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Last straw with electrical problem I NEED HELP)

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    #1

    Last straw with electrical problem I NEED HELP)

    My car has been having a parasitic drain for a few months ago. I've replaced three batteries and an alternator and the problem hasn't gone away. The car will be dead after sitting overnight, yet when I hook up the multimeter it reads .02 amps. Whether the battery is fully charged or dead, it gets the same reading. No lights stay on, I don't hear a fuel pump running after the car is running, so I don't have a clue what it could be.

    This problem has been putting a lot of stress on me lately and it's absolutely frustrating since I can't even use a multimeter to figure out what it is. I really need to have a car that starts every time (because of school and a job) and I'd hate to have to get rid of it. What am I doing wrong here?

    1989 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series | 249k miles, current project car
    2018 BMW 430i xDrive M-Sport | 50k miles
    2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport | 97k miles
    Tags: None
    #2
    does the current draw on the meter increase if you plug in the hood lamp? If it does not, the meter is broken and thats why you can't find the problem. Make sure the meter works first.
    86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
    5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

    91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

    1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

    Originally posted by phayzer5
    I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

    Comment

      #3
      Draw increased when I had a door open (hood light burnt out a while ago) so at least the meter seems to work.

      1989 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series | 249k miles, current project car
      2018 BMW 430i xDrive M-Sport | 50k miles
      2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport | 97k miles

      Comment

        #4
        Perhaps there is a module that is not "going to sleep" as it should and by the time you test it - it has. Happens sometimes to my '95 GM and NO ONE has figures it out.


        "Hope and dignity are two things NO ONE can take away from you - you have to relinquish them on your own" Miamibob

        "NEVER trade your passion for glory"!! Sal "the Bard" (Dear Old Dad!)

        "Cars are for driving - PERIOD! I DON'T TEXT, TWEET OR TWERK!!!!"

        Comment

          #5
          Well this is a little heavy handed but.... All the lines that come off the battery. Charge the bat, remove half the cables. See if the car is dead after a night. Mark the half that is good with a bit of tape or what have you. What I mean is if the car is dead in the AM then the ones that were disconnected are the good ones, Mark Them OK. If the car did not die then mark the ones that are connected Ok.

          Second day, connect only half the ones that are NOT VERIFIED OK. Repeat until you get down to only one line that is not ok.

          Then after you are down to one not ok, Connect overnight all the ones marked OK. But not the one not ok. The car should not drain and you will have isolated the bad circuit.

          Good Luck Jay
          03 Marauder DPB, HS, 6disk, Organizer Mods> LED's in & Out, M&Z rear control arms, Oil deflector, U-Haul Trans Pan, Blue Fuzzy Dice
          02 SL500 Silver Arrow
          08 TC Signature Limited, HID's Mods>06 Mustang Bullet Rims 235/55-17 Z rated BFG G-Force Comp-2 A/S Plus, Addco 1" rear Sway, Posi Carrier, Compustar Remote Start, floor liners, trunk organizer, Two part Sun Visors, B&M Trans drain Plug, Winter=05 Mustang GT rims, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R-2 235/55-17
          12 Escape Limited V6 AWD, 225/65R17 Vredestein Quatrac Pro, Winter 235/70-16 Conti Viking Contact7 Mods>Beamtech LED headlight bulbs, Husky floor liners

          Comment

            #6
            I don't know what has been tested and not. With that said, if you haven't tested the fender mount relay, do it. That gave me a fit twice in the CV's life with us. Also, my first electrical gremlin was the rear defrost switch in the CV; it was always hot. I used to bungee it closed so it wouldn't drain overnight. I later disconected it all together. That's my one cent with this; if it's even worth that much.


            Packman

            Comment

              #7
              When I was young the family had an '88 Mercury Sable wagon and it had trouble like this. New battery and new alternator didn't fix it. Dad took it to a better shop where they found a dime in the cigarette lighter...
              1985 Wagon Queen Family Truckster.
              Get It ==G|== Together

              Comment

                #8
                i would check other light, like the ones you dont see a whole lot of, like the hood lieghts, trunk lights, glove box light, any side marker interior light, the lights under the dash, ive seen bulbs hidden up in the radio a/c cluster before that youd never guess were there. just a few guess mang ,also if you have any audio capacitors hoooked up, might do the trick also.
                89 townie, mild exhuast up grades, soon to have loud ass stereo....

                Comment

                  #9
                  Originally posted by zoomie View Post
                  i would check other light, like the ones you dont see a whole lot of, like the hood lieghts, trunk lights, glove box light, any side marker interior light, the lights under the dash, ive seen bulbs hidden up in the radio a/c cluster before that youd never guess were there. just a few guess mang ,also if you have any audio capacitors hoooked up, might do the trick also.
                  Speak of the devil! As I got home from work and opened the hood up to disconnect the battery, I noticed that the hood light turned on and then off pretty quickly. I always thought it was burnt out! And it explains a lot on why I can't get a drain reading when the hood is propped open, because the light goes off!

                  1989 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series | 249k miles, current project car
                  2018 BMW 430i xDrive M-Sport | 50k miles
                  2018 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport | 97k miles

                  Comment

                    #10
                    So hood light not mounted properly, on when closed, off when opened? Those style hood lights suck. The Vic ones at least up to 87 are bolted in place, no plastic clips to come loose.

                    Comment

                      #11
                      might be worth simply unplugging the hood light and see if the problem goes away.
                      86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                      5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                      91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                      1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                      Originally posted by phayzer5
                      I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                      Comment

                        #12
                        It like going in circles sometimes....

                        Back in your original post, theres a line:"Yank out your hood light" Not, leave it in if you think its burnt out...

                        There are no shortcuts. It is a process of elimination and you have to go through it systematically, no assumptions allowed.

                        Alex.

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