My truck is killing me, battery drain problem, please help...

I did a total rewire on my '55 2nd series with 235 and 3 speed. After the rewire, I had a timing/diztributor issue with a big stumble and popping through the carb. I traced it to the insulated bushing in the distributor case and got a new distributor. I installed the new dizzy and I set the timing to tdc today by the "take the #1 plug out, feel the air, line up the ball" method. Went to start it and the battery is deader than disco. The battery is brand new. It worked fine when I first put it in three or four days ago. It cranked the engine plenty strong over and over when I was trying to sort out the timing/distributor issue.

The only accessories I have are factory lights and factory gauges. The key switch was off and the key was out during the time the battery drained. The lights were also off. The horn is not hooked up yet, the wire is loose with the bare end taped up. Same deal with the fuel sender, I haven't taken out the seat yet to hook it up so it's taped up. Everything worked like it should when the battery was new.

After I got it roughly timed today and discovered the battery was dead, I hooked the charger to it. It made a strange buzzing sound at the voltage regulator. Way louder than the normal low buzzing sound the charger makes. Also, the charger cables got hot pretty quick.

I checked and double checked wiring and routing and all seems to be ok.

If I don't get to drive this truck again soon, I'm going to go insane. Please help, I'm sure it's something simple, just don't know what or what direction to start looking in.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

turn everything off. start at the fuse box and unplug one at a time. run a check from that circuit. if no drain, replug fuse and go to next. this will isolate your system to look at.

 

Regulator points (contacts) stuck closed. Sounds like a pretty heavy short somewhere along the line. Take the battery cables off the battery and see if the charger still sounds like that.

 

yeah, first disconnect the battery cables from the battery, then connect the battery charger to the battery and charge the battery all the way.

Then see what's wrong with the regulator or the generator/regulator wiring.

 

A short that would make the charger sound like that would blow the fuse. It would seem that the short is ahead of the fuse block.

 

Sounds like a high resistance short in the regulator. Is the battery light 'on' during any of this? It is in series with the field i believe, but if this wire is grounded without going thru the lamp bulb it would do about what you describe. Motor might run stupid too, not sure (have to think it thru), seems like voltage would be goofy and the grounded field would be telling the ignition to shut off but the keyed switch would be telling it to run. Anyway, i'd have a looksee at that, get the motor to run and make that odd noise you described and take whatever wire that is making it make the racket and see what it is that wire is actually doing. Hope i helped, good luck oj

 

If you do take the battery cables off, which you should, and charge the battery up, when you put the cables back on if everything seeems to be ok at that point, replace the rugulator or at the very least clean the contact inside it. I've had this before, and as long as the battery is still connected and even though it is low it probably is not stone dead, the contacts in the regulator are stuck together. When you diconnect the battery, there is no longer any voltage and this can allow the cotacts to release. It may have to do with the magnetic coil inside the regulator too, but once they break and you put the cables back on, they will not recontact until the generator has spun fast enough to charge and pull the regulator in.
Not a gaurantee, but just suggesting.

 

hey guys these old trucks have no fuse box and have no idiot lights, they use a direct reading ammeter.

 

Sounds to me that you may have hooked up the charger the wrong way round maybe... check it now. You may get a fire!!

 

I think he said he rewired it (another thread). I would hope he put some fuses in it.

 

squirrel is right as usual. There is no fuse box and no warning lights. I also should've specified this truck has a generator. I have already disconnectoed the battery to charge it, it's charging now. The charger cables were connected correctly when the battery was still hooked up and buzzing through the voltage regulator. And the buzzing is coming from the voltage regulator, not the charger (when the charger was connected to the battery with the battery cables still connected).

 

he put a rebel 8 circuit harness in..it has fuses.

 

Chances are there would be no need to add a fuze box, but maybe an inline fuse for the lights. Some of these have a fuse on the light switch, so then no need for a fuse inline either....

EDIT: OOOOPPS...he chimed in before I posted this...damn slow *** dial-up!!!

 

When re connecting the battery do you get a spark ? if so start eliminating the reg first then the gen & so on put a test light between cable neg Post if it light lights DRAIN Start the elimination process until it goes out

 

Negative, it's a factory style replacement harness. No fuses, except an inline fuse for the turn signals.

 

the last we heard you was going with rebel...my bad. i shouldn't believe what i read...lol

 

this Man's on the money...

 

TERD...you have a DIRECT short somewhere. PEROID! trance every single wire, even tail light wires. it's not going to be easy, BUT HELL man what about hotrods is ?...good luck my brother of car lovers...POP.

 

When I first connected the new battery a couple of days ago, there was a spark. I'll give this a shot with the test light. I also found a used voltage regulator for $5 at my local chevy truck place, Dixie Truckworks. I'm gonna go get that for just in case. New ones are $50 and the regular parts places can't get one til tomorrow.

I'm hoping swapping the regulator will fix it. If not, I'll get the test light out and get to work. This is making me crazy, lol.

 

Was just about to post the same thing after finishing my lunch. Beat me to it. With the test light between the neg cable and neg post there should be no light. Bright light - a good short. A dim light - a small drain like a crossed ground wire or something. If you have any door locks or window switchs, check them. Also if you have a delay interior light or other modern timer ****. Let us know what you find.

 

check it before you connect the regulator. You run the risk of damaging this one if the fault is still there.

 

Suggestion ,check ignition switch to make sure wires aren't shorting.The reason I suggest this is your problem started initially when you hooked up battery maybe causing a short even with the key out. Good luck.

 

OK, guys, I got the "new" used regulator. I took the "old" one out and opened it up. The points seem to move freely, and are not welded shut. Looking at the "new" one brings up a question though. In the "new" voltage regulator (it's not factory, it's an old repop), there is a hole in the case labeled "GRD". The idiot in me tends to think this should be for a ground. The "old" voltage regulator just had a screw in this hole (and it wasn't labeled like the "new" one).

So is the voltage regulator case supposed to be grounded? Would this cause the problem I'm having?

If it's supposed to be grounded and wasn't, this is the kind of heartaches I'm dealing with on this truck. It is a bonafide miracle it ran for the two weeks I had it driving before the timing stumble and rewire.

Thanks again for being patient with me and for all the help. You guys are the greatest.

 

With regards to your edit, I thought about that and hooked up a different charger just in case. I want to get the truck running again for now, I'll test the other charger later.

 

stock regulators had a br*** tab riveted to the case, that fit under one of the mounting screws over the grommet, to ground the case.

 

Neither the "old" voltage regulator or the "new" one have any kind of br*** tab or anything else between the rubber grommet and the firewall. The "old" one may have been grounded through one of the three relays somehow, there were wires going everywhere. The three relays were wired together somehow. I'm telling you, it was a total and complete mess. No terminals on the wires, just bare ends twisted on the relays and regulator. Wires twisted together other places not even taped. Insanity.

So without the tab you're talking about, should I use a wire in the "GRD" screw hole in the case to a clean spot on the firewall?

And thanks again.


***EDITED TO ADD***
The battery is still charging. Still can't get the test light out and get to work on that part til it gets charged.

 

Just a tag to subscribe.

 

Thanks for that 440. I can for sure rule out loose connections and too small a wire. I checked and double checked all the connections and the new harness is a factory type replacement so all the sire sizes are the same as stock.

I've still got the battery on the slow charger. It should be fully charged in the morning. I'm going to double check all grounds, add a ground for the voltage regulator and see if that works. If not, I'll get the test light and start checking for drains.



By the way, does anyone have a COMPLETE list of grounds so I can make sure I have them all squared away? The new harness didn't come with any grounds or a list of ground locations.

Here's what I know...
Engine to frame
Starter to frame
Headlights to frame
Voltage regulator to firewall*
Battery to firewall
Cab to frame
Bed to frame
Headlight switch to dash
Cigar lighter to dash
Fuel sender to cab
Tail lamps to bed

Am I missing anything I need to check out? I don't currently have a heater or radio, just lights and gauges. Thanks again.

 

Any of the late night crew got any ideas?

 

None other than what you've already read. I've been specializing in DC electrical troubleshooting for over 25 years... "all" you need to do is disconnect every single circuit and reconect them individually until you find the drain. In a car like yours it could take anywhere from a couple of hours to a full weekend to find it, but you will find it that way.