Time To Go Fishing ("ON" TOPIC)

[Norm's Coupe]

Guess it's my turn to go fishing now.

About 3 weeks weeks ago my battery was deader than a doornail. Didn't even get a click when I turned on the key. Charged up the battery and all was fine again. The amp meter did do a little jumping when I first got it started then, but it finally settled down. So attributed that to the possibility I didn't get the battery fully charged prior to starting. Only had the charger on it for about 3 hours. Took a ride and the car ran great. Last Wednesday when I tried starting it again, it was again deader than a doornail. So........assuming I just blew another battery somehow by not driving the car a lot, I bought a new battery last Thursday. Put it in Friday. Car started right up as always. Not even a complete turnover before it started. Didn't go anywhere though as I didn't have time, so only ran the car for about 3 to 5 minutes and shut her down. Haven't touched it since until about 15 minutes ago. Got in and the new battery is now deader than a doornail.

Guess it's time to go fishing now. Sounds like I may have something draining the battery. Would think it has to be in some wire between the battery and ignition switch though. When I did run the car after putting the new battery in, the amp meter was right where it was supposed to be, so I would think I can rule out the starter solenoid and the voltage regulator and even the generator.

[TodFitch]

Remove the hot cable from the battery and put a Ohm meter between it and the chassis. That will tell you if you have an issue in the wiring. If so, disconnect one item at a time until the path to ground goes away.

Or perhaps your solenoid/starter are bad...

[55 Fargo]

Guess it's my turn to go fishing now.

About 3 weeks weeks ago my battery was deader than a doornail. Didn't even get a click when I turned on the key. Charged up the battery and all was fine again. The amp meter did do a little jumping when I first got it started then' date=' but it finally settled down. So attributed that to the possibility I didn't get the battery fully charged prior to starting. Only had the charger on it for about 3 hours. Took a ride and the car ran great. Last Wednesday when I tried starting it again, it was again deader than a doornail. So........assuming I just blew another battery somehow by not driving the car a lot, I bought a new battery last Thursday. Put it in Friday. Car started right up as always. Not even a complete turnover before it started. Didn't go anywhere though as I didn't have time, so only ran the car for about 3 to 5 minutes and shut her down. Haven't touched it since until about 15 minutes ago. Got in and the new battery is now deader than a doornail.

Guess it's time to go fishing now. Sounds like I may have something draining the battery. Would think it has to be in some wire between the battery and ignition switch though. When I did run the car after putting the new battery in, the amp meter was right where it was supposed to be, so I would think I can rule out the starter solenoid and the voltage regulator and even the generator.[/quote']

It sure sounds like something is draining your battery down, once you locate the suspect circuir, might be time to install a battery master cut-ff switch. I have the type on the battery, or you could get what Bob Toft has, the firewall type with a key, just reach under dash and disconnect battery circuit. Helps with any battery drain from clock, which would not be so much, but also, guards against electrical fire, and maybe easy theft.....Fred

[Norm's Coupe]

Remove the hot cable from the battery and put a Ohm meter between it and the chassis. That will tell you if you have an issue in the wiring. If so, disconnect one item at a time until the path to ground goes away.

Or perhaps your solenoid/starter are bad...

Don't think it would be the starter solenoid. If that was it, I'd still have lights. I have absolutely no power anywhere. Even the courtesy light under the dash is out now. Wish it was that simple. I have two new solenoids in the box and even a new voltage regulator in the box. If it was either of those two, would be a quick easy fix. Tracking a bad circuit is like fishing. Don't like doing either one. Going back out shortly and remove the battery to charge it back up. Will check the hot cable with the ohm meter then.

Fred,

Putting a disconnect on the battery to keep it from being drained won't fix the problem, that only hides it, so that's out. Have to find and fix the problem. Otherwise if you are out somewhere, turn the key off and stay there for several hours, you may not start when ready to leave. That's not good. Nothing should be draining my battery like a clock. Don't have a clock or radio in the car to cause that.

[55 Fargo]

Norm, no by all means fix the problem, as it won't go away on it's own. I am one old Mopar owner who feels more secure with a Master cut-off switch for my battery, as I know others are too. Mostly in case of an electrical fire....

[Norm's Coupe]

Just checked the hot side with the ohm meter. Just as I thought, I got a reading, so it's something in the wiring that's draining the battery.

Didn't bother to hook up the charger. It's a new battery and may build itself back up since it's now disconnected. If not, I'll charge it back up when I find the problem. Won't have time to do any checking until Wednesday now. Think I may know where the problem is though, so I'll check that first. Last year about this time, I moved the connection for the turn signals to the ignition side of the ignition switch, so they would work with the key off. Seems like ever since then I've noticed the amp meter almost pegging out when I'd start the car. That's when I really started having problems with dead batteries. Of course, during the winter I kept the trickle charger on it, so it never ran down. I'll disconnect it first Wednesday, then check with the ohm meter. Might be just a simple matter of moving that connection back to the accessory side of the switch. Hey, I can hope can't I. Like I said, thinking back that's when the battery issues started.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Norm..have you checked to see if the voltage regulator is draining the battery ..this is pretty common with them..other two areas often ovelooked is the hot wire that goes to the overhead lamp..as it enters the A-post it is subject to chaffing and on the rear the screws retaining the garnish molding it has been know to chaff

[Norm's Coupe]

Tim,

Funny you should mention the overhead dome light. A few years ago that did run down the battery. But........that turned out to be because it must have stayed on when I thought it was off. Ran down the battery and burned out the bulb. I never replaced the bulb after that. Figured I didn't need it anyway since I have the under dash light, plus I rarely drive the car at night anyway. The more I think about it, the more I think it's the turn signals that are the culprit. After all, that's what I last worked on that was electrical. When I moved that connection to the ignition post of the starter switch is also when I added an led light inside the dummy radio head to act as a dash signal indicator. That's why I said, that was going to be the first thing I check. Everything worked fine before that. Of course, something else could go wrong. But.....I'm a firm believer that when a problem comes up, always look at what you last did to start out.

But.....thanks for the suggestion. That's why I started this thread. I know you guys can't tell me where the problem is. But.......never hurts to get suggestions.

[Norm's Coupe]

Tim,

Forgot to mention. No, didn't check the voltage regulator. Looking at the amp meter when the battery was good and car running it seems to be working like it should.

[Plymouthy Adams]

a slight drain is not going to be indicated on the amp guage..these guages are not that accurate or sensitive..only an inline meter/light will show low/insignificant drain..

[Norm's Coupe]

Tim,

I still think the problem may be that turn signal connection. Going to check that first for the reason mentioned before. As for checking the voltage regulator, I can put the analyzer on it to check it out. There is a drain somewhere. Had a fluctuating ohm reading of between 29 and 59 ohms with the battery disconnected.

[Don Coatney]

Norm;

Remove your turn signal flasher and take another ohm reading. If it is still drawing current disconnect your brake light switch and repete the test.

Afterthought. You are using LED tail and brake lights. Are you using an electronic solid state flasher or a mechanical bi-metal flasher? The LED lights may not draw enough current to activate a mechanical flasher.

[Norm's Coupe]

Don,

I don't think the problem is the flasher. It has been in there ever since I added the led brake lights. That was several years ago and I never had a problem with them or the brake light. I think it's either that led light I added in the radio head or the flasher being hooked up to the primary side on the ignition switch. I moved that connection the same time we added the led light in the radio head for the flasher around August or September of last year. Thinking back, that's when I started having dead or low battery issues. Prior to that, I had the flasher hooked up to the accessory side of the ignition switch, and didn't have any problems. I think by disconnecting the flasher at the switch, then testing, that should tell me if that is the cause. The signals and brake light do work OK when the battery is up.

Sort of reminds me of when I first replaced the switch on the signals with no led lights hooked up to it. The car had signals when I bought it, but......the switch was broken. Put on a new switch and took a test drive. Every time I'd turn on a signal, let off the gas to go around a corner, the engine would die. Then if I did not turn off the signal before trying to start the car, you could not start the car. Turn off the signal and it would start right up. When I found that problem it turned out the previous owner had hooked the hot wire for the signals directly to the wrong side of the coil. So........the every time you hit the signal switch, it acted like a cutoff switch. Then removed that wire and moved it to the accessory side of the ignition switch, then had no more problems, until now with it back on the hot side of the switch.

At any rate, I won't have time today to do anything with it. Will have to wait until tomorrow sometime. Even if that's not it, it's no big thing. I'll just get the battery back up and leave it disconnected, and reconnect it when I want to start the car to move it. At least I'll still be able to move the car that way if I need to, until I find the problem.

[Norm's Coupe]

Well........with much intensive labor, I finally found my battery drain.

Really haven't had a chance to look for the drain until late this afternoon. Checked the wires at the ignition and they seemed to be OK. Took the trickle charger off the battery in the garage. Sat it in the tray and just shoved the cables on without tightening them down, or installing the hold down. Cables were snug enough that way. Figured I have to remove them anyway since I wouldn't have time to hook up the analyzer until tomorrow. As usual, got in the car, turn it on, hit the button and it fired right up without a complete turnover. Needle on amp meter was just barely over to the right from the 0. Shut it down and restarted it about 3 times and the needle did the same thing. Shut the car off the final time. Wanted to let it sit for awhile to see if it drained, and how fast it was draining. Came in the house and watched the news for about 30 minutes. Went back out and the coupe fired right up again as usual. But........this time the amp meter swung over between the second and third mark on the meter. So.......she's draining fast when sitting. Let it run for about 3 or 4 minutes and the amp meter was again just a little past the 0, so shut it down. Got ready to get out of the car and I found the problem..........Read below.

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Tim was half right when he mentioned the dome light. Now it's getting dark outside. As I was getting out of the car to disconnect the cables I glanced in the rearview mirror. Low and behold, the dome light was on. I must have put a new bulb in there when I put the headliner in and forgotten that I did that. Don't know how that got turned on, must have accidentally turned it on somehow. Never use it since I don't drive it in the dark. Since it was getting dark out, that light was really nice and bright. So........now my battery drain is gone. Will put the hold down back on the battery and hook it back up tomorrow. Pulled the cables off for the night since they were not tight.

Probably didn't really need to replace the battery. But.....glad I did anyway. This new one was about $30 cheaper and it has about twice the cranking amps as the old one did.

[John Mulders]

Glad you found it !

John

[P-12 Tommy]

Norm, bet that made your day. Good for you.

Tom

[Norm's Coupe]

Norm, bet that made your day. Good for you.

Tom

You bet. Really wasn't looking forward to tracing wires, testing the starter, etc. That can be a real pain. Had to laugh at myself when I found the problem.