BATT Drain

I have a '93 3.8. The Batt will not hold a charge. I have a new ALT, Starter, Ignition switch, and battery. It jups fine, and runs great. After being shut off for about 4 hours the BATT is about 8 volts. Any ideas?

sounds like a short put a meter between neg battery post & cable.that will show how much of a draw u have.then start pulling fuses one at a time to see where short is Good Luck

Thanks for the help. I did as you suggested and have every fuse out of the car, even the high amp ones under the hood. The reading on the meter never changed. What do you think I should attempt next?

Did you use a current meter? If not, you should have. If so, what was the reading? How many amps or milliamps of current draw do you have?

Using a voltmeter, after you jump start the car and drive it for a bit, what is the voltage across the battery with the engine running? Shut the engine off and measure the voltage again. What does the battery voltage read with the engine off?

-Rod

Here's something I found, quite a few say pull the fuses and watch for the drain to stop....
Here's what you do.

Loosen but do not disconnect the negative battery cable.

Start engine up, allow it to reach normal operating temperature... shift through the gears.. then shut if off. Remove keys completely from ignition and make sure all doors are closed and lights are off.

Hook up the contacts of your ammeter the the negative battery post and the battery terminal. Without opening the circuit, remove the battery cable while your ammeter is connected, you should see an electrical load in the range of 0.50 to 1.00 amps (possibly more).

Go have a sandwich or something and wait an hour. This gives all the modules and computers time to go to "sleep".

Come back and observe your reading. If it is below 0.030 you have no parasitic draw. If it is above 0.030 (especially about 0.100) you DO have a parasitic draw and start pulling fuses one at a time until it drops down. It is possible you have a relay sticking in one of the modules, possible the BCM, preventing it from going to sleep and staying powered up all the time.

Thanks to you guys for the help. What I found goes to show that you need to troubleshoot completly.
While inspecting the ignition switch and wires, i saw a 30 amp fuse attached to 2 wires hanging out in the middle of no where. I inspected it and found it went to an after market allarm / remote start. I didnt know the car had one when i purchsed it used.
The instaler (less than qualified!!) used 2 female crimp on ends and shoved the male ends of the fuse into them. The crimp on ends came in contact with each other, completing the circuit.
The blue / green plastic of the fuse has melted and NOT blown the fuse, as the direct contact of the crimp on ends were touching, taking the load.
Thanks again for the advice!

Nice troubleshooting, and glad you found the issue before your car caught fire!

Also, thank you for following up with what you found. So many people post here for help, then never return once they get their fix. That's one of the reasons my first response is requesting additional information rather than just saying what the problem may likely be.

-Rod