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.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:
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.......................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
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
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.
100 km ph ?logic-ali said:bought it for $2000 and drove it home 80 miles that day.. i went 100 the whole way no 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
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.
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)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.