not again...

[custom442]

excellent. thanks. now i have somewhere to start...after i get the battery recharged i'll check this out.

should this testing find nothing...then what? because i think this is an intermittent problem and i know those can be a PITA to figure out.

My car had two bad wires, one in the driver side pillar between the door window and windshield (dome light wire).

Another was a hot wire behind the dash and was for some reason connected to the metal (which was connected to the frame).

It takes a while to find them, but you can narrow it down with the fuse idea like dan said. I also still have bad grounds everywhere, so when the engine tear down is done, the first thing for me to do is check the whole electrical system. It's a good idea to install a relay or a switch in any circuits that you even suspect could be a problem.

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

im thinking of running an on off switch between the cable and the battery so this stops. unfortunately this means popping the hood every time i want to start the car but the good news is it will have 12.6 volts like it should so i can start it. since i have no clock i dont have to worry about cutting off the battery like this.

im also thinking of getting and use a small battery charger/tender. summit has one for 29 bucks. these are cheap insurance for a good battery and arent long term but i could use the charger anyway and the on off switch isnt a bad idea anyway. it'll get fixed but ill have to do something in the mean time to get this to stop ruining my day.

i just wanted to see if i fixed the fast idle on the carb and i went to turn the key and nothing....grrrrrr!

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

ok the alternator puked on me.

i think i also found out what the drain is on the battery. i think its because when i shut the car off im not turning the key back all the way and is causing the battery to drain.

i'll have to make sure this is the problem as it would fit the problem since its intermittent and the only thing that would make sense is if the ignition switch wasnt fully disengaged when i turned the car off.

i noticed when i hooked the battery back up after i fixed the fuel line i saw the battery idiot light on when i didnt even have the key in the ignition.

i'll be replacing the alternator and belt (cheap insurance since im taking the alternator out) this week and ill have to confirm the ignition switch being the culprit.

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

ok i left the battery hooked up since i ran the engine yesterday and came back today to start it up. no problems.

i'll be checking to make sure it doesnt happen. if it doesnt drain again mysteriously after 5 more days of running the car i'll consider the issue resolved.