What is draining my battery over night?!?!?!?!

[Cruizin64]

I think I might have tried everything expect re-wiring the whole truck....so my battery will drain and be dead over night....I have checked the stater....GOOD....the alternator....BRAND NEW....external voltage regulator....ALSO BRAND NEW AS OF TODAY....now when the truck is on and running the voltmeter reads at 12.02-12.04....someone told me I might have a faulty alternator....did the "old skool" test....as the truck was running I disconnected the power cable and the truck just shuts off....any ideas?

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I NEED HELP!!!!

[blackedoutharley]

Well the old school way was pull the battery and if it died that meant the alternator was not putting out enough power.

Pull the alternator and take it to a parts house and have it tested...

[ratskin]

You might want to check the harness at the firewall to make sure everything has continuity. Mine wouldn't charge, and I found that the wire from the regulator to the ammeter only ran from the ammeter to the firewall(this was as I first got it running). The other side wasn't even there! You could have something similar-burnt fusible link, etc.-with a bare end grounding out somewhere. Just a thought.

[62 mark]

If you take the positive cable off the batery and go from the terminal to the positive battery post with a test lite, and it lites up you have a draw somewhere. Fortunately with these old trucks we have fairly simple wiring compared to todays cars

[BR3W CITY]

Mine didn't always drain out, but I had some weird wiring problems occasionally.

1. My dome light was sitting half disconnected with no bulb, and there was a short in the wiring. Because there wasn't a bulb I couldn't tell the circuit was on, so it would draw out.

2. My stock fuse box had some FIRE damage....yea. The harness that exits the bottom of the box had almost fully melted exposing a large number of wires, and causing weird random grounds against the body. The only reason the truck ran when it had the 355/700r4 was because so many wires had been jumpered or extended, the PO essentially wired around the problem without really knowing it.
My solution was to rip out the fuse box and every inch of stock wire, including the steering column and replacing it with all new stuff, run specifically for my setup...including fuse slots for stereo, halogen beams and LED tail light. I also replaced the engine and trans with an Lq4/4l80e combo (although it has nothing to do with repairing the problem) it did lead to some needed custom wiring...which was much easier to do starting from scratch. Only a couple hundred man hours

[Woogeroo]

I had some similar issues... some good trouble shooting tips in here:

1965 chevy c10 truck - battery going dead at random times

It may or may not help, but worth a read.

do you have a multimeter to check the voltage with? check it when off and when it's running... the voltage should be higher when it's running if it is charging at all. Then it might be something draining it while it sits. Some of the trouble shooting tips in the thread above suggested ways to track that down.

The stock wires run down the drive side inner panel to behind the driver head light to the voltage regulator... then there are some wires that duck into the grill space and pop back up by the battery... try chasing those down and checking for a break or a short.

You can also take the alternator off and have it bench tested at most part stores. I know you wrote that it is new... as is the volt. regulator... I've heard the volt. regulators can go bad quick when new for no reason. They either work or go 'poof'.


-W

[Cruizin64]

Thanks for all the replies guys....guess i have a whole day of checking this and checking that....i'll let you know how it goes....

Woogeroo: thanks for the link....i read the whole thing and i really think that might help....

again thanks a lot guys i'll let you know how the progress goes....

[Cruizin64]

So did a lil detective work....look what I found! This was under SO MUCH electrical tape....these are wires that are running from my regulator to the wires that are running to my alt....think this might be the root of my problem?

[blackedoutharley]

It might not be the absolute cause but it certainly isn't helping.

[old cruiser]

That does look suss, but as mentioned may not be the whole story. Another thing to check is the horn relay this turd of a thing has caused this problem before. Think it may be mentioned in another thread with battery probs.
good luck.

[losthope]

Originally Posted by 62 mark

If you take the positive cable off the batery and go from the terminal to the positive battery post with a test lite, and it lites up you have a draw somewhere. Fortunately with these old trucks we have fairly simple wiring compared to todays cars

and to add more to this way of testing is that if the test light is lit up, is to pull fuses one by one till the test light goes off, this will help narrow down what circuit has a draw....

[Hawks]

Ive had the same problem before. My regulator was sticking. I fixed it after that it never drained overnight again.

[Woogeroo]

Cruzin64 - I'm guessing one end goes to the alternator and the other goes to the voltage regulator, right?

I had some similar wayward wiring I had to repair.

-W

[neto]

Sounds like the regulator is not working or is not being activated. I remember we had to "polarize" regulators but for the life of me I don't remember why.

[Cruizin64]

Hey guys....thought I would be able to get out there today to test the wires but I got called into work early today....plus weather isn't the best....lol good thing today is my friday....so I have the whole "weekend" to work on it....

Originally Posted by old cruiser

That does look suss, but as mentioned may not be the whole story. Another thing to check is the horn relay this turd of a thing has caused this problem before. Think it may be mentioned in another thread with battery probs.
good luck.

Old Cruiser: Thanks I'll check that out....see if that is part of the problem....

Originally Posted by losthope

and to add more to this way of testing is that if the test light is lit up, is to pull fuses one by one till the test light goes off, this will help narrow down what circuit has a draw....

Losthope: never thought of that....in fact that might be the first thing I do tomorrow when I get out there....should narrow things down real quick!

Originally Posted by Hawks

Ive had the same problem before. My regulator was sticking. I fixed it after that it never drained overnight again.

Hawks: Sticking? like how....and what did you do to fix the problem....

Originally Posted by Woogeroo

Cruzin64 - I'm guessing one end goes to the alternator and the other goes to the voltage regulator, right?

I had some similar wayward wiring I had to repair.

-W

Woogeroo: YUP! You're right....its a nightmare....and hey thanks for all your help....

Thanks again for all the help guys....as soon as I get out there tomorrow....I'll let you guys know how it goes....and any other in put would be great....

[Hawks]

When my was regulator was sticking. I just cleaned it and sprayed a little wd-40 in it. I checked all the wires around it makeing shure none were touching. Taped on the regulator with a hammer. Someone told me thats what the problem was and that fixed it. it never drained overnight again. Hope you get it fixed. I always unhooked the battery everywhere i went it sucked.

[Gianyveedub]

When you say drains the battery. Can you start the truck multiple times during the day and when you wake up it's dead? I was thinking maybe your battery could be old or bad. I know my buddys Blazer had this issue but his battery was ancient and he just needed a new one. Just a thought

[Cruizin64]

Originally Posted by Gianyveedub

When you say drains the battery. Can you start the truck multiple times during the day and when you wake up it's dead? I was thinking maybe your battery could be old or bad. I know my buddys Blazer had this issue but his battery was ancient and he just needed a new one. Just a thought

I've gone threw 3 different battery....on the fourth one....one i borrowed from my neighbor.... i should say....when i go to try to start it....its REALLY REALLY REALLY slow cranking over....as soon as i pump the gas a few times then the cranking of the engine gets a lil faster....but if i stop then it just dies....its like something is pulling so much juice from the battery....

[Clownpuncher]

Check to see if your ignition switch is not on the accessory postion. Leaving it there will kill a battery overnight in a heart beat. Something needs a pretty good draw to kill the battery completely

I know this happened to me once and it killed a failry new battery.

[tincan1966]

12.2-12.4 volts with the truck running is hardly charging at all, even with an old style regulator and alternator. Most system should put 13.3-14.2 volts at the battery with the engine at approx 1000 rpm. The old school method of removing the positive battey cable while running and the truck dies, is another indication that maybe the feed wire from the alt is not connected in the harness, OR the alt or reg is faulty. New means new, not good.

[padresag]

slow cranking can be several things ; 1 timing is set to far ahead. 2 resistance in your wires and battery cables are the prime party; check where the cables hook to the ends. peel back a bit of the coating and see if the cable is going green, replace cable or cables. that rats nest of wires in your hand looks like a prime spot for a short esp that red wire with all the abrasions on it and the bare wiring(it appears where it connects. also looking at that connector it appears that there may be some green colouring there.
2 things to do first. fix up that crappy wiring and check to make sure that the cables are fine. make sure that the current can flow properly before concluding the rest of it
ron

[Cruizin64]

So I just wanna thank you guys again for all your replies....

So here is what I did today....remember those burnt ugly looking fried wires I first posted....well me and my friend rewired and cleaned that up....still no luck....battery is slowly draining....

NOW SOME GOOD NEWS!!!!!

So we have figured out the is a problem some where between my horn relay and the harness that plugs into the fire wall....

[NOTE: THIS WAS HOOK UP LIKE THIS ASSUMING BY PREVIOUS OWNER]

OK I hope you can follow this....

....here we go....

The RED arrows are coming from the harness....
The PURPLE arrow is the red or "3" wire from the regulator
The GRAY arrows are two wires that are hooked up to an aftermarket AMP gauge [put in by previous owner]
The WHITE arrow is a wire attached to the "+" terminal of the battery....

....with me so far....ok good....

The BROWN arrows are those 2 wires crimped together in the same barrel
The BLUE arrows are those 2 wires crimped together

NOW ALL OF THIS IS HOOKED UP TO THE HORN RELAY

here is were it gets a lil tricky....without that WHITE arrow wire....the truck will not start....not even a lil crank....its like unless there is power going to that horn relay the truck won't start!

WHAT THE HELL!!!!

So I am kinda curious....do any of you know what the hell this guy did to this truck's wiring?! I am at a lost for words....

[Clownpuncher]

The white wire, which I thought should be red will hit the relay first from the battery then into another red wire going back to your fuse panel. With out this connected you dont have power at the ignition switch. Nothing with that sounds out of the ordinary, so if you figured out it's from the firewall back then it's something at the dash or fuse panel thats staying on and draining your battery.

It sounds like it's something feeding off the ignition hot thats draining the battery

[Cruizin64]

Originally Posted by Clownpuncher

The white wire, which I thought should be red will hit the relay first from the battery then into another red wire going back to your fuse panel. With out this connected you dont have power at the ignition switch. Nothing with that sounds out of the ordinary, so if you figured out it's from the firewall back then it's something at the dash or fuse panel thats staying on and draining your battery.

It sounds like it's something feeding off the ignition hot thats draining the battery

Thanks....that will be the first thing I dive into tomorrow....now I got a feeling imma have to take out my gauge cluster....let you guys know how it goes....
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[Sillyoldman]

I'd check into the most suspect things first. If your battery only shows 12.02 volts while running your charging systems is messed up or the battery is wasted. Your battery should show 12.60v resting or 13+ v charging. A bad battery can show normal voltage but little to no CCA. Get the battery properly tested with an analyser or carbon pile tester. Next V-reg & alt as mentioned.