Electrical Prob in 1975 Corvette

[mk553]

Hey all,

Just wondering if there are any known issues with1975 Corvettes and their electrical system?

I thought I'd check into that first, but in my case, I recently installed a new stereo system and car alarm, and each weekend, the battery keeps coming up dead.

The people who installed it had to replace a missing fuse that brought the interior lights back to life, as well as the radio itself. So, I'm curious if the previous owner knew of some issue with the electrical system and just left the fuse out on purpose because so his battery wouldn't keep dying like this, or if these new devices are perhaps just pulling down too much on the battery (nevermind that the alarm and radio are turned off the entire week.)

Thanks for any reponses in advance,

Mike

[ponchonutty]

My dad and I have had a number of Corvettes and yes the electrical system can be a little wierd but for the most part, shouldn't be a problem. Now, the thing is that it is almost 30 years old of which you have 30 year old wiring. It can be very real the idea there's a problem with the circuit you talk about and that's why there's no fuse in it. BUT, I would double check the battery, cables, and altinator jsut to be sure. Then if that's all OK, trace back through the circuits. It would be great if you had an ampmeter so you could check what the parasitic draw is on the battery.

[Todd68]

Use an ammeter to check current draw on battery with car off. An alarm and/or stereo should draw a minimal amount (a few milliamps) when turned off. If you see more pull the fuse for the circuit that you suspect. If the current draw goes down you've found the circuit and can trouble shoot from there. Hope this helps, let me know if you need more specific info.

[mk553]

Thanks to everyone who replied -- as it turns out, it was just a simple silly thing; there's an interior light inside the glove compartment (the compartment between the battery and the other compartment behind the passenger seat) and the lid wasn't shutting down properly, leaving that light on. I had never noticed it before, since the fuse to those lights had been missing since I have had the car.

That particular light was drawing almost a quarter of a amp, which was draining the battery after just a few days. But I have to say, I had never even noticed that little light before! Now everything's back to normal.

I have to wonder about how to jump the battery in that car? Because of this, I got one of those portable battery boosters, but it requres that one of the cables be grounded on some form of real metal. Is there anything on the back of that car that it could be grounded to?

Thanks again,

Mike