I have a new battery (replaced because old one was alway dead. Now this one has been going dead. I used a voltmeter to test with key off. I took off the positive cable, connected red end of volt meter to battery and black to cable - needle spike all the way to right. I disconnected the plug in to my alternator and spike went down to barely registering. I then reconnected cable to battery and then put volt meter into positive end of alternater cable and touched a ground and it spiked again. New battery is also sweating acid all over. How do I fix this issue?

Yr of car???????????????

I have a new battery (replaced because old one was alway dead. Now this one has been going dead. I used a voltmeter to test with key off. I took off the positive cable, connected red end of volt meter to battery and black to cable - needle spike all the way to right. I disconnected the plug in to my alternator and spike went down to barely registering.
Most likely the diodes are bad in the alternator, which would cause the current draw. Here is another way of testing.

To test for the drain, disconnect any clocks and radio with memory, with the car off and everything turned off. disconnect a battery cable and connect a test light inline between the cable and the battery, with a drain the light will be lit. You need to make the light go out to find the drain. Disconnect things one at a time till the light goes out. First disconnect the alternator and voltage regulator plug, then fuses at the fuse box.
I then reconnected cable to battery and then put volt meter into positive end of alternater cable and touched a ground and it spiked again. It supposed to, the alternator BAT stud is always hot.


New battery is also sweating acid all over. How do I fix this issue? This is caused by high charging voltage, which is overcharging the battery. Test the voltage, at the battery, with the car running at a fast idle, should be 14-14.5 volts or so. You are probably getting 16+ volts, which would cause battery boiling. Do you have the original externally regulated charging system?

The car is a 67' I have had the alternater tested - OK. I'm not sure if that would ck for a bad diode, but it functions properly. New starter, new battery - old one fried. New voltage regulator. My blue wire from the # 1 slot on my voltage regulator is hot all the time. The white one from the #2 slot on the regulator is not hot when the key is off. this seems reversed from what I have read here on other searches. Unless for some reason the wires change colors under all that tape. I have pulled all my fuses one at a time - no effect on volt meter. Must be somewhere in alternater/regulater hook-up. Help!!!! On battery sweating thing how do I fix that as well?

if its the original alt. try a new regulator.The field current relay sometimes sticks causing a short to ground. Could also explain hegh charging voltage.

Yup,a bad external mechanical type regulator with stuck/burned contacts could cause this to happen.

Replace the regulator before you ruin another battery from over charging it.

Scott