Battery drain when car off..

[slimt]

Hello, big question... car can be turned off.. key out.. all lights off.. wait a week.. and dead.. headlight motors work.. new battery, New alt, No voltage regulator..

Ive been told of a limit switch maybe causing the issue? pictures or ideas please and thank you.

 

[1967coronet440]

Charge the battery and get the volt meter out, happened to mine last summer traced it down to hack job wiring in the radio

 

[Mike67]

If you have a flat scale meter that does DC amps you can get in series with the line and load @ the fuse block to find out what is drawing current with ign off....if that is in fact the reason your battery keeps coming up dead.

 

[OH71RRunner]

You could get a battery kill switch (I think that's what it's called). It'll cut all power going anywhere when turned off.
Or you'll have to do some investigative work on tracking down the culprit.
Maybe the alternator isn't charging the battery properly and that's what's causing the battery to die after a week.

 

[slimt]

Thank you for all the comments... Ill be doing everything that is suggested..

 

[moparnation74]

Or just disconnect the battery cable when not in use.......

 

[727]

The less scientific method is to disconnect electrical items one at a time until the battery quits going dead.

 

[khryslerkid]

Unhook your positive battery terminal and hook your test meter between the battery post and cable clamp. You'll see the drain on the meter. Then you can pull fuses one at a time till you find the one that drops your meter to zero. That will be the "zone" that's causing the drain.

 

[dryheat]

You might want to pick up a meter that has an inductive pickup for AC & DC current. Something like this .... http://www.extech.com/display/?id=14558&gclid=CJ-wuqyguNMCFZSIfgodp0IONA

With the ignition key OFF put the inductive clamp around each individual wire in your car (tedious) and look for DC current. Eventually you should be able locate a small parasitic AMP draw on a wire that should not have any. FYI ... Clock's and some radios will draw constant power.

 

[slimt]

Thanks dry heat.. Ill get one of those.. these dang Chargers got just to much for active items .. its not frustrating yet..

 

[Mike67]

The reason I said a flat scale is so you don't have to separate the wires, but. Kids is probably the easiest way to identify which circuit.

 

[slimt]

The reason I said a flat scale is so you don't have to separate the wires, but. Kids is probably the easiest way to identify which circuit.

Ill locate one of those.. and give it a try.. all of your inputs have been very appreciated.. I just bought this car at the beginning of November from the original owner.. I could see it had issues when I was driving it home.. Its not bad for a original car.. Just got to get the Bugs out of it..

 

[AMX364]

My very light drain came from the Ammeter mounting. All fuses out and drain still there. The drain was between the Ammeter connections in the dash. Made insulating washers and stopped it, no cost, but many hours spent trying to find it.

edit: I used a test light connected between the battery post and cable and worked till the light went out. Do not forget about the door jam switches when the door is opened. Check glove box light and trunk also before starting.