In the first part of this thread, I asked for ideas as to why the 71 grabber was having its battery fully drained over night. At first I thought it was a bad battery, so that was step one about 5 weeks ago. Since the first thread I have taken a lot of advice and done the following: New alternator, new solenoid, new voltage regulator, all new battery cables and terminals, new starter cable, and I put in a 4 gauge ground cable from block to body. None of these have solved the problem. After searching around the fuses, I found that there were three wires coming from the radio into the fuse box. I pulled those and taped them up to see if they were drawing and draining the battery. If you all can think of anything else to help me out, im listening. I appriciate all the help so far! Thanks!
Just thinking out loud of anything you have not mentioned. The dome light does go off when the door is closed?? The dash lights can be dimmed and the dome light can be turned on with turning the headlight switch. Does the switch seem to be working ok? It is not shorting out and keeping the dash or the dome light on? Does the car have a trunk light? I am not sure many Mavs did but I think they could. If so is it going off when shut?
Dome light goes off and is in working order, dash lights are working fine, will check the trunk light when I get home from work. Just to add, the three wires I pulled from the fuses were not all part of the radio. two were for the radio and the other was for the lights on my instruments (oil pressure, battery, and temp gauge) that were installed by the previous owner.
Sounds like the previous owner did some of his own wiring. I know my 74 did not have a Cigarette Lighter but the lead for it was there and I beleive it is always hot if the key is on or off. It was a blue colored wire right behind the dash next to the radio. Is it possible he used it for something or its shorting? There should be a fuse for it -- it is most likely combined with something else for the fuse like hazzard lights or something like that -- I don't have a manual with me right now to check but again mine is a 74.
well you can keep spending money or cut your losses and just buy a painless wiring kit and do it all.... it may be the harder way...but i think it should help i would probably fix the problem.....and if not...then it would narrow everything down significantly just a thought.....not sure how financial able it is for you.....
Well, im home from work and I just went out to start it and the battery is 100% dead again. I just had it started before work, so it has only been about 8 1/2 hours! I guess the wires I pulled didnt do the trick. I also checked for a trunk light and i didnt find one.
Has there been any other mods done to car such as alarm,stereo amp,electronic ing. ,ect.? Have you replaced the ing. sw. or is it orig. to car? If you are geting power to points thru bad ing. switch and points are closed then that would drain batt. .Not sure , but coil may do same thing.
That has got to be getting real old. I feel for you. Like said above what other kind of mods are on the car? What kind of ignition is on it? How about pulling all or most of the fuses out of the fuse block and see if it still drains it? Have you put a meter in between the negative cable and battery post to see how much of a drain is being put on the battery? You need to try and isolate the area or cicuit some how. Maybe by putting a meter between the battery and posts and getting some help pulling fuses until the drain goes away? clint
There havent been any other mods other then the stereo and the instruments, which have both been pulled. everything else is all original and seems to be in working order. I dont have a meter. I was thinking about giving in and just taking it in to a local shop and having them take a look at it and just telling me what they think. I really want to do it all myself, especially now... this has become a war between me and the culpret! But if I have to call in for reinforcements, I might do that. Is there somewhere I can check to see what fuse goes to a certain part of the car? I look up at the fuse box and just see a bunch of fuses and dont know which goes where. Also, can I unbolt the box and bring it in closer for a better look? It is hard to get all up under the steering wheel and check it out. I am in a very frustrating position so keep dropping the ideas. Trust me, I am using them all and looking into everything. Thanks for all of your help so far!
You can get a cheap meter at Lowes or any auto chain store. It does'nt have to be a $100 meter. The one I use the most was about $25. I have a nice older Simpson but I don't use it much. Get a cheap non-digital meter and try to isolate the problem. If you take it to someone they will charge you a fair chunk probably and you will miss out on a great learning experience. After you fix it yourself you will know alot more about your car and learn more ab out the elctrical system. I'm not sure if the fuse block can be moved out any or not. clint
The fuse box has one 1/4 screw holding it together. Once you pull that screw, the fuse box is seperated from the firewall and the outer side of the wiring harness. If you did this, you would split the wiring into two parts, internal and external, and you'd have narrowed it down somewhat. I don't think there is enough slack to pull the fuse block into view well.
Until you fix the problem, maybe you want to pickup a quick disconect for the neg. battery post. Atleast when you can't be there working on it the battery won't drain. I use this all the time because i don't drive the car for week at a time GOOD LUCK Mike
My uncle has a plastic battery operated thing that beeps with a red and black wire attached to two metal ends. It measures watts and volts in the middle I think, but I have never seen the middle move, just heard it beep. Would this be a meter? My uncle let me borrow it but wouldnt tell me how it works or what to do with it. how do I check these components? I have never used one before and really wouldnt know what to do with it. Care to give a quick crash course in meter-nomics? I was going to get a quick disconnect, but I work on it almost daily or every other day. When I do something new, I want to see if the battery is going to drain or not. So disconnecting wouldnt help me right now. I think i will invest in one when I figure this thing out though. Dont know if this will help or not, but I dont have a horn hooked up. I have the ends taped off in the steering wheel, but could this be a possible cause?
Anything is possible recheck to make sure they are taped ok. Good suggestion from above is to pull the fuses either one at a time or a few at a time or all of them and see if the drain stops. That sound like a volt meter. see if it measures volts that is what your looking for. GOOD LUCK
