Just reading you last post MAV RICK your uncle might have a meter to check household wiring which is AC current you need to check DC current. Just thought I would add that
Sounds like what your ucle has is just to check for voltage. We use to call them a wiggie. When it makes contact with voltage is beeps or vibrates or both. You need a volt/ohm meter. Start with the meter on dc volts it'll probably go down to around 20 volt scale. If you buy a cheapy from the auto parts store or one of the home depot type stores it should come with some basic instructions. clint
I asked earlier... How do I know which fuse goes to a certain part of the car? If I take a fuse out and the drain stops, how will I know the general area of the drain?
You need an owner's manual...it will tell you where all the fuses go "generally". For anthing more extensive than that....you need the factory schematics.
This is the second Alt, so the chances of 2 bad ones are slim, im sure. That was the first thing I did change after the battery. Is there anywhere on line that shows which fuses are for what? I dont own a manual. I just read a Post from a few months back about getting bad Voltage Regulators. How would I test to see if its the regulator or not? It looks like im not the only one who has had this problem. What do you think?
I had a Must. once that the brake light sw would stick keeping the brake lights on, easy to see in the night not the day. Did you rule out a bad ing. sw yet? Still sounds like diodes in alt..Does the charge light on dash work ? Does car run good other than bat dis-charge problem?
Car runs great other then this dying thing. Runs even better though now that I have put all of this other stuff on it (new alt, cables, solenoid, volt. reg.) All lights seem to be off when they are suppose to be. Havent ruled out the ignition switch because I havent figured out how to test it yet. I went ahead and gave my battery a full 100% charge over night. I connected the negative cable to the battery and with the key all the way off, I checked for sparks to the positive when I touched the terminal. There were minimal sparks, but doesnt that mean that there is a draw from somewhere? I went ahead and pulled one fuse at a time and rechecked for sparks and there were sparks for every fuse that I pulled still. Does this tell me anything?
electrical problems you could try disconnecting 1 fuse-link at a time from the selonoid, or look for which one sparks. I prefer this as a starting point instead of the fuseblock. are there any accesories ya can run without the key. is horn hookedup, could be that relay/system. is the windshield wiper washer system in proper working order. i think ign switch is under dash and ran by a rod linking to key. ya got a/c, if so try unplugging a/c clutch. try disconnecting all voltage reg/alternator stuff. is the battery just dying if left totally unhooked, could have internal short. if i bump the cluster of wires that runs up the steering colunm, i get a BIG spark, could lookin that area. I haven't got around to isolating this yet. it only gives me probs when working under dash. i had a ghost in my wires causing major shorts. didn't figure out what it was, but it went away when i jiggled the mess of wires that run under the radiator. i now have this all torn apart to do some paint, still cant find where this ghost was. my dad installed extra domelights in a van, when one of these shorted to ground, he had the same dead battery prob. ya should be able to get a cheap multimeter for 20-40 bucks. once ya get one i'll have better luck walking ya though this. if yer ever in brookings south dakota(ya right), i'll sure look at it. good luck, i truly feel for you, i'll ask my car to talk to yours. feel free to email me or something. got digital camera? Matt pikul Black_IVY@hotmail.com sorry 'bout the long post, just free thinking.
These things are hard to find sometimes. My car had a voltage drain which turned out to be the horn on my aftermarket steering wheel. Found it by accident one day when I reached in to start on a hot day and was sweating. Had my neck against the door frame and touched the metal portion of the steering wheel and felt a small shock in my neck. Normally 12 volts is hard to detect but since it was in a sensative area it could be felt. Try disconnecting the harness at the base of the steering column and see if it still drains you battery. Also my fuse box is marked (very general desciption) with what each fuse is for.
Ok, here I go: - No extra accessories are hooked up - I dont have a horn - Windshield wipers work fine, but the washer system doesnt have hoses so I never use them - No AC - Battery was charged in my house for three days, kept a full charge What would Volt Reg/Alt stuff do if I unhooked it? I got a Multimeter from my uncle but dont know how to use it. I posted the name of it in my last thread "Why is it Dying... Part 3!!!" You might want to check that one out as well. I appriciate all of your help. Im just getting REALLY frustrated over this thing!
Test Light Hope this helps.You can hook a test light in series with the battery and with everything shut down check and see if the light is on. If so pull one fuse at a time until light goes off and you can isolate the draw to that circuit.
