Over the past 3 weeks, I have been having the same intermitent problem. I am depleting all or nearly all of the voltage in the battery extremely quickly and the battery will no longer hold any charge. Sometimes it will spark and do this immediately upon making contact with the terminals. The last time, I had a brand new battery with 12.75 volts at install, I drove 5 miles with gauges all reading properly, shut it off, drove home with no problems. The next night, I turned the key to on, the gauges powered up, turned to start, nothing. Then the gauges no longer registered. Battery chargers (2), both shut down (safety feature) when trying to charge/jump the battery or even dirctly to the terminals. Starter checked at store today as good. Alternator not checked yet. Three batteries in two weeks (all new). Checked all wires today and all look good. No smoke or sparks when this randomly occurs other than at battery once. Any help/suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

You need some general troubleshooting. Even if nothing works right in your car,a battery will not go bad in 3 weeks.
First get a battery that you know is good.
Start the car and put your meter to the battery. When the engine is running you
should see approx. 14 volts. When you turn off the engine the meter should go down to
approx. 12.5 volts.
You say that the battery "sparks". Does this mean that something is turned on in the car,
or is it sparking because a "hot" cable is touching a ground, causing a "short".
Take a careful look at the battery cable that goes to the starter. Make sure it's not
chafed in it's clamps. Look for little melty
spots . Look at the big wire on the alternator too.
If you don't see anything obvious then we'll
get a little more physical. Start the motor,
and start grasping the wires in your hands
starting at the battery and working outward.
Be careful! What we're looking for is a hot
wire, temperature-wise. A shorting wire will get hot. Be ready to disconnect the battery
quickly if you find what you're looking for.
When you find it your shorting wire will be
noticeably hotter than other wires near it.
Also look under the dash. There's lots of power wires there also.
Auto wiring is really simple. The problem is
that you can't see it, because it goes from
here to there inside looms, under carpets,
through firewalls, etc.
I hope this helps.---Richard

A good way to troubleshoot a short like that would be to disconnect battery cables and hook up an ohmeter to the cables. Then one by one disconnect the fuses at the fusebox until the resistance goes up. This may not work if the short is before the fuse. If not, you can still keep the meter connected and move around the car checking connections/wires. Don't have a buddy to watch the meter for you? Get a roll of 16 gage speaker wire and pack it with you!



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Bruce L.

Pull the alternator & regulator and have them tested. A direct short would be obvious within a few minutes not a couple of days.

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I would definately replace the VR and check/replace alternator (both fairly cheap anyway)

Doesnt sound like something is using power because it shouldnt "kill" the battery (permanently) like it is..

just for s&g I would connect a test light in line with the positive bat cable to see if anything is completing the circuit..

keep us informed

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Mike Reeh
Gold #34
San Diego, CA

RESOLVED. I placed an amp meter between the positive post and the positive cable and began disconnecting everything in sight. Long story short, it appears to be the alternator. The test that is done at the parts stores only tests the voltage output, not the diode leakage. The "broken" alternator was drawing 4.7 amps just sitting there due to the charging or jumping from another vehicle. The replacement still drew .370 amps, or enough to kill the battery in 5-6 days. I contacted the EXIDE techline and found that they just recently began checking diode leakage whereas some remanufacturers include this with new or rebuilt parts. I am taking my multimeter to the store and checking all available alternators until I find a good one prior to install this time. Thanks for the help.

sixty9 you might want to try an AC Delco reman, they seem to be of better quality than the generics. i always like using products from companies are proud enough to put their name on the box.

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Philip Valentine
Lakeside, AZ
Team Chevelle Member #42 GOLD
philip@chevelles.com