my tudor is draining battery & 89

[Brandon]

Hey guys. Most of you know about my 80 tudor. Well I cant seem to figure out what the hell is draining my battery. I've replaced the alternator and voltage regulator. It's not draining my battery when it runs but when I cut it off. I figure something is stayin on some where and killing the battery. This kind of started recently. This is my third different battery I've put in it. And the next day it wont turn completely over. I'm not sure what it is. I dont see anything lit up at night. I'm not sure about this.

And another one! My 89 p72 is doing the same fucking thing! I'm starting to think theres a bad spirit floating around sucking out my battery juice! LOL. But no it does the same thing. So I checked the fuses and the first metal fuse toward the top was really hot. I also noticed when I put a different battery in it, the cable sparked as if the key switch was on. I'm not sure what the hell that fuse does but I pulled it. So far I think its fine now. I cant seem to find any difference from me removing it. That kinda happened suddnely to.

But any info on this will be appreciated as always.

[gadget73]

Metal breaker usually is for power windows and power seats if I'm not mistaken. If you don't have either of those, perhaps the seat wiring that should be laying under the carpet got damaged somehow. If everything still works, just leave it out.

[Brandon]

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Ya know my 89 doesnt have power seats. Kinda weird how I let it sit for about 3 weeks and this starts.

[marquisman]

check your glove box and trunk lights. iv seen these stay on when closed before

[GM_Guy]

Pull the suspect breaker out. (top middle one is windshield wipers) and let it sit overnight and see what happens.

Alex.

[marquisman]

you can use a volt meter to do a quick draw test too. check the volatge at the battery, then pull a suspect fuse and then check your voltage again. if you have a draw, you should see a slight volt increase.

[sly]

my 82 Mark VI drained the battery once... found the problem... with the hood shut, the hood light was still on. Bent the bracket back where it should be and haven't had a problem since.

[GoodSamaritan]

Here is an easy way to find a short.

Get a 12v light, such as a headlight, driving light, or whatever. Hook it up between the battery and the cable. If you;ve got a short, it will light up somewhat. If it's hard to see, get a smaller bulb. (note has to be incandescent, not an led) start pulling fuses one by one, until it dims. (remember to close the doors so that the dome lights go out, or else pull that fuse first.


This is also a good way to locate a short that's blowing fuses without wasting a lot of fused with the "lets replace the fuse and see if that was the problem" method.

[gadget73]

I used the dim bulb test just this weekend to figure out a problem with my stereo amp. Turns out my dumb self hooked it up backwards, but I'm glad I used the test light to check it before I stuck the fuse in. Something tells me the interconnects would have melted before that 100 amp fuse popped.