Help! - NO start - Primary Short?

1998 Plymouth Voyager, 3 Litre engine.

Prior day, no problems other than old problem with cruise control intermittently engaging on its own.

Next morning, starter won't even turn. Starter pulled and checked out as good.

Battery down. Recharged battery, still won't turn or ceven click.

Removed the negative battery cable and ran a voltage meter between the negative battery pole and the negative battery cable and had 13+ volts showing.

Disconnected every fuse and every relay under the hood and under the dash and it continues to show the 12 volt drain.

Ignition switch seems to be working O.K. Transmission is in Park!

Replaced battery with new one. No change at all.

What else is there that could be shorting out so the starter won't even turn or even click with a brand new battery? Saw no sign of exposed wiring or obvious short.

If neutral safety switch was bad would there be the constant battery drain?

Could the alternator be shorting out and cause such?

Help!!!

The alternator is likely the short. Disconnect the wires to it and retest for current drain.

The alternator is likely the short. Disconnect the wires to it and retest for current drain.


Thanks. I tried that but had trouble reaching it and even trying to figure out the size of the socket needed, so that was when I quit.

I had never heard of an alternator shorting out that fast with no warning light or anything, but then I'm not very experienced at this... that should be obvious. :-)

My old mechanic closed shop and moved out of town. So now it's it's either figure out the problem or have the van towed and trust a new mechanic to find the short and fix it without ripping me off.

Thanks again.

Oh well... I bought a new socket set and was finally able to disconnect the starter. That also didn't solve the problem.

So it is not the battery, the starter or the alternator.

Any other suggestions wher such a short might likely occur?

Very Frustrating. :-)

Well, it appears my original battery was the problem. After I charged it and it still was dead, I checked the fuses. I apparently did not replace the fuse to the fuel pump in my original attempt at that. Have no idea what happened to it but when I moved a fuse into that slot with the new battery connected, it started immediately.

I assume while I was pulling about six fuses at a time, there must have been at least one that would draw a current in each batch I pulled, i.e., clock, radir memory, etc., thus the constant draw I saw.

Thanks again yogi_123rd for responding.