Battery Drain-What have i forgot to check?

[Arl37]

Before tearing into my 69 C10 for a rebuild no battery drain. After pulling clip and going through dash, upon reinstall I had a 1.5V drain on a multimeter. Disconnecting the red wire to the Alternator drops it to .25. I have removed all fuses one at a time and retested. removed big wire to starter. removed plugs at headlights and ignition. Still have .25V draw. checked all my grounds. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Posted via Mobile Device
Posted via Mobile Device

[Dunenutt]

Volt/amp gauge?

[Arl37]

Posted via Mobile Device

[Arl37]

Multi meter set on voltage. don't have a amp gague
Posted via Mobile Device

[So.Cal.Super]

maybe the steering column? my blinker assembly was worn out and created a short in my horn, it got so bad when I would turn a corner the horn would honk on it's own. (also it got embarrassing a few times) I disconnected the horn, then it gave up the go and shorted completely while i was on vacation and killed a cell in my new battery. Just a thought and somewhat funny story.

Good luck.

[Arl37]

I prettye much have the steering column disassembeld and have unpluged the steering column wires and the horn relay and disconnected the horn the horn. still draws .25 volts
Posted via Mobile Device

[So.Cal.Super]

is there a memory for the radio?

[Dunenutt]

Originally Posted by Arl37

Multi meter set on voltage. don't have a amp gague
Posted via Mobile Device

I meant the one in the dash cluster.

[partsstoreguy]

a old or shorted out alternator can cause a drain in itself. buy disconecting your red wire to the alternator i think and having a large drop in voltage drain you might have a shorted out alternator or voltage regulator.

[wilbilt]

A bad diode in the alternator can cause a drain. This will cause the "alt" light to glow faintly with the ignition off on vehicles with idiot lights.

Try disconnecting the 2 wire alternator connector and see if it makes a difference in the voltage reading.

[Arl37]

No radio.

Dash gauge is shows D on one side and C on the other. don't know if this means it is a amp or volt . just says Battery

As I said in my intro when I disconnect red wire to alt drain goes down fron 1.5 volt to .25 volt.
Posted via Mobile Device

[wilbilt]

Originally Posted by Arl37

As I said in my intro when I disconnect red wire to alt drain goes down fron 1.5 volt to .25 volt.

What about unplugging the other connector from the alternator? Unplugging the regulator?

[Arl37]

Tried them all. Only thing that seems to pull it down is undoing the red wire to alternator. That pulls it down from 1.5 to about .25V. Tomorrow I think I will get a new alternator with a internal regulator. Also a amp meter. That will give be a better gauge of how much the draw really is.
Posted via Mobile Device

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by Arl37

No radio.

Dash gauge is shows D on one side and C on the other. don't know if this means it is a amp or volt . just says Battery

As I said in my intro when I disconnect red wire to alt drain goes down fron 1.5 volt to .25 volt.
Posted via Mobile Device

That is your amp guage. D means discharge and C means charge. They are not real helpful in seeing what your battery is doing. I replaced mine with a volt meter. Wish I had another idea for you to check, but I'd look at the regulator and disconnect it too. If you go to an internal alternator, you'll have to bypass it anyway.

[72lb4x4]

What/where are you measuring?

A (current) "drain" is unwanted current flowing when everything is turned off. Its checked by measuring the current flow from the battery, or by putting a test light between one of the battery terminals and the connector.

A drain is not checked by measuring voltage.

If you have a multimeter, you have an ammeter.

Is the battery discharging overnight, or a few days/weeks if you don't drive it? If not, you probably don't have a problem.