what are the most common things that cause electrical drains in our cars?(mines an 87 NA) I can't seem to locate the source of mine. Just installed a new alternatou and battery and the car is still dying!

 

Check out the interior lighting...is there anything that's staying on when you go in at night? The door lights (if you still have them), if the door isn't closed all the way they'll drain the battery. How about the radio, anything like that...

 

Glove box light. Put a meter on battery inline and start pulling fuses.

 

turbonut, what do you mean?

 

You can do this with a l;ight if you don't have a meter.

Disconnect the positive clamp on your battery but take care not to touch the body metal with the wrench when doing this.

Now connect an small light between the + terminal and the clamp. Put the clamp on a rag so it can't touch the sheet metal. If any drain is present the light will glow. Or you can check the amount of drain with an small ammeter. An drain of 1-2 Watts can be tolerated. Next pull the fuse for the clock and the radio. Still any current flowing (light on)?

Ok, so you really have a problem. Now start pulling the fuses in the fuse box one by one until the light goes off. This is the circuit in which the problem lies. Check your manual or the indications in the cover of the fuse box to see which systems are connected to that fuse.

The next steps depend on the systems concerned. Try disconnecting each one of the parts connected in the circuit. Again it's the same - when the light goes out you've found the problem.

 

Yeah.. be really careful. I recently did that, made A LOT of sparks, burnt my rachet lol

 

Is the car dying, or is the battery dying?

Most common battery drain - When the connectors on the battery cables are not tight on the battery terminals, and the alternator can't charge the battery properly.

Next most common drain - Loose alternator belt.

Not so common cause of electrical drain - An electric "supercharger".

 

also, if the car is just dying, check for GROUNDING

the alternator can't charge the battery if the current cant get through

my chevette died in the middle of nowhere, I thought for sure I had a dead alternator, turned out the ground fell off. 10 seconds and a push start (god I love carbs!) (and light cars ) and I was on my way. with nice bright headlights, and a charging battery.

 

I also think that this was 90% of my fiero's electrical gremlins.... And a loose alternator belt is really REALLY easy to detect. Does the car make a really loud, annoying squeal all the time? if yes, it's time to tighten or replace belts. Sometimes there's a short, that can do it too. Can be nearly impossible to find. Start pulling fuses. a 12v lamp or multimeter will work really well. When the current stops, you've found your problem. If its something non-essential (heater, ac, etc), just leave the fuse out till you can find the problem.

 

where is the ground for the batter in an 87? I tried tracing it, but it seems to go past the firewall(maybe i'm crazy)

turbonut thanks for the explanation

evil, you know... i thought it might be the electric turbocharger, but it's probably my wheel flasher lights... if it is, i'll have to live with it, the horespower gains far outweigh the cost of batteries lol