Juarez88 Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 Hello, so I bought a 73 about 2 months ago and the link to that original thread is http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=112511, car was banged up a bit but I did some cheap cosmetic repairs for now So here is my issue and a brief history prior to that. I bought a battery and new spark plugs, and the battery died a few days later. I took the alternator to auto zone to get tested and it failed and purchased a duralast alternator for my supposed Z year car and a duralast voltage regulator. I connect the alternator and regulator but my dumbass forgot to plug in the regulator! and it burned out a wire connecting to the starter and the started failed. So I call a local mechanic, he rewires the starter and puts in a new one and the car is running fine with the new alternator i purchased. 3 weeks later after letting the car idle for 10 minutes and taking it around the city a few times daily with no noticable problems other than the car farts around if i dont warm it up for a few minutes and spedometer and fuel gauges arent accurate. I try starting the car last night and the battery just dies. I recharge the the battery and its running again. Could this be a wiring problem? (the wires smoked a little when i connected the battery orginally without the alternater being plugged in0) Or maybe a choke cable problem (I dont have choke cables connected so i pump the gas =). Or could the alternator be defected or maybe the supplied me with the wrong year by accident? Here are some photos of the alternator set up AND AND THIS WAS CONNECTED TO THE OLD ALTERNATOR. not sure what it is, but it was connected to the car wiring and alternator. Told the mechanic about it and he said it wasn't needed with the new alternator. Car idles at 700 if that info helps. Thanks for your time, hope I can fix'er up soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumo Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 It's not uncommon to get bad rebuilds from auto parts store. I had to change an alternator on my 78 Trans Am four times till i got one that lasted more than a year. Same thing with starters i took three off before i got a good one that wouldnt bind after heating up. Just fix the simplest thing which is change the alternator and they can test it on the bench. If it's not the alternator then you can move from there. good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flames_187 Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 yeah also make sure u keep that receipt handy...i learned my lesson when i got a bad starter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loy Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 what voltage are you getting at the battery when car is running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juarez88 Posted August 23, 2006 Author Share Posted August 23, 2006 ok so i took my alternator out and went to autozone and got it tested and it passed. this is the voltage my car's running at the voltage gauge may be broken because the fuel meter says im on empty fuel but i have a little over half a tank left (gauge goes up and down when driving). car starts up fine, appears to idle fine, the only unusual thing i have noticed is that when i revved it up on neutral over 2k rpms, it started idling at 1600rpm until i switched into gears and drove (then it went down to 500-700 rpms). Any other reason why my battery is being drained? - wires might be bad? (thatp possible?) - what about my voltage regulator? - finally, maybe this thing might have something to do with it, it was connected to cars alternator before i replaced it. hmmmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loy Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 The cap is there just to filter out noise. Umm Try testing the voltage with a seperate voltage meter. Some wires could have been messed up.. who knows... gotta check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleaf Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 That gauge you pictured is NOT a volt meter.. It is an amprage meter. Use a DVM or DMM to check your voltage directly at the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 On any car I have owned that had electrical problems, they could almost always be traced back to the ground wire(s). This may or may not be a problem for you, but you must have good clean battery cables and the ground must be to your chassis and your motor. Sometimes all the other ancillary problems are caused by something as painfully simple as this. Who knows, it may be worth a shot? Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatMan Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 I have to watch my car because it's glove box lid comes out enough (although staying closed) and lets the light inside turn on. Also, if your clock is still getting current it may be putting a drain on the battery. I have had to replace my battery twice so far. The first was a NAPA battery that lasted 2 weeks. You might just have a crappy battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumo Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 by any chance do you have an aftermarket radio hooked up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleaf Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 Turn everything off in the car and put your DMM in series between your batttery and the positive cable. That will show you how much draw you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juarez88 Posted August 27, 2006 Author Share Posted August 27, 2006 I took the voltage regulator back and they gave me a larger one (the guy said he didnt know why they gave me the smaller one, but didnt say if that was a bad thing or not), and he exchanged it for a heavy duty looking one. Since then the car's been starting up well and idling well for about 20 minutes each day since Thursday. But I guess I'm so sure if thats just a temperary thing like some people mentioned about their batteries dying after a couple of weeks. My negative battery cable connected to the chasis has been cut but wrapped around with electric tape and is also connected to the engine. They don't look like they're in the best shape, so hopefully that might be the problem. I'll replace all the battery cables soon. But I would like to know this, can bad battery cables lead to battery drainage? Also. I did have an aftermarket radio hooked up, but i took it out, disconnected the cables and threw it away (it was in bad shape). I'll ask my friend who's an electrician for housing projects to help me out with the DMM. how much draw should i have? Thanks for all the feedback and help/suggestions guys, I really appreciate all of it. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleaf Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 As long as you have no aftermarket electronics hooked up, you should have no draw. Except for maybe the clock. Radios will usually also have slight draw. If you drive it at least once a week, a small draw is ok. I would say nothing over 30ma or so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumo Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 The aftermarket radio if hooked up to be constantly on will draw that much power but since you took it out make sure the power wires are capped and taped away properly. The ammeter gauge has a small draw too but not enough to do what you described. If you want you can disconnect the ammeter and just connect the two wires together instead of it going through the gauge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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