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1990 Battery drain

69MyWay said:

I am suspiscious of the power antenna. It makes all kinds of buzzing/whinning through the radio as long as it is plugged in. I know it has power all the time, even key off.

That's weird Chris. I almost wish my car would make some kind of noise so I could narrow it down a bit. We'll see what happens.....I won't know anything for a few more days.....

Jay
 
OKAY- I tried all that stuff and could not find the short. The disconnect switch is very effective and I can recommend it. But I got tired of turning it on or off each time I got into the car. And the radio, of course, would not hold the presets. So I just put on a part I purchased from Eckler's. It's called Priority Start (part # 36966 and $64.99). It monitors your battery and disconnects it if the voltage gets too low and re connects it when you turn the key. So much for the theory, It's been in the car a week and so far so good. If any of you have any experience with this device, perhaps you can share it with us. I'll report back when I have more experience with it.

VINNY
 
Jersey-vinny said:
... disconnect switch is very effective and I can recommend it.

I use it all the time if I'm gonna work on it or it sits for an extended period of time. It's a good, cheap addition every car should have. :upthumbs

_ken :w
 
Well, so far so good. I went out today to check on the battery and so far everything is fine since I disconnected the shift light. It's only been one day so I'll have to let it sit around a bit more before I'm definately sure if that's it or not.

Jay
 
Went out today and.........D.O.A.:r :r :r

I just closed the garage door and walked away.:cry

Jay
 
Sure it's not just a dead battery in that it won't hold a charge Jay? :confused

_ken :w
 
Yeah. The battery that this first happened to was only a year and a few months old. When that one died 3 weeks ago I replaced it with a brand new one. This is the 2nd time the new one has died.:(

Jay
 
Jay, electrical problems can be a pia to find. Yours seems to killing it quick, that means you probably have a pretty good size current draw, which may make it easier to find. Try the things I suggested in the earlier post here and work from there, it is not as hard to test as it may sound, if you need more help let me know. I think I have still have the notes I took when I was working on mine. It could be a bunch of things you need to narrow it down some. Check the battery cables, they can get corroded inside the plastic and can be hard to see.

Al
 
JT ZR-Won said:
Thanks Al......I'll find it. Oh yes.....I'll find it :)

Jay

Since I don't have any access to my90 until I get it back from TZracers house, I hope you discover the problem and mine ends up being the same. Right now I have the batter disconnected so it won't kill itself.
 
69MyWay said:
Right now I have the batter disconnected so it won't kill itself.

I did the same thing here too Chris. I'm going to charge it up today but not hook it up till I'm ready to hunt down the culprit which probably won't be till Friday.

Jay
 
A few weeks ago I installed a Priority Start from Eckler's (#36966...$64.99) and said I'd report back when I had some experience with it. Well today I turned the key and nothing happened except I heard a slight whiring noise and in a few seconds the motor turned right over. I assume the thing worked as advertised because I lost my radio and clock pre-sets. Remember, it monitors your battery's charge and if it gets too low it disconnects the battery before it can fully discharge and re connects it when you turn on the ignition. So far, so good. It sure is easier than a battery disconnect switch and offers an alternative.

VINNY
 
Jersey-vinny said:
A few weeks ago I installed a Priority Start from Eckler's (#36966...$64.99) and said I'd report back when I had some experience with it. Well today I turned the key and nothing happened except I heard a slight whiring noise and in a few seconds the motor turned right over. I assume the thing worked as advertised because I lost my radio and clock pre-sets. Remember, it monitors your battery's charge and if it gets too low it disconnects the battery before it can fully discharge and re connects it when you turn on the ignition. So far, so good. It sure is easier than a battery disconnect switch and offers an alternative.

VINNY

Great news. The 90 is sitting at TZracers garage just waiting on me to finish up with Tz's 71 coupe so I can bring the 90 back home. I have the battery simply disconnected right now.

Sounds like a good mod. It may not be the solution to the problem, but is cures the symptoms so to speak.

Thanks for updating us.
 
I'm going to mess with mine this week. I figured out that I'm just going to use a volt meter to the fuse panel and hopefully this should tell me what fuse is pulling current

Jay
 
Still draining!

I drove the car on Sunday to Church. It has sat in the garage since then. I just opened the passenger door this mornging and noted it was dead drained.

I have been keeping a little 2 amp trickle charger handy and just hooked it back up to let it bring it back to life.

What gives here?

When I hook power up to it, I can hear the disc changer make a cycle noise, the left headlight makes a jerk motion, and I hear something click under the dash for a brief moment.

Does the 90 model have one of those shut down modes if the batter drains less than a certain amount of volts? If so, I assume that would be easy to bypass.

As is, I have to reset my clock when I get it back up.

This never happened when Nikki owned/drove the car. This is because she was driving it every day except maybe Sat or Sunday. If I did that, it would always be hot, but I have gotten to where I am just not using this thing much.
 
Want some advice boys?

Get your volt meter and check for circuits that are live when the key is out. Remove the fuse (check rating and note position before removal). Check the cover to see what that fuse supplies and inspect components (ie, does it work, corrosion etc).
Now if all components seem OK, with the fuses out, check the current the battery is now pulling (amps). The ECM should pull next to nothing (mA). If you still have a large load with the fuses out, chances are it either alternator, starter solenoid or ignition switch.
If the load has gove with the fuses out, then check whats on that circiut. BE WARNED , manufacturers don't list everything that runs off the fuses.

This should help you nail the fault down.

Rob

Auto-electrician,
Volvo Truck & Bus
UK.
 
Screw it.......took it to the dealer yesterday to get it diagnosed. I'm not a big fan of digging into the electrical system so I figured I'd let someone experienced just do it. Should have the verdict later this afternoon.

Jay
 
69MyWay said:
Jay,

What did they discover?

Well, the car's been there a week and they believe they got it. Luckily, they're doing the work for cost because my friend knows a couple guys in the service department. The weird thing is that since it takes about 2 or 3 days to drain, they have to leave it there to check up on it which is fine with me. I told him to take his time with it because I'm in no hurry. I'll keep ya posted when I get some results.

Jay
 
Chris,
This May help. I had a similar prob on my 96 Camaro. Bat kept on going dead. It was a bad Bat and Alt. Changed Bat, Alt and belts and still had a prob. Bat would go dead after sitting through the weekend. Found out it was bad connection with the ground. Cleaned off both posts and all was well.
 

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