the car dies...

[xedef]

Saturday morning i was gonna run to the bank, but my car wouldnt start. I didnt leave anything on so I was wondering what the hell was going on. I have a 95 Ford Escort GT 1.8 L engine. I removed the positive battery cable and attached a test light clip to the cable and touched the end to the positive battery terminal and the light came on (this shows I have a short somewhere) I began pulling fuses to find which circuit the short was in and the light never went off. I jump started my car and it ran until the cooling fan kicked on and the engine died. I attached the test light again and removed the a/c relay and it still glowed. I unplugged the cooling fan relay and it still glowed. I plugged both relays back in and pulled the cooling fan fuse out...it still glowed! Now, i have a multimeter and when the engine dies, the voltage reads about 12.45 to 12.501 volts, which is sufficient for the engine to keep running. I havent removed my alternator but I did unplug it with the test light hooked up and it still glowed. can anyone help me???????? im frustrated!

[Lynde]

Originally Posted by xedef

Saturday morning i was gonna run to the bank, but my car wouldnt start. I didnt leave anything on so I was wondering what the hell was going on. I have a 95 Ford Escort GT 1.8 L engine. I removed the positive battery cable and attached a test light clip to the cable and touched the end to the positive battery terminal and the light came on (this shows I have a short somewhere) I began pulling fuses to find which circuit the short was in and the light never went off. I jump started my car and it ran until the cooling fan kicked on and the engine died. I attached the test light again and removed the a/c relay and it still glowed. I unplugged the cooling fan relay and it still glowed. I plugged both relays back in and pulled the cooling fan fuse out...it still glowed! Now, i have a multimeter and when the engine dies, the voltage reads about 12.45 to 12.501 volts, which is sufficient for the engine to keep running. I havent removed my alternator but I did unplug it with the test light hooked up and it still glowed. can anyone help me???????? im frustrated!

First of all, when you do you that test, your checking for a draw in the system, not a short. But you have to remember that your computer has capacitors, which hold electricity,or stores it, for a period of time. The best way to check for a draw is remove the negetitive cable, attach your test light to it and then hold the cable to the neg. post for about 30 sec. to a minute. That way your draining all the capacitors down. If the light never goes out,by holding the cable to the post, then their might be draw. Now the next step would be to pull the fuses inside the vehcile first one at a time, to see what circuit is causing the fault. Then start pulling the fuses out one at a time in the engine compartment. The light should go out on one of those circuits.
To be honest with you I think you getting the carriage ahead of the horses. First you have to load test your battery. If it passes then you have to check your charging system. If its ok, then you have to test your fuel system. The reason a car dies when its running, is because its not getting either spark or fuel.
If your car ran fine then you parked it and every moring you had to jump start it, then I would be looking for a draw. Good luck