Hot wire

[rick]

I have a hot wire shut the car off and the battery goes dead how can I find the problem

[Pete in NH]

Hi,

Could you give us a little more detail on what's happening and what year car you working on. Is it the 69 in your photo?  Also, you might try pulling out fuses on the fuse block one at a time until the wiring no longer gets hot. But, again a little more information would go a long way in helping to understand the issue and give you some ideas.

[rick]

Yes it's a 69 charger I put all new wiring in it. There's not much to say,something it running the battery down when it's shut off some fuses stay hot right like the ciggerret lighter and dome light I confused any help would be great

[Baldwinvette77]

roughly how long does it take for the battery to die? what kind of accessories do you have in your car? and this could be a stupid question, but what kind of battery do you have?, its possible its too small for your cars electrical system, have seen this twice on bmw's, we charged the battery, ran the car for about an hour, shut it off and the battery was dead, simply couldnt hold the charge 

[rick]

No the car charges when running right battery I put after market gauges in it but it as a 100 amp alternator in it may be my amp in the truck ? But the light shuts off u think it could be a bad switch like dome light headlight or one of the old switches?

[Baldwinvette77]

Hmmm, well once again how long does the battery take to die? i remember once on my old vette the radio was zapping my battery even though it wasnt on after about 24 hours the battery was killed by it, i removed the radio and the problem stopped, so you have an amp in your trunk?this is going to be tedious, but you'll have to start tracing problems one by one, i'll start with your stereo, disconnect it (if you can) and your amp, and see if the battery still dies.

another thing that happened to another car of mine, the reverse lights were shorting out, and would ALWAYS come on, i simply disconnected them 3 years ago, and never bothered fixing them, it really could be anything, but hopefully this gives you a couple ideas, and that fuse idea is good too, just remove them one by one and see if the problem persists, again tedious, but worth the reward  

ohyeah, im not sure how "correct" your car is, but i'd make sure all the ajars are functioning right aswell, you could have a hood or trunk light stying on even with them closed

[gsniegow]

Last year I spent countless hours, even weeks, trying to track down a drain on my car as well.  Then someone asked if I was using a clamp on ammeter?  I was not.  So I went out and purchased one from Sears (http://www.sears.com/craftsman-digital-clamp-on-ammeter/p-03482369000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1)  I was able to find the drain that very same day.  Well, at least the source of the drain.  My issue turned out to be a very small corrosion on my alternator which ended up drawing current even when the car was not in use.  Long story short, I brought it to PowerMaster and they sorted it all out for me.

My point being though, if you don't have a clamp on ammeter either borrow one or purchase one.  Then when the car is sitting and the draw is taking place, you just keep clamping the meter around wires and looking for a draw.  With your stereo / amp being in question, that would be my starting point.

[PlainfieldCharger]

Get that Volt/ohm meter and start at the fuse block. Take the neg cable off, take the fuses out, put cable back on, measure each circut across the fuse terminals and see which circuts give power. Look at the ones that give power that shouldn't. 

[Pete in NH]

Hi,

A clamp on DC ammeter is a greatway to find problems like this one. One word of warning on your battery, don't let it keep being discharged down to dead. Automotive starting batteries are not made to do this too many times before you ruin the battery. Disconnect the negative cable and charge the battery back up with a charger. Keep the cable off until you find the problem unless your troubleshooting the problem. Another way to find the current draw is to disconnect things like your stereo one at a time and then touch the negative battery cable to the negative battery post if you see a small spark current is being drawn. Pull out fuses one at a time and disconnect things one at a time until you don't see that spark. Make sure you don't have any doors open or underhood lights on when you do this because they will also draw current. You want to find the sneak path not something that is normal. Good luck and let us know what you find.

[rick]

 Thank u all I'm on it,,,,,,

[Dmichels]

I do not think you have a dead short. This is a bulb or something that stays on. I would disconnect any extras before you start. Keep disconnection things till you find the drain. I had a bad diode in an alternator that drove me crazy for a few days
Dave