Electrical Problems

[darkfall_13]

I've done this for a few weeks now. (Since I go to college during the week 80 mi away it makes for a perfect time block). I hook my battery up Sunday, make sure the car starts up ('73 Buick Riviera), and come back to see if the battery is dead Friday or Saturday; it always is. So I went slowly and would check lights, wait a week, check knobs, wait again. I've now gotten to the point and said "To the hell with it" and cut the power to the radio and disconnected the dash clock (just 2 days ago). But starting yesterday I pulled my car into the driveway to work on the brakes while my parents were gone and then put it back on the side of the street when done. Later that day I try turning it over to roll the windows back up that I had forgotten and it clicks; the battery had a good charge (turned over without hesatation and I had it running 15 or so minutes in the driveway before I turned it off) and the starter just clicks. (new starter, had to get one since the original came with the car, as a rusted pile of seperated parts in the trunk) and then I just turn the key off and figure I'll just charge the battery anyway. But before I got out of the car I noticed the oil light was still dimly lit. I try starting the car again and this time it clicks really fast and when I take the key out the oil light is still obviously kind of on. My dad thinks its an electrical short. (I also must say it was about a month ago that the power windows stopped working and I had to run my own temporary power line) So I'm wondering what you guys think is the problem. That old power window wire? Something else? And while I'm at it what would you suggest to do to find and fix my problem? Thank you so much for all the help you've given me.

[heidigirl]

i cut the following from another site. this will not isolate a problem in a non fused circuit, but it should help:

Remove the negative cable from the terminal and put a test light between the cable and the battery post. If the light glows, there is a drain.

To find what circuit is causing the drain, remove one fuse at a time until the light goes away. Then, install them one at a time. When the light glows there is a drain, when the light is off, the bad circuit was removed.

You may not get the light to turn off. In that case, it means that there is a drain in some other circuit that does not run through the fuse panel.

First place I would look at is the starter. Starters have been known to short out at the solenoid and cause a constant drain to ground.

Good Luck!

[Dan]

Originally posted by heidigirl:
i cut the following from another site. this will not isolate a problem in a non fused circuit, but it should help:

Remove the negative cable from the terminal and put a test light between the cable and the battery post. If the light glows, there is a drain.

To find what circuit is causing the drain, remove one fuse at a time until the light goes away. Then, install them one at a time. When the light glows there is a drain, when the light is off, the bad circuit was removed.

You may not get the light to turn off. In that case, it means that there is a drain in some other circuit that does not run through the fuse panel.

First place I would look at is the starter. Starters have been known to short out at the solenoid and cause a constant drain to ground.

Good Luck!

a test light works good but a volt meter works better, i like to see less then a volt draw.

[darkfall_13]

Ok that sounds good. Thank you both very much; I'll try that as soon as I'm done painting my mom's car... Also I saw in a JC Whitney catalog a tester that's supposed to pinpoint shorts (it was something like connect each lead to the posts for the fuses and run the sensor across the body, etc to find where the problem is) has anyone had experience with one of these? Thanks again!

[scutter1]

Darkfall:
As an electrician, Heidigirl and Dan are Right on with their info. Another thing to do is to go through and clean all corrosion/rust from your ground connections. Since you are in Crescent City, the proximity to the Pacific will cause increased rust. I know because I live in Encinitas. Corrosion causes a "high Resistance" connection. 12 volts has a hard time getting through these connections. It is also a problem in house wiring. The "salt air" causes a corrosion to the copper of the wiring. It is a time consuming process but the only way. You can also redo all your connections, soldering them. This is far better than using regular 'crimp' connectors. Good Luck
Scutter

[39 Buick 455]

I had a similar problem once with a Chevy pickup back in the 70's. The alternator had a short in a diode and it would short out and kill the battery in a matter of hours.
I hope this helps!
Daryl