Electrical Problem - Battery Being Drained

[snpower]

Well I am really stumped.

Over the past two months I have undertaken a dash panel replacement project.

Getting the new dash in wasn't fun. When I was done I discovered that the battery was DEAD. After jumping the car the SI board needed to be replaced (valuable lesson learned).

My battery still looses it's charge after a day or so. I have confirmed that the voltage regulator and alternator are working per Bentleys. Tonight I pulled all fuses out of the fuse box but there is still a negative draw shown on my meter when I connect it to ground and the neg. battery terminal (with the battery cable removed).

I'm stumped; not sure where else to check for the draw.

[cjbbaines1]

First go to oreilly's and buy this cool battery and alternator tester for $10.00. The tester is grey with colored bulbs in it. It show the voltage to your batt. and alt. The ground wire has a clip, and the possitive has a pointed probe. Start car then hook up tester. Turn tester over so you can see the lights from inside the car. Then take your right hand and stick it under the right side of the cluster to touch the right side wire harness. Move each wire slightly to see if you see any change in the lights on the tester. Oh yeah make sure you have a full tank of gas, since the car will be running. Wouldn't hurt to have the battery fully charged too. Maybe it's a loose wire or the manual trouble shooter also say's that a blown charge light in the cluster might be blown. If it's blown I would suggest to replace them all since you have the cluster out if you have to do that. Holla back to let me know how this works.


CJB

[snpower]

That is a great tool and I will have to pick one up.

I ended up hauling the battery out and had it bench tested; it was starting to go bad so I bought a new one and problem solved.

My electrical troubleshooting is sort of erratic; I need to come up with some flow charts or something to help better direct my efforts.

Thanks again for the great tip.