Wyze

When I hook the neg up to batt it goes down!!!! I don't have a raido hooked up, or anything else!!! At night the lights are so dim I can barely tell their on!!! I have 2 batts & 2 alts all have been tested & were good, plus my voltage reg is also new!!!!
Whatever it is the car doesn't need to be running for it to happen!!!
Any ideas????

jeffreyalman

yes sounds like a dead short somewhere

check the lighter 1st for loose stuff that may be shorting it out

any fuses blowing?

64Rocket

Sounds like a short in the sys you have for the extra battery and the alt. Either your sound sys or your air ride set up. Maybe one of the battery cables rub thru on some metal. Why the extra battery and alt?

Gene

Wyze

Sorry I worded that wrong!!! Lol

I have an extra of both!!!!
I'll edit it!!!!!

Wyze

Dead short?????

No fuses blowing!!!
Lighter doesn't work!!!!

Mingus

Might try unhooking the wire from the back of the lighter for a start. I've seen them with a bunch of junk fused in the bottom of them. It could be shorting across. Also check your positive battery cable and alternator wire and make sure it's not rubbed through anywhere. It has to be something that's has power all the time if the car doesn't have to be on.

Wyze

Lighter is already unplugged!!!!!
Went over my headlights & taillights, no broken wires that I can see!!!!
Changed the ground on the neg batt cable!!!!!


Still does it!!!!! My batt can read 12.50 as soon as I put the neg cable back on it'll drop to 12.00 or 11 something!!!!!

FATRATMATT

Bad ignition switch? Something with constant power running to it sounds like it has a short. maybe if you pull one fuse at a time, radio, headlight, brake light, ignition, you may get lucky and figure out whats shorted out? I'd start with the ignition switch first. Good luck.

66ninetyeightls

If he had a dead short he would be looking for a fire extinguisher not a battery drain. Diagnose the problem. Don't just start throwing parts at it.

Connect a test light or amp meter in series with the battery. Turn everything off. Now start pulling fuses until the amps drop or the light goes out. Thats the circuit causing the draw. Now find out what on that circuit is causing the draw.

Wyze

I'm on it when I go on break in the morning!!!!!!!

Where do I hook the light up at?????

67 Cutlass Freak

What they mean by in series, is to disconnect the negative battery cable then attach the clamp from the test light to the negative post on the battery and the probe end of the test light to the negative cable end. If it lights up you have a draw. Be careful some real sensative test lamps will light up with only 20 Milliamps of a draw, which would be exceptable. Before you go pulling fuses I would recomend disconnecting the alternator. If the light goes out you found your problem. Replace the alternator then. If the light stays on now you have to start yanking fuses. I like to run a jumper wire from the battery to near the fuse box so the light is now in my face as I'm pulling fuses. Sometimes I've found a draw on more than one circuit. With the old glass type pull only one side out so you don't mix them up. After the light goes out go back to the first one you pulled and start reinstalling them one at a time to verify you only have one circuit creating the draw. After you find the circuit creating the draw then you have to isolate what specific item in that circuit is creating a drain. If the light never goes out I would disconnect fuseable links at the starter or check the ignition switch. You do not have a short or you would be popping fuses. A wiring diagram would be a big help for you.

Aceshigh

Good advice.

Ewwww.....now that's one I didn't know before.

Oldsguy

The phrase for what you are looking for is "soft ground" where there is a small amount of current (draw) leaking through a component in a specific circuit which ultimately ends up back to ground, hence the phrase "soft ground". It can be caused by bad wiring or a bad component, either way the described procedure should help you find and correct your problem. For example you might find a glove box lamp illuminated even when the door is closed. Usually a dead short is a very low resistance to ground causing a high current or draw, this usually is only very temporary as the fuse will go if there is one in the circuit or the wiring will heat up and cause a fire because it is not rated for that high current. Then shortly (pun not intended) thereafter the wire opens up and no more current but by that time the fire in the wiring has caused more damage than just the single circuit where the dead short occurred.

Wyze

Thanks guys, I'm on it!!!!!

Wyze

Well we don't have a test light at work so I gotta wait till I get home to use mine!!!!
But not wanting my break to go to waste I did some looking around behind my dash and the car!!!!

I found the lighter plug, hooked it up and it works, found a mess back there also, several things unplugged!!!! Started thinking about what everybody was saying and thought about my driver door pin, it's broken off, could this be my drainage?????

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Wyze

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jeffreyalman

could be - it's a start! so sad to see things in that condition, I got so lucky with my cars - unmolested (well, until I got my hands on them anyway

Oldsguy

I agree that it could be the problem. They work by being held open (no light) by the door, when the door is opened a spring pushes the pin out and it makes contact in the circuit. Normally, you would notice that dome light on all the time but if it isn't there is a possibility that pin (or what is left of it) is not making contact and closing the circuit for the light and instead it is shorting to ground, causing your current drain. Worth looking into.

Wyze

I love this board!!!

And you guys are always ready to help a fellow Olds guy in destress!!!!!


I think that's worded better!!!
I don't wanna offend anyone!!!!

jeffreyalman

not that there's anything WRONG with it...

Wyze

I retract that statement!!! Lmao

jeffreyalman

so did you fix it?

Wyze

Maw hopefully today!!!
I had to help my cousin drop a gastank!!!!!

Wyze

Lighter and door pin!!!!!!!!

Draining problem fixed!!!!

Thanks everyone!!!



Now I gotta fix alot of other things!!! Lol

jeffreyalman

mazel tov (congrats) - it's a process - 1 problem @ a time - it has taken me 18 months of daily driving to get the wagon problem free, squeak and rattle free, still a long way to go, but it's fun

great news!

Oldsguy

I am glad we could help out. This kind of thing can be a help not only to you, but to anyone else in the future with a similar problem that just might end up on our sight member or not, and be looking for a solution.

Wyze

Test light & meter!!!!!

66ninetyeightls

That will be a $30 consultation charge!!!

kurtlammon

Hello all, I want to thank you for your words of many moons ago--they just helped me big time! I want to throw in my two cents in hopes of helping somebody else out there.
I have been having a persistent battery drain in my 71 Vista (search "Kurt's Vista") for a while but I haven't been able to track it down. I pulled all the fuses and then monitored battery voltage when I only put in one fuse at a time... and it never drained! Put all the fuses in and it drains.
Turns out it drains when BOTH the HAZ IGN circuit and the PWR RELAY circuit are complete. I could have saved myself lots of time figuring this out by just using a simple test light across the negative battery terminal and the negative cable... glows like crazy when those two fuses are in. My expensive digital Fluke multimeter was totally flummoxed by this simple test.
Anyway, now that I know the circuits involved and I have a test light that will give me immediate results, I am sure I can isolate the component giving me the problem. Thanks for the insights, guys.
-Kurt

MDchanic

Agreed - a test light is one of the best things you can have - 1156 bulb soldered to 2 6-foot wires with alligator clips (Western Electric lineman's clips preferred ) will do almost anything, and you can hang it one place while it's connected somewhere else, and see if it goes on out of the corner of your eye if necessary.

- Eric