Thread: Battery Draining

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* I am not sure but I think the only time the dimmer switch has power is when the lights are on. Cig lighter is a possibility, along with the glove box, shorted clock, or door switch.

Thinking if an ignition switch were shorted, it would power up other items like the alternator light might be on, coil would be hot electrically.

These guesses have some merit; instead of hopping all over the place the best measure would be to use a meter to troubleshoot. It will help id or isolate the circuit or circuits that may be the bad actors, save some money in the long run.

Have you eliminated the battery?

Disconnect the ground, see if the voltage still drops off overnight.

Originally Posted by pepi

* These guesses have some merit

These aren't guesses, they have all been problems at one time or another. In my 50 some years of tinkering with cars I've seen many electrical gremlins.

[/QUOTE]Remove the small wires from the started relay. Now attach each wire one at a time and notice what wire causes the meter to give a reading. Tell me how many small wires are there.[/QUOTE]

There are two small wires s & i.

[/QUOTE]This will tell you where the problem may be, engine compartment or interior, fuse or accessory related. I found a picture of a 65 mustang fuse box and it looks like it only has 5 fuses,. Is that what yours looks like?[/QUOTE]

Yes, it has only five fuses.

[/QUOTE]Please tell me some more about what is there electrically. glove box cigarette lighter, AC that type of information.[/QUOTE]

Electrically it has glove box light, cigarette lighter without the lighter (only recepticle), AC, After market radio, and MSD electronic ignition.

I'll tinker a little more this weekend and let you know what I find.

Remove the small wires from the started relay. Now attach each wire one at a time and notice what wire causes the meter to give a reading. Tell me how many small wires are there.[/QUOTE]

*There are two small wires s & i. ***wrong ones,

Look at the schematic the wires I am talking about are on the same terminal the battery + cable is attached to.

Those supply power to the cars circuits, 3 plus the battery cable, total 4. While taking a reading lift or connect them one at a time, to see what you get.

Ha, O.K. gotcha, If I remember right there's 5 on there. Five total that is.
I'll look when I get home today and do the series test. Thanks!

Hey guys. It's been awhile since I had chance to play with the Mustang. Finally found the culprit. The starter, for some reason, was the drain. Switched it out this weekend and the battery has held since. The old starter still worked and tested ok. But after swithing, no drain. Thanks again for all the help and patience. I sure learned a lot about elec. stuff.

Could be the solinoid is shorted inside with dust from contacts.. Glad you got it fixed

I installed it, but when I tried to start, the gear and flywheel were grindin'. I stopped immediatly, and called Clark's Auto (Great place by the way. Never had any problem with them in the past. Very rare occurance). They confirmed the part #, said they would give me another. They also said that they had spacers.?? Wouldn't that just pull it away . . . farther?? DUH?? I went back in and asked to see the one I took off. Turns out the "nose cone" part that partially covers the gear was about 3/8" shorter, thus the gear wouldn't engage all the way. They looked at another #, on the rebuilt one, and realized it and been rebuilt with "Auto" AND "Manuel" parts!! Got the right one, threw it on, all was well.

Leason Learned?? - - Always compare the old with the new parts. Especially rebuilt's.

I hardly ever bring the core in untill the job is done.

that`s kinda odd .. that starter should only be hot while it is cranking .. unless you have a later model one or an aftermarket with the solenoid attached to the starter ..

Yeah, it was aftermarket with attached solenoid. Only $23 . . . I was a bit surprised. Rebuilt with lifetime warrenty. Sounded good to me.

Originally Posted by cffisher

Could be the solinoid is shorted inside with dust from contacts.. Glad you got it fixed

So you saying it can arc itself just from dust?

The GM solinoids will ...get copper dust from the contacts as the top post is hot all the time ...starters do the same with brush dust, but that only shows up when you try to start it.

Originally Posted by Mudduck3

Yeah, it was aftermarket with attached solenoid. Only $23 . . . I was a bit surprised. Rebuilt with lifetime warrenty. Sounded good to me.

Seriously?? A $23 starter and you're planning to depend on it? I think I would go back and buy at least one to carry as a spare if you're going to be traveling farther from home than you want to walk. That falls into the "You get what you pay for" category, seems to me.