Battery drain

[JohnnyJ]

After about 3 days of sitting the battery goes dead in my 79. I did a current flow check with a multimeter on the 10 amp scale and had a reading of 1. When I pulled the courtesy fuse the reading went to zero, however then the radio would not work. If I pull either fuse, the radio or courtesy the radio quits. I took out the courtesy timer located behind the glove box and reading goes to .5. Any suggestions on how to fix this??

 

[69MyWay]

By any chance, is your courtesy light in the rear cubby staying on?

 

[YellowBeast1969]

Yeah, mine was doing the same thing but it turned out to be a bad battery.

 

[Stallion]

Maybe the alternator not recharging?

 

[KANE]

You'd be amazed with the wiring mafter about twenty years.

Almost every Vette thats driven regularly thats at least 15 years of age has had bubba repairs to the wiring. Shorts, grounds, and slow discharges are common because of poor repairs.

I would love to get a new harness for my 78. It will completely discharge after about 2 weeks if its not started. If I disconnect the battery its fine.

I have thought about re-routing a new harness through the rear cargo compartment for the new fuse block or maybe under the hood.

Thats still a few years away.....

 

[JohnnyJ]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll do another check of all the lights tonight when it gets dark out. I still can't figure out why the radio goes off with both the radio fuse or the courtesy light fuse pulled. I'm not an electrical guy, so any input would help.

John

 

[chgostout]

Johnny-

As you'll see from the recent posts to this forum, I'm having a similar problem with my courtesy fuse. And what I've learned from it is that this fuse controls the power antenna. Without the power antenna operating - the radio won't work. It will light up but it won't play sound or bring in signal without the antenna going up. So, if you have the power antenna on yours, that's the reason your radio isn't working without that fuse. If you don't have a power antenna ... then I don't know why the radio wouldn't work without that clock/courtesy fuse.