hey guys need some help on this one. so twice now i have gone out to the car to start it and nothing!! no power, no nothing, so dead the lights wont come on. two weeks ago i drove the car all day no problems. parked it and it sat for about 4 days. came out that fourth day to go for a drive and dead! so i jumped it got it running and the elec choke was stuck on!?!?! (brand new holley). but the car was charging. drove the car 175 miles that day with turning it off and starting, no issues all day. so i get home, park it, and two days later i decide i would wash the car. thing fires right up and seems to be fine, so im thinking SWEET!! not the case......so today i went out to drive the car to work and just to check i turn the light switch on.....nothing!!!!! something seems to be draining the battery enough in a few days to completely drain the battery. i know the alternator is working and the battery is a new interstate. basically everything mechanically on my car is new. oh yeah i should mention too, over the last few days i have been checking to see if its dead by turning the key and checking my volt gauge. and every day except today it has seemed fine. any ideas?!?!?!? thanks Jason
Let's start with your first statement about the electric choke being stuck on. The wire to the choke should be in the keyed system, meaning only has power when key is on. As far as a drain on the battery when car is off, check some of the things you added like the radio or headset. I had the same problem on my "55 Ford and the memory wire for the radio was the culprit. Easy check is to loosen neg. battery clamp and see if you get a spark taking it off and on. Disconnect one thing at a time and recheck for sparking until you find the draining unit. Could be anything from door switch to cigar lighter, but seems it's always the last thing you installed. Ed
i know the choke is a keyed power source so i kind of figured it wasnt the issue. also i dont have the radio, clock, door switches connected. also no dome lights are connected. so there can only be a few things that it could be. also im running a gm 1 wire alternator that was rebuilt by a good shop near me before i installed it.
You don't have your door switches connected, do you have the ends of the wires taped? If not one could be touching metal. I always use a disconnect switch on the battery.
If you have nothing that you think is draining power, try disconnecting the alternator. May be a problem with the internal regulator. If your battery is losing charge you must have something constantly on, drawing power. Otherwise fit an isolator to the battery and turn off when left sitting for days/weeks. Regards
quick check take the positive side of the battery, leave the neg side on post, take the positve side and just tap it on the positive post and if you see a spark then you have a wire that is hot or something is on.
My electric choke is connected to the "I" terminal on the solenoid,if you put a test light there and have someone turn the key on and off the light should go off and on with the switch.
You can also jumper a test light between a dis-connected batt. cable and the battery. If the test light is lit, there is a draw on the batt. You can leave the test light connected and go around the car unplugging things until the light goes out. That will be what is draining your battery. It also could be more than one item or circuit.
Remove ground cable from Battery. Connect a test light between the negative post on the battery and the ground cable. If it lights you have a drain issue. Then remove one fuse at a time to see if the test light gores out. If it does the drain issue is in that circuit. Also remove the cables to the alternator and see if the test light goes out. Also, make sure your interior lights are disabled when you run the test.
are you using a gm 1 wire alt. ? i put one on my tractor and it sticks on after i shut it off. came from db electrical.
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