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Old October 15th, 2010 | 03:26 PM
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squirrelguy's Avatar
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elictric

I bought a new battery and the car starts right up and drive great,aslong as i drive it daily the battery does great,but if i dont drive the car for 5 days the battery will be run down..what can this be???I will take the battery to get it charge bk up and then 3-5 days later the battery is run down again.but if i drive it daily the battery does fine,,help
Old October 15th, 2010 | 03:50 PM
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Well it sounds like something in your car is drawing power with the key off. Car stereo, amp, nos guages, light, etc... Eliminate the obvious first.
Good Luck!
Old October 15th, 2010 | 04:20 PM
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did it do this befor you installed the new battery,if not then disconnect the battery the next time you park it if the batery dies then it is proberly the new battery.--New don't always mean good!
Old October 15th, 2010 | 04:27 PM
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yes it did it before i bought the new battery,Thats why i bought a new battery.my radio dont work,the lights on the inside dont work..I am not good with cars at all..what can i do first???
Old October 15th, 2010 | 04:34 PM
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Angry

If i have a bad fuse,would it make the battery run down??My car is missing alot of fuses,could that do it??my ciggerte lighter works,could the lighter do it and why??I dont know..I want to fix my old car up,but i just dont know what to do first??
Old October 15th, 2010 | 04:37 PM
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Pull the fuses for the radio and interior lights, and see if that cures it - could be a short in either, since they're not working.
When you can afford it, get both fixed by someone who knows what they're doing!
Old October 15th, 2010 | 04:44 PM
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ok,thanks i will try that....Thanks for everyone being nice..
Old October 15th, 2010 | 04:50 PM
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try unhooking the neg battery cable from battery,get a test light and put the clamp end on neg battery post put the test light probe on the cable,making a connection between the cable and the battery,the test light should light up,may be very dim,start pulling fuses and diconnecting things one at a time.when you pull the fuse for the circuit causing the draw then the light should go out.if the draw is too little to light the test light then use a amp meter and check the amp draw then pull fuses amp draw will drop to maybe 2 or 3 amps when you find the faulty circuit.----be sure to do this one fuse/connector at a time if not you will have to remember what fuse goes where.good luck this could be hard to fix electric problems can be a pain.

Last edited by greenslade; October 15th, 2010 at 04:56 PM.
Old October 15th, 2010 | 05:00 PM
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ok,thanks alot....
Old October 16th, 2010 | 01:13 PM
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Take it the car is the 62 88 in your avatar?

Does this car have a generator, or an alternator? I ask because a 62 could have come either way and the wiring is different between them.

Generator is long, black and round and will have an oval "Delco-Remy" nameplate on it. Alternator is shorter, larger diameter and usually silver or gray color. If the alternator has a shorted diode it will drain the battery. Sometimes that will show up as GEN light stays on with key OFF.

Do your brake lights work? They're on the same fuse as the interior dome and courtesy lamps. If they work, are they staying on with car off? Are both tail lights working? there could be a backfeed to ground thru a bad bulb or socket.

The dash cigar lighter is on its own 20 amp fuse at the bottom right of the fuse block. It feeds nothing else so it shouldn't affect any other circuit.

You really need a chassis service manual for the electrical diagrams, and for a 62 you have to have both the 61 and 62 books. You might be able to find a wiring diagram PDF online.
Old October 16th, 2010 | 01:17 PM
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Originally Posted by squirrelguy
my radio dont work
If it still has the factory radio, it's a vacuum tube unit and requires a minute or so to warm up before it will play. If it doesn't do anything after a reasonable warm-up time, you've got a bad tube or capacitor. 62 was the last vacuum tube radio; Olds switched to all-transistor in 1963.




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