If my Chevelle sits for 2 or 3 days the battery will be dead. I have a 71 SS Big Block with idiot light dash and auto console. I have replaced the voltage reg, the alternator, battery cables, starter, battery. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Michael

you need to run the old "where's the current draw" trick. Get a 12v test light, remove the neg bat terminal, and connect the light in SERIES with the neg cable, like this:

Bat neg terminal-----light----neg cable---cars ground

The light will glow because something is sucking power. How bright depends on how quickly the power is being sucked.

Now start disconnecting stuff, and look at the light each time. I'd pull the clk / ctsy / lighter fuse first, that should eliminate all your "always on" draws, then the alternator wires, then the rest of the fuses, msd box if you have one, maybe even the starter.

A clock or a modern stereo will draw a lil power all the time, shouldn't be enough to drain the battery, not even in a month of sundays. Nothing else in a 71 should draw any power at all.

When the light goes out, you found your problem.

I hooked up the light as described and the light barely glowed - I mean barely. I turned off my garage lights to see it better. Opened the door and the light came on very bright with the interior lights being energized. Closed the door and again it went to a very dim glow. I pulled the clk/csty/lighter fuse and the glow is gone. Put the fuse back in and the glow came back. I then unplugged my clock and the glow stayed. I do not have a radio - so that is eliminated. Do you think the current needed to create such a dim glow is enough to drain a battery that quickly? Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Michael

I just went through this,still not sure I fixed it?
I put a "new" dome lite housing, the chrome kind with the plastic cover.
What was going on is the people who made it, chromed the whole thing, then to insolate the for the lite bulb they just brushed a white paint around where the metal clips for the lite bulb comes through the housing.
Well the metal scratched the paint and created a small short with the chrome, turning the bulb on.
I have a master shut off switch so it took about a week to drane the battery.
I scraped the chrome off with an x-acto knife anywhere I thought it would contact the metal lite bulb clips. (my test lite went off)
If that doesnt fix it I will look at the door switches, thats something you could check.
Hope this helps?
T.C.

Do you think the current needed to create such a dim glow is enough to drain a battery that quickly? Any thoughts?
Thanks,
MichaelYes it is, even a very small glow will kill a battery in a few days or so. The current drain is going through the test lamp and whatever is draining which can be more current than the test lamp draws itself. Since the clk/csty/lighter circuit is the problem first eliminate the dome light. In the trunk there should be 2 wires with a plug off the rear harness that lead up to the dome light, (will be about on top of the drivers side rear wheelwell). Unplug it to see if the glow is gone. If not check the cig lighter, it may be corroded and have a soft short (a soft short of this type is drawing power but not enough to blow the fuse) Do these tests and post back.

Thanks for the help. I unplugged the dome light and still have the glow. Next, I unplugged the lighter (unplugged the connecting wires from the rear) and still have the glow. So, that eliminates the clock, lighter and dome light. I also removed the horn relay and found it to be corroded on the inside. I replaced it with a spare that I had and this also did nothing to remove the glow. Thanks for your time, any other ideas will be very welcomed.

I may be on to something now. When connecting the battery, I could hear a relay engaging. I found this relay under the dash pad right behind the glove box. There are two relays mounted there together - one part number 3996204 with 2 lt blue, 2 pink, and one lt brown wire and the other part number 3996203 with 1 pink, 1 lt blue and 1 orange wire. The # 3996203 is the one engaging - once I disconnected this relay the glow is no longer present on my test light. Now can anyone tell me what these relays are for? Particularly the one draining my battery. Thanks again for all of the help and maybe this information can help others. Michael