55.2-59 Battery draining

[Phungki]

I put in the diode. Nothing changed. I looked over the ignition switch. Everything seems to where it’s supposed to be. I pulled every wire one at a time. I would get little movements on the multimeter but was still a 13v draw. Pulled all the fuse one at a time. Same results as the ignition switch. I guess now I’ll take the alternator in and have it checked. I’ll grab a test light while I’m there

[leegreen]

Confirm you can make it go to zero - pull the main battery + connection ?

With the ignition switch unplugged you still got full voltage on the 2 alternator wires?

Your fuse panel probably has a relay for horn and flasher for hazard - they will always have power, did you try pulling them?

what painless kit # is it?

[dsraven]

the T pins work for pushing into a connector on the back side where the wire comes out so you can get a reading on voltage etc as the friction between the pin, the connector housing and the terminal inside the housing is enough to keep the pin in place and also give a reading thats pretty accurate. this is without poking a hole through the wire insulation on the wire so no mechanical damage is done. some guys do that poking thing all the time with the sharp end off the test light and think nothing of it. it drives me crazy because somebody like me, who works in a shop (used to), would have to find the spot in that circuit that is causing the resistance problem and then fix the spot by cutting the bad corroded spot out and repairing it. if you do that poky thing because you have no choice ensure you seal the hole you poked with some liquid electrical tape or something more than regular electrical tape. if you do use regular electrical tape use the bright red stuff so that spot sticks out like a sore thumb and the repair guy after you can easily find it.
end of rant.
T pins work good for that. I also have used a strand of wire pulled from a spare length and wrapped around the terminal in question when the connector is unplugged. then plug the connection together and that short strand of wire sticks out enough to connect a tester or aligator clip to.
another thing i will mention is that while the digital multimeter is great but for doing tests to find parasitic draws sometimes an analog multimeter is easier to use because the digital readout ones are always hunting for the number. the analog ones simply move the needle a little or a lot and o can give sort of an average number that is close enough for testing like this until you get right down to the short hairs. what I have also done in the past is use an incandescent trailer light with an alligator clip on each of the pigtail wires . the kind of light that is a sealed beam. disconnect the negative battery post and install the trailer light in the circuit between the cable and the battery terminal. you can do the same thing with your test light but you gotta hold it there or clamp it to the battery post somehow. a large draw will light the bulb brightly, less draw will light it dimly. you are looking for no light at all. simply do one change at a time and look at the bulb from where you are working. it is easy to see if the bulb is lit brightly, dimly or not lit. when not lit it may be because there isn't enough draw to light the bulb. that is when you start using the analog multimeter. it can also be set up so you can see it from where you are working if you have a large enough gauge. some surplus stores have panel meters which are larger and possibly cheap too. I have also done that trick using a buzzer from a car instead of the trailer light. for those times when you are looking for a draw in a spot where it is awkward to see the light or meter or whatever. if the buzzer is buzzing then there is still a draw enough to make the buzzer operate.

[Phungki]

Originally Posted by leegreen

Confirm you can make it go to zero - pull the main battery + connection ?

With the ignition switch unplugged you still got full voltage on the 2 alternator wires?

Your fuse panel probably has a relay for horn and flasher for hazard - they will always have power, did you try pulling them?

what painless kit # is it?

If I pulled the battery completely I assume it will go to zero right? Where else is it going to get power?

I only pulled one wire at a time in the ignition. Connecting it back once it made no change.

I did not pull the relays in the fuse box tho.

[dsraven]

Originally Posted by Phungki

I put in the diode. Nothing changed. I looked over the ignition switch. Everything seems to where it’s supposed to be. I pulled every wire one at a time. I would get little movements on the multimeter but was still a 13v draw. Pulled all the fuse one at a time. Same results as the ignition switch. I guess now I’ll take the alternator in and have it checked. I’ll grab a test light while I’m there

is the diode labelled as to how it is wired in? they only let power through one way so if backwards.....
when you pulled every wire one at a time did you leave them disconnected and move to the next wire?
the alt can have one wire directly wired to the positive charge connection and shouldn't back feed. the other wire should only be powered with key in the run position. thats why some guys wire that to the ignition coil wire (if they don't have a ballast resistor) because the coil only gets power with the key in run (or start)

[Phungki]

Originally Posted by dsraven

is the diode labelled as to how it is wired in? they only let power through one way so if backwards.....
when you pulled every wire one at a time did you leave them disconnected and move to the next wire?
the alt can have one wire directly wired to the positive charge connection and shouldn't back feed. the other wire should only be powered with key in the run position. thats why some guys wire that to the ignition coil wire (if they don't have a ballast resistor) because the coil only gets power with the key in run (or start)

I did put the diode in the correct orientation. Stripe towards alternator.

No I plugged each one back in after it had no effect. Since you and LG asked me that maybe I need to unplug them all?

[leegreen]

I should have explained more: pull the main battery positive cable off to confirm the multimer does go to zero: I want to confirm the MM does go to zero and that there is no other power source, a capacitor for instance we are chasing.

If the Ign switch is faulty with internal short between multiple wires you may need to disconnect all the wires at once.

[leegreen]

here is the manual for that harness
https://www.painlessperformance.com/Manuals/20105.pdf

and the battery/charge section


So the red wire to alt will always be hot, but when the alternator is not running connecting it should not result in a current draw so test your alternator

The white wire should not be hot when the switch is off. Put MM or test light between white wire and ground.
1) unplug everything on the ign switch, if it is still hot pull the midi fuse between battery and fuse block, it should go dead. If it does not maybe there is a short between two positive wires between fuse box and battery.

2)If the voltage goes to zero with midi fuse pulled put it back, lets look at fuse panel:

The hazard flasher, horn relay and all the fuses in lower diagram (constant power) should be pulled one by one until the voltage goes away or you have them all pulled.
If you still have voltage on white wire start pulling everything else on the fuse panel until it is empty.
If you still have voltage with empty fuse panel there is a short in the panel or the main wiring harness. and maybe it is time to call painless

Hope this helps

[leegreen]

I'm not sure why the charge diagram is showing up twice in my last post, I can't fix it

[Phungki]

Originally Posted by leegreen

here is the manual for that harness
https://www.painlessperformance.com/Manuals/20105.pdf

and the battery/charge section
Attachment 2275667

So the red wire to alt will always be hot, but when the alternator is not running connecting it should not result in a current draw so test your alternator

The white wire should not be hot when the switch is off. Put MM or test light between white wire and ground.
1) unplug everything on the ign switch, if it is still hot pull the midi fuse between battery and fuse block, it should go dead. If it does not maybe there is a short between two positive wires between fuse box and battery.

2)If the voltage goes to zero with midi fuse pulled put it back, lets look at fuse panel:
Attachment 2275669
The hazard flasher, horn relay and all the fuses in lower diagram (constant power) should be pulled one by one until the voltage goes away or you have them all pulled.
If you still have voltage on white wire start pulling everything else on the fuse panel until it is empty.
If you still have voltage with empty fuse panel there is a short in the panel or the main wiring harness. and maybe it is time to call painless

Hope this helps

My alternator hook up isn’t like the one in the diagram. Originally I was just trying to start the engine after the rebuild and installation and get it to the muffler shop which did happen.

The 2 small wires (exciter and power) come directly from the fuse box into the plug in alternator.

The heavier gauge red wire goes from alternator output directly to the battery.

Thats it.

[Phungki]

Im guessing this is the “midi fuse”? Looks like the wire (heavier gauge) that goes between the fuse box and battery and the wire that goes to the alternator runs thru it.

[Phungki]

Originally Posted by leegreen

I should have explained more: pull the main battery positive cable off to confirm the multimer does go to zero: I want to confirm the MM does go to zero and that there is no other power source, a capacitor for instance we are chasing.

If the Ign switch is faulty with internal short between multiple wires you may need to disconnect all the wires at once.

I disconnected the battery completely. MM goes to zero.

I reconnected the positive side of the battery (MM reads -13.56) and disconnected the 3 wires for the alt, MM reads a -0.07.

leaving the alt disconnected I then disconnect all the ignition wires. Still reads -0.07.

So I move to the fuse box. Leaving ignition disconnected completely and I Pulled each fuse and relays one at a time. Still reads -0.07.

I tried to get a reading with the MM on the exciter wire and the other 2 wires and it would read between 0.01 and 0.00. Im sure a test light would be better for that. Just got back from a grad party and haven’t made it to town yet.