Electricity Leak

[Wayne Kever]

Got the '67 back after engine rebuild. Now the new Delco Freedom won't hold charge after couple of days. Charged it up again, then put an ammeter to it.

With the car shut off, I'm drawing 1.5 amps. So then I started pulling fuses. Not one of them made a difference. Are there some fuses besides the ones on the firewall above the driver's side vent?

So the question is, what unfused circuit in the car is drawing current all the time?

- Wayne

[Jim T.]

Re: Electricity Leak

Wayne what is your amp guage showing when the ignition is off? I have a 68 which has a external voltage regulator like your 67 but have not had a problem like this. It could be a sticking voltage regulator drawing current. Years ago back in my youth before alternators with internal voltage regulators I seem to remember sticking regulators causing problems. I don't know how current a sticking voltage regulator would draw though. I would trouble shoot the alternator and voltage regulator areas and see what could be found. Wish I could be more help.

[Wayne Kever]

Re: Electricity Leak

With the ignition off, it is drawing 1.5 amps. When I open the door to get to the fuses, the draw goes to 2.0 amps due to the interior light (only one, courtesy light bulbs are missing). Pulling fuses then causes no difference, other than dropping current back to 1.5 amps when the courtesy lamp fuse is pulled and the interior light goes out.

So you think maybe the regulator is exciting the alternator windings at all times? I thought the current to the regulator would be switched by the ignition switch. However, I am suspicious that something may not have been reassembled correctly.

- Wayne

[Jerry Clark]

Re: Electricity Leak

Hi Wayne:

There is a possibility it is your ignition switch.

jerry

[Gary S.]

Re: Electricity Leak

As Jerry said, this could be in the ignition switch. In addition, as I understand the circuit, your starter solenoid is always hot. Have you tried disconnectiong the large red wire going to your starter? The plug that connects into the back of the ignition switch is a very easy plug to remove. Try removing that to see if you can eliminate either of these sources. Gary 66 327 #21316

[Bill Clupper]

Re: Electricity Leak

There are three or four unfused areas of the car to investigate. I would investigate each by disconnecting the wires from each anc checking for change in the ammeter. The areas are; A) Horn relay B) Solenoid on starter C) Ignition switch D) Cigarette Lighter

there may be another, as I don't have a diagram in front of me, but I'd start with these. Another place to check is corrocion at the connections from the engine compartment to the dash, if wet, these can potentially create a leak path.

[Bob Dransman]

Re: Electricity Leak

Wayne,

I'm betting your answer will be in Bill's post. I've seen stuck horn relays with bad horns, and I've seen miswired horn relays draw current as you are experiencing.

As a long shot, don't overlook a battery that can't keep a charge combined with with an ammeter needle that's not zeroed. (In which case, you're not really drawing the 1.5 amps you think you are.) To test for this, completely shut the car off, loosen the battery cable on the end AWAY FROM THE BATTERY (so you don't blow yourself up), then look for a spark. At 1.5 amps, it should be a pretty nice light show!

By the way, when troubleshooting a problem like this, it's very easy to let the smoke out of one or more components on the car (alternator, wiring harness, etc.) once the smoke escapes, the unit won't work anymore until you take it to the shop and have new smoke put back into it :>). (Wish I could make those pretty little yellow smiley faces the other folks make.)

Good Luck,

Bob D.

[Robert C.]

Re: Electricity Leak

Wayne, Had the same problem with my 65. One night I went out to the garage and saw a dim glow behind my dash. One of the dash lights on the air cond. separate light circut was on. Check it at night!


NCRS-Texas Chapter

[Ed Jennings]

Re: Electricity Leak

My 67 had an alternator that apparently had an internal short. This is also an unfused circuit, I believe.

[Wayne W.]

Re: Electricity Leak

You said this occured after and engine rebuild. Believe it or not I see the small gauge ground wire to the starter put on wrong many times after engine removal. Check to make sure that the ground is actually hooked to ground and not to the hot solinoid terminal.

[Terry M.]

Re: Electricity Leak *TL*

Bob,

Yes we have to watch out for the escaping smoke. It usually leads to one of the dark suckers though. Unfortunately the dark suckers will not work once the smoke escapes.

The emoticon (smiley faces) code used to be in the FAQ part of the board. Check under that at the top of the page.

Terry

[Bill D.]

Re: Electricity Leak

If an engine rebuild is all you did, Ed and Wayne hit the most likely problems. Check the black ground wire at the starter. If it is on the solenoid battery post, move it to the starter to block attaching bolt. Internal alternator short can be checked by removing red 12v positive wire from back of alternator and check for draw. Good Luck, WB

[Wayne Kever]

Re: Electricity Leak

Thanks for all the hints. Will check it out when I get a chance.

Here's something else puzzling: When pulling the fuses, I also pulled the flasher can on the fuse panel to see if that was causing the problem. The current didn't change, but when I tried the signals after plugging the flasher back in, they didn't work. The hazards still work though. How can that be?

Second puzzler: The blower motor is not working.

Suspect all this is related. This morning I discovered that the regulator was way over-charging, something like 15.2 Volts. New regulator is in, but haven't checked to see if the pesky current draw is still there.

- Wayne

[Mark]

Re: Electricity Leak

Check the wiring at the starter. I had a similar problem, and the reason was the ground for the starter circuit (which should be connected to one of the starter mounting bolts) had been connected to the large terminal on the solinoid.

[Bill D.]

Ground Wire at Starter

Wayne,

Move the ground wire at the starter as we have mentioned. It is also the ground for the blower motor.

The flasher on the fuse box is for 4-way signal. The turn signal flasher is at the radio side panel on driver side, check there.

Good Luck, WB