macsrx7

Alright, here it is in a nutshell... Car is '88 base...

1. Replaced the alternator a month ago...

2. Replaced the battery (twice, once before the alternator and once after, with the last battery going in the car 12/4)

3. Car ran great until I had some issues with the idiot lights coming on at idle. Replaced the belts and issues were resolved.

4. Started great yesterday (been quite cold here in PA, avg high the past week has been 20, low 10). I had to run some errands yesterday after work (started fine at 5:30) and it ran for 45 minutes while I stopped at Staples then at a friends house. I went home and shut the car off. Went to rent a movie a couple hours later, started fine. Coming out from the movie store went to start it and it was sluggish (representative of a low battery) but still turned over. This morning I had to get a jump. First turn of the key while jumping and it started right up. Volts read just a tad over 14.

Alternator is dual pulley.

I've been having troubles with my driver's door switch because sometimes I would open my door and the light would either come on dim, or not at all, unless I pushed the button in and out a few times. I have the stock alarm. *Would this be causing a draw from the battery?* Never left any lights on, and always make sure my doors are shut the whole way. I just now cleaned the switch and the dome light works like new.

The previous owner may have done the S5 alternator swap but I cannot be sure. Would the car run at all if I had an S4 alternator with the S5 wiring done to it? It has an S4 alt. on it now. When I compared the old alternator (that the prev. owner put on) with the one that I bought they both looked the same, with the exception of the post on the alternator I bought was at a different angle.

When it was running/starting fine, anytime I turned something on (ie: lights, defrost, rear defrost, put in reverse) the voltmeter on the dash would quickly flick down, but would immediately return to 14V or so.

I'm stumped.

-Ian

Spectator

iTrader: (1)

Alt is fine since the car runs fine when its turned on.

I would guess you have a short somewhere drawing current from the battery while the car is turned off. As to where, thats another question.

macsrx7

Nice... thank you for your input!

I think I read on here - recently iirc - that to test for a current draw I need to disconnect the neg. terminal, see if there is a big draw, and if there is then I need to start pulling fuses, one by one, and retesting to see if there's still a draw.

^^Is this the correct method? Does anybody know of other ways to test this?

Thanks for the help!!

-Ian

macsrx7

*Update*

I just went out to check the connector to the alt. (the one that has the white w/Black stripe, and Black w/White stripe).

When looking at the connector (from the passenger side) here is the setup:

The bottom pin slot is empty (bottom pin slot in reference to the ground)
The next one up is White w/Black stripe
The next one up is Black w/White stripe
The next one up is empty (topmost pin slot in reference to the top of the car)

Is this the correct wiring for an S4 alternator?

-Ian

pfsantos

iTrader: (1)

1. Jump start the car.
2. Check voltage at battery with engine on. If around 14-14.5, see 3.
3. Go for a nice long drive.
4. Shut car off.
5. Disconnect (-) terminal.
6. Wait until the next day.
7. Connect Battery, start car. If it starts, you've got something draining the battery.

I'm a bit iffy on the procedure to check for voltage drains, but essentially I think you disconnect the (-) battery terminal, and put a test light in between the battery (-) and the (-) clamp you removed. If the light is strong, start pulling fuses (engine and interior), until the light goes out. Obviously, things like the clock and stuff (alarm, radio) are always on, but they shouldn't be killing your battery.

There is the odd case you've got a bad battery or alternator (even if new), or more likely, bad connections or corroded wires, etc.

macsrx7

Thank you pfsantos!

I just went out to start it, and it fired right up.

Do you think that the door switch issue could have caused the draw on the battery? The connection to it was very corroded, so I cleaned it up and works perfectly now.

I will do your test overnight.

Thanks, everybody, for your help!
If anybody else has any more ideas please post them. I will do pfsantos' test today/tonight and report back with updates, but if anybody comes up with more tests I'm willing to try that as well!!

-Ian

crazyasu

check your ignition light...it's activated by your driver's side door handle and should turn off between 10-20 seconds. If something's sticking in there it'll stay on and drain you battery. I took mine out to be safe