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1970 impala...battery dies if i dont start it everyday.

16K views 79 replies 16 participants last post by  EOD Guy 
#1 ·
if i start and drive the car everyday there is no problem. two days sitting and poof batttery drained. its not the alternator. "someone" said it might be a short, how do i find a shortor any other of his little friends :thumbup:
 
#2 ·
Do you have any additions to the stock configuration..... stereo, amp, alarm, lights? Does it have courtesy lights in the trunk, under hood, glove box that might not be turning off due to the bracket holding the switch breaking or bending out of alignment.
 
#5 ·
you can try unhooking the battery after you park it. Then after 2 days if it is dead that would be a pretty good indication the battery has no reserve left (worn out) if the car still starts then something is draining the battery (acting like something left on) the glove box light or the trunk light could be the problem, or an aftermarket stereo that has developed a problem. The alternator could also cause this problem even though it charges the battery OK. :D
 
#6 ·
logic-ali said:
if i start and drive the car everyday there is no problem. two days sitting and poof batttery drained. its not the alternator. "someone" said it might be a short, how do i find a shortor any other of his little friends :thumbup:
Sounds like you've bought a real bomber. Front end is out of whack, needs new wheels, paint is wrong color, and the battery is worn out.

Can you drive it?

If so, next time you get it started, take it to Auto Zone or the equivalent and they will do a test on the battery condition for free. :D
 
#8 ·
logic-ali,

To find an electrical draw on the battery you will need to disconnect one terminal from the battery. Then connect one lead of a volt meter to the battery post and the other lead to the battery cable. If the meter reads negative volts reverse the leads. There should be zero voltage reading until you turn something on. If you have a reading and everything is off then there is a draw on the battery. So you want to think of accessories that would be on even with the key in the off position and disconnect them one at a time until you have a zero reading on the meter. Like brake lights, head lights, alarm system........

Happy Hunting
Scholman
Retired
 
#9 ·
scholman said:
logic-ali,

To find an electrical draw on the battery you will need to disconnect one terminal from the battery. Then connect one lead of a volt meter to the battery post and the other lead to the battery cable. If the meter reads negative volts reverse the leads. There should be zero voltage reading until you turn something on. If you have a reading and everything is off then there is a draw on the battery. So you want to think of accessories that would be on even with the key in the off position and disconnect them one at a time until you have a zero reading on the meter. Like brake lights, head lights, alarm system........

Happy Hunting
Scholman
Retired
If you don't have a volt meter you can remove the neg. cable and hold it in one hand and touch the post on the battery with the other.......................
v
v
v
v
v
JUST KIDDING. BE SAFE. :D
 
#10 ·
We have an Audi who´s battery discharged in the car over three days.
I took it out and charged it.

I installed my spare battery in the Audi.

Audi starts everytime no problem with my spare.

The original battery is still in my garage fully charged no loss.

Electricity.............. :evil: work.
 
#11 ·
im going to try this this weekend thanks

this dude knows his stuff thanks
scholman said:
logic-ali,

To find an electrical draw on the battery you will need to disconnect one terminal from the battery. Then connect one lead of a volt meter to the battery post and the other lead to the battery cable. If the meter reads negative volts reverse the leads. There should be zero voltage reading until you turn something on. If you have a reading and everything is off then there is a draw on the battery. So you want to think of accessories that would be on even with the key in the off position and disconnect them one at a time until you have a zero reading on the meter. Like brake lights, head lights, alarm system........

Happy Hunting
Scholman
Retired
 
#12 ·
yup it runs

bought it for $2000 and drove it home 80 miles that day.. i went 100 the whole way no problem.
sqzbox said:
Sounds like you've bought a real bomber. Front end is out of whack, needs new wheels, paint is wrong color, and the battery is worn out.

Can you drive it?

If so, next time you get it started, take it to Auto Zone or the equivalent and they will do a test on the battery condition for free. :D
 
#16 ·
i kind of found the problem

scholman said:
logic-ali,

To find an electrical draw on the battery you will need to disconnect one terminal from the battery. Then connect one lead of a volt meter to the battery post and the other lead to the battery cable. If the meter reads negative volts reverse the leads. There should be zero voltage reading until you turn something on. If you have a reading and everything is off then there is a draw on the battery. So you want to think of accessories that would be on even with the key in the off position and disconnect them one at a time until you have a zero reading on the meter. Like brake lights, head lights, alarm system........

Happy Hunting
Scholman
Retired


found my electrical draw. kind of? my alternator wiring

ok this is whats going on. my battery kept draining so i tested it with a volt tester and removed all the fuses to find the short.... it wasnt any of the fuses it was a wire connected to the positive battery cable. it goes straight to a harness on the side .(pictured above). from there it looks like it splits to a couple places . first the alternator which is wired wrong. from the harness on the side the live wire gets wrapped in tape with a green and yellow wire and pops up by the alternator. (also in picture) but the yellow and green are not connected to the alternator. the red live wire goes to the alternator then it goes back into its harness. the little wire harness on the alternator has a red and white wire.. white is not connected red to red live does anyone know why?????
my car will run and charge like this ? i checked it with a multimeter but there is a draw from this wire? is it coming from the alternator or something else connected to the harness?????

some one please help im confused and tired of asking for jump starts







 
#17 · (Edited)
that alternator is wired backwards. (it will charge like that. .and it will drain the battery, very quickly) in fact, if you feel the alternator when the car has been off for while, it will probably feel warm. and since the idiot light wire was left unconnected, you don't get the GEN light to tell you something is wrong.


that terminal where the brown wire is right now, that's the terminal that should be wired to the battery stud. it's no wonder it's draining your battery.

that terminal where the red wire is currently, that's the 'turn on' wire for the alternator, that's where the warning light should be connected (ignition-switched power source)

if you car doesn't have a built in generator lite, you can make one by using a 194 light bulb connected to ignition switched power and then connected to the brown wire in the alternator pigtail.

This is a pic I borrowed off the 'net some time ago shows the correct wiring of an internal regulator conversion alternator :)

basicly, the terminal nearest the battery stud, gets wired to the battery stud.
terminal #2 in this pic goes to the battery stud which is Terminal #1 and Terminal #3 goes to the warning light.
 
#20 ·
heres another pic




where can i run the number one wire to that would be easy!!!
i think mine runs from my horn relay, horn doesnt work.
is the number one wire doing the same thing as a remote wire on a stereo?
can i run the alternator to the acc. post on the fuse box..
some one help
 
#21 · (Edited)
that "green" wire (which is actully blue) and the yellow wire are throwbacks to when the car had an external voltage regulator mounted on the core support behind the driver's side headlight. someone obviously did a half-***** conversion.

in your pictures you have above, that red wire from the stud on the back to the connector is fine, it just needs to be moved to the other side of the connector. do this by sliding something very small inside the connector and pressing the locking tab down (there is a dedicated tool for this, but a jewelers screwdriver works well) and pull the connector out, lift the locking tab back into place, and re-insert it into the housing.

on the firewall, on the driver's side behind the headlight, should be the voltage regulator. .there should be a light brown wire in the 4 pin connector for the regulator.. that's the alternator warning light wire.. ( you can find out if it is by grounding it with a test light, you should get a GEN light on the dash, with the key ON) I'm assuming the impala is wired the same as the GM A-bodies (chevelle, monte carlo,cutlass) of the same year. if the regulator and connector are gone, find a light brown wire coming out of the bulk head connector, that turns the GEN light on when you ground it by a test light. (using the test light prevents anything nasty happening if you get the wrong wire) remember to have the key on tho.. unplug the small connector from the alternator and it won't wipe your battery out.



that brown wire should go to the light brown wire in your alternator pig tail.
even if you have a car with gauges, you will still have the GEN light as it's part of how the alternator functions :) (the gen light is ignition switched)

that's all you need to do.

fyi, yes, the #1 wire in that pic acts like a turn-on wire for an amp.. however, that #1 wire does more then that... when the alternator is not charging, it provides a path to ground for the #1 wire.. this is what turns the GEN light on. When the alternator is charging (engine running) it puts 12v on that wire which stops the GEN light from lighting.
 
#22 ·
If the horn doesn't work, you would never know if it's shorting out under the steering wheel. I had that problem in my truck and after clipping the wire (because the horn didn't work anyway) when I installed a new steering wheel and battery on the same day, the new battery drained in two days. I probably would never had figured it out on my own but after a lot of thought, went back and checked the horn wire and sure enough it was shorting out in the column. One thing that troubles me is you have two wires going to the HOT post on the alt. where there should only be one.
 
#23 ·
almost

kc8oye said:
that "green" wire (which is actully blue) and the yellow wire are throwbacks to when the car had an external voltage regulator mounted on the core support behind the driver's side headlight. someone obviously did a half-***** conversion.

in your pictures you have above, that red wire from the stud on the back to the connector is fine, it just needs to be moved to the other side of the connector. do this by sliding something very small inside the connector and pressing the locking tab down (there is a dedicated tool for this, but a jewelers screwdriver works well) and pull the connector out, lift the locking tab back into place, and re-insert it into the housing.

on the firewall, on the driver's side behind the headlight, should be the voltage regulator. .there should be a light brown wire in the 4 pin connector for the regulator.. that's the alternator warning light wire.. ( you can find out if it is by grounding it with a test light, you should get a GEN light on the dash, with the key ON) I'm assuming the impala is wired the same as the GM A-bodies (chevelle, monte carlo,cutlass) of the same year. if the regulator and connector are gone, find a light brown wire coming out of the bulk head connector, that turns the GEN light on when you ground it by a test light. (using the test light prevents anything nasty happening if you get the wrong wire) remember to have the key on tho.. unplug the small connector from the alternator and it won't wipe your battery out.



that brown wire should go to the light brown wire in your alternator pig tail.
even if you have a car with gauges, you will still have the GEN light as it's part of how the alternator functions :) (the gen light is ignition switched)

that's all you need to do.

fyi, yes, the #1 wire in that pic acts like a turn-on wire for an amp.. however, that #1 wire does more then that... when the alternator is not charging, it provides a path to ground for the #1 wire.. this is what turns the GEN light on. When the alternator is charging (engine running) it puts 12v on that wire which stops the GEN light from lighting.


-i numbered the wires
i tested all 4 of these wires number 4 was the only one that turned off with the igniton, no gen light turned on though, the right side of my dash is out... is that a fuse or bulb?
 
#25 · (Edited)
sqzbox said:
One thing that troubles me is you have two wires going to the HOT post on the alt. where there should only be one.
this is a non-issue. His car was originally an externally regulated alternator. It's been converted to an internal. Running a short jumper wire from the b+ std up to the connector on the side of the alternator is a common way to wire it. (it's not the best, but it gets the job done)

his problem with a discharging battery, lies in the fact that the alternator is wired backwards. the two wires in the plastic connector need to be switched around.

the terminal nearest the B+ post (#2 in my pic) needs to be connected to un-switched 12v. the other one (#3) needs to be connected to the warning light in the dash, and it's not.

if you look at the pic that was posted, the wire from #2, and the BATT Wire, both go to the same place, to be 100% acurate, it needs to be the main system junction block (the horn relay). but going straight from the B+ stud to the #2 terminal is electrically the same, but has other shortcomings that arent important to this discussion :)
 
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