NJ442

Hi...Paul here. My battery needs to be re-charged about every 10 days. I must have a bad ground or some other problem that is drawing down the battery. I was under the dash and I accidently touched the antenna lead to the glove box metal bracket and there was a spark and it blew out the courtesy light fuse. I would suspect what happened is associated with my battery problem. How do you suggest I go about fixing this electrical issue? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Professur

Sparks are bad, M'kay.

Personally, I would suggest you invest in a Power Probe w/ tracer. And I wouldn't leave the battery hooked up were I you. You're going to have to trace your wires to wherever you've worn through the insulation. Did it blow any fuses?

joe_padavano

The ground side of the battery is already connected to ground. Nothing you do on the ground side will affect battery charge at all. Any discharge comes from a short on the HOT side. Find that.

oldcutlass

I don't see how touching the antenna lead to the glove box brought on a short as they are both ground.

NJ442

It surprised me as well. There was a definite spark and then the fuse blew. Somehow there is current running through the metal parts of the dash.

joe_padavano

Both the dash and the outer coax of the antenna lead are ground. More importantly, there isn't any measurable voltage in the antenna lead. I suspect you pinched something else in there, like the glove box light feed wire.

steverw

Try getting a test light, hook the ground directly to negative post of the battery then touch the tip to metal under the dash. If it lights up, start pulling fuses and see if one of them makes the light go out. If that works that will tell you which circuit to examine. You will have to extend the wire going to the battery.

Fun71

Maybe first determine which circuits are on the fuse that blew. One of them is where the issue is.

NJ442

The fuse that blew was for the courtesy lights...25 amps. Thanks.

joe_padavano

So it wasn't the antenna wire that grounded out, it was the courtesy light feed wire. That makes a lot more sense. Find the bare spot and repair it.