'65 C10 Wiring Problems

[Reyals Bemus]

'65 Chevy C10. The last owner pulled out the 292 six and did a poor job dropping in a 350 sb. Bought it for $500 about 3 years ago. Its sitting in the garage, as a work in progress, and trying to do all the necessary repairs to get it on the road.

The battery drains faster than the starter motor can turn over. With a fully charged battery, where could it be draining from so quickly?

Thanks for any advice.

[kevindtimm]

Radio always comes to mind, but this is probably one that will take time and trial and error.

Hookup a 12V bulb inline on the battery positive, it will glow when there is a draw. Just start disconnecting wires (one at a time) until the bulb goes out.

<edit>
you can pull fuses to narrow this down quicker, it will require that you have a helper though (either to watch the bulb or pull/insert the fuses)
</edit>

[Fred T]

My first check would be to disconnect the alternator wire. A bad alternator can drain the battery like you describe.