Why does it keep dying?!?!?!

Acidbath · #1 02-17-2006, 10:28 AM

Ok, now i'm confused...

this should not happen!

New Battery tests ok, Alternator tests ok, sylonoid is new and of the HD type, cables are new, connections are shiny, starter is even 3 months 'new'. Only thing new or odd on this 1989 4.9L is an alarm that I installed a few weeks ago. Why is it when this truck sits for an extended period of time, a few days ... it wants to take a shit on me? I'm talkin dead dead, no lights in the cab dead. I cant imagine the alarm could drain that much juice can it ? I also noticed that before I started it, the back light on my stereo was on.. maybe that could be the problem..i really dont know anymore.. any ideas would be great thanks.

Eric

alphalanos · #2 02-17-2006, 10:29 AM

It sounds like your stereo illumination might be attatched to the wrong place. Thus it is draining your battery. If all the other electrical system parts are ok, thats what I would suspect.

Acidbath · #3 02-17-2006, 10:32 AM

well i'm pretty sure it isnt... I still had the little yellow and orange tabs on the wire itself ... but that dosent really count out the head unit.. it wasnt a 'nice' one.. lol just a radio for my work truck... i have noticed it before when it has died in the past.... just never does it when i shut it off, and am lookin for it... ?

damn electrical gremlins... hate em.. always have...

alphalanos · #4 02-17-2006, 10:33 AM

Isnt yellow ignition and orange illumination?

Acidbath · #5 02-17-2006, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alphalanos

Isnt yellow ignition and orange illumination?

lol i wanna say the one was red now that i think about it, i think the orange one was switched with the key, and the red was for clock memory, not really sure, i'm goin gto put a toggle on the two of them, and do a little test..

And I thought this truck was at a good point in its life.. lol always something... why is that?

lol

and by the way.. your an awful fast responder..

alphalanos · #6 02-17-2006, 12:10 PM

Lol thanks. My car had a short when I bought it, so the battery kept dying. Thats when I decided to replace all the charging wires with 0 gauge and get a new alternator and battery

Acidbath · #7 02-17-2006, 01:40 PM

well i know the alarm does drain some of the battery... in my car, when it sits for a month or so it will kill it... but not in a few days.. thats crazy, its a 1000 amp battery, and all my cables a 0 awg too ..

i cant figure mathmatically how somehting that small will discharge a battery that fast...

unclebubbles · #8 02-17-2006, 05:08 PM

If you have a multimeter that will read dc current, or can borrow one, take a battery cable off, insert the meter in line, with key off. Youll get a surge, as the computer powers up, then itll settle down. Disconnect the devices one by one, to see which one is eating the battery. The current draw for the computer and radio memory, im guessing should be around 10-20 ma. I dont know what the alarm system should be. It depends on other accessories you may have too. But a good battery that size should sustain a pretty healthy current draw for more than a couple of days. It could be something else thats coincidental. A defective regulator can cause the alt. field to stay energized, and drain the battery. If you get a large current draw, leave the meter hooked up, and pull fuses one at a time to see which circuit it is. Good luck.
Later
Ed

Acidbath · #9 02-19-2006, 12:50 PM

Well its been 5-10 degrees here latley, and i havent had the motivation to trace it out that far.. what i did do tho is take my battery to autozone and have them put it on the charger for me, 3pm-930pm slow charge because it was cold when i brought it in. 5.6 volts goin in, and 12.3 when it came out but the load tester there said it needed more of a charge to test it. I told em it was the second time it has done it and they gave me a new one. 875 CCA shouldnt drain it, i agree with u there. I am an elelctritian and it was killin me that something small could do that, but i swear its a short internally. I will watch the over all drain from the radio and alarm, and will note them and do the math to amuse myself, then actually watch for the drop in the process. I had a nice mulitmeter from ideal that was programmable and could log events, but it grew legs on a jobsite.. :\ lol i have a few others tho... will let u know what i find...

Acidbath · #10 02-27-2006, 03:38 AM

Finally found it...

The stupid little 'block' that holds the battery in place must have come loose at some point and my battery took a beating on a bump sometime when i was off roading it... broken plate inside the battery was causing an intermittent short...

no wonder i couldnt figure it out.. , I do feel better tho.. knowing im not such an idiot.. he he

Acidbath · #11 03-08-2006, 10:35 AM

LoL, ok I was wrong again.. maybe the battery had the short, and maybe not. After installing it again, I let it sit and started keeping a log of the voltage. It kept dropping steadly. So i did check between the negative cable, and the negative terminal, and it was slightly off the battery's voltage. I still suspected the radio, and when it was still 'draining', i took off the face plate and pushed the 'reset' button on the head unit, checked it again, and found my problem. Nothing more than a cheap radio. Something defective in it that was leaving it on somehow. At anyrate, i'm going to have to take the face plate off from now on until i get another radio.

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