Electrical issues

[oceangal]

Hi All,

Something is drawing current off the car. We have ruled out interior issues and are thinking something has to be killing the battery. If not constantly on the battery after a 2-3 weeks the battery is dead. Any inherent issues you can think of? I did buy a battery tender but was wondering.

Took it to a car show yesterday! It was the first time I have driven it in over a year, she ran great!

 

[bagger]

Buy yourself a battery switch. About $10. Hook it to your negative post. When you're finished using the car, turn the switch off. Battery won't drain.

 

[oceangal]

The only problem with that is that I would lose all the memory on the ECM not to mention the radio presets. It actually has one and I stopped using it because of the ECM.

 

[JohnGrawcock]

2 or 3 weeks is pretty quick. If everything was original it could set for months without a problem.

If the battery has been completely drained several times it many not be holding a full charge anymore. If your sure the battery is good you may have some abnormal load when the key is off. This can be a pain to track down. Basically what you do is, with the key off, connect an amp-meter between the positive terminal of the battery and the positive battery cable. This will give you a reading of how much current is being drawn under this condition. You can then determine where the current is going by disconnecting things to see how much the reading drops. The first things to suspect are aftermarket components like the radio, keyless entry, anything else you've added that has been connected to un-switched ignition.

Good luck.

 

[Vetsvette2002]

Putting in a battery kill switch will not fix the battery drain. Have you determined which circuit is the culprit yet, or even started looking? Do you have a digital Volt meter (DVM) in your toolbox, and know how to use it? Do you have a wiring diagram?

Disconnect the battery and install the DVM (configured for measuring amperage) in series; ie put one of the DVM's leads on the battery cable cconnector and the batter post. I usually work with the negative terminal. You can now read how much of a drain you have. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO START THE ENGINE
The drain should be in milliamps unless a car door is open, is so close it. anything more that that indicates a problem. Now go to the fuse box and remove each fuse one at a time and see if the drain goes away. If it does, that is the circuit with the short. If your 1982 has a fuse for the courstesy lights and or for the rear storage comprtment, and this test says that this is the suspect circuit, reconnect he battery and at night with the lights out, look to see if any lights are on in the car with the doors closed. You have verified that the headlight swith is fully in the off mode and not twisted to put on any interior lamps, right?

If you can remove all of the fuses and the drain is still there, it might be the alternator itself.

These simple tests will get you started in fixing the Vette.


DonO

 

[oceangal]

Thanks all! We did figure out one issue, the alternator!! So the nice chrome alternator with less than 300 miles on it is not working right. The good news is that there is a guy up the street who works on alternators and he will get it done pretty quick.

I hope so, still a few car shows I want to go to this year