hi, i have 1988 t2 turbo car won't start after sitting idle. charged battery won't start & battery won't keep a charge. so changed battery to brand new, car wont start & battery is draining. as in after a day off charger low battery. what would cause the drain? and the no start connected ? car turns over just won't start. motor rebuilt not too long ago. any ideas

 

has the engine ever started since the rebuild?

if a brand new battery died (and you haven't been cranking on it relentlessly), it sounds like something is being left on when it shouldn't.

have you done any electrical installs/work recently?

 

yes we ran the car to break it in, then a little more. started having starting issues when warm, pull into a gas station shut off, wouldn't restart. jump start would work easily! also would start after sitting for long while. parked car ,working on other projects. now can't get it to fire. once with ether started after shut off same problem. no electrical installs. car was bought at police auction, drag car garret t04e streetport anything that could be removed from engine was.

 

come to think of it , when i was charging battery keep hearing click noise,intermittent. sounded like passenger side engine bay

 

Disconnect the + cable of the battery and connect an ammeter in series. With the car off, if you see more than about 100mA of current flow, you have a drain somewhere. Now you have to locate it. Start pulling fuses until the current decreases. Start by disconnecting the alternator. Very common for the reg to fail and cause a constant draw.

The problem with someone else's project is that it can be damn hard to find out what has been done.

 

Did you happen to test the alternator out and is it connected to the electrical system?
(I have to ask,it has been done before!)

 

thanks guys you got me headed in the right direction, checked alt. found a bare wire, fixed that, couple other things found while looking around.checked amp draw on battery was 6 amp. investigated clicking noise,headlights are out right now, one headlight harness caught in track trying to close. removed harness, closed all the way, no more amp draw. so now iv'e moved on to hard start issues, have wolf 3d v4 ecu. going to get some downloads and start there. i believe it's tune problem. thanks again.