely blows. I was a Hollywood marine myself but East Coast was my home before and it is now. Thing about East and West is this. East Coast has a high training tempo and a low operation tempo. West Coast is the opposite. I MEF has been to Iraq twice now. We just send detachments to I MEF like the first OIF or send floats out. II MEF hasn't deployed as whole yet. Anyhow i'll quit talking operations on an open forum. PM me if ya want man. Semper Fidelis warrior! 
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