[jarrettandroski]

heres whats going on i went to start my trans am one day and the battery was dead, put a new battery in and it started just fine thought nothing of it and drove around stopped somewhere and got stranded the batt was dead, i charged the batt started it up and pulled the positive off it kept running so i think the alternators good, i even took the alternator off and had it checked at 2 stores locally and it checked out fine, but now if i put a battery in thats fully charged just hooking it up to the car it goes dead within like 1 min even if i dont turn anything on, just by hooking up the cables it sucks everything out of the battery, i replaced all the postive wires and ends, i know that something is drawing but i just dont know where else to look, could it be something with the 2 ground wires off the battery?

[zildjian4life218]

What I would do is hook an Amp meter in line (series) with either the pos or neg terminal. Make sure you switch the terminal to the highest amp setting(probably 10amp or so) on the meter then start pulling fuses one by one until the current goes down. Make sure the key is off any you replace each fuse as you go. Then when you find out what circuit it is on you can narrow it down from there.

[27 t]

If you don't have a amp meter you can use a test light old style not the new led those lights can light up with a m/v draw. The cheap ones work the best.. Remove neg post put one side of the test light to Post the other to their terminal if the light is bright you have a draw on the battery than it's all about the proses of elimination. Do you have a trunk light or under hood light if so ck them first...

[27 t]

goes dead within like 1 min
All though thats a very short amount of time... Did you mean to say 1hr....

[cobalt327]

X2- going dead that fast would have the cable arcing like a welder when you hooked the battery up.

You have a draw, of that there's little or no doubt.

To find what circuit its from, disconnect fuses one at a time until the test light (run between the battery negative terminal and ground w/the cable disconnected) either goes out or dims considerably. It might not go out altogether because there are draws like the radio/clock, the ECM (if you still have it) that will draw a small amount w/the key off.

Once you know what circuit is causing the draw, track it down from there.

[vicrod]

Battery goes dead in 1 minuet?

Be SAFE and do not connect the battery until you find the problem. The battery will explode because of the gasses given off by the rapid discharge and arc.
Follow the above testing using a light. If you have ammeter capable of 1000 amps you could use it but start with a light.

See www.aa1car.com

[OLNOLAN]

Hey Man, How is the bird running? I remember when you were trying to get it right. Still doing body work? You got something big dead shorted if it's running the battery dead in one minute, look for wires melted somewhere and if you picked up a supposedly good battery it could have shorted plates. Lets see some pictures of the Bird, maybe a burnout video. olnolan

[T-bucket23]

If it is drawing that much you will pop the bulb in a test light or ruin a meter that can only take 10 amps. If you meant an hour, I once had a car that the rear window defroster was stuck on and it would kill the battery in an hour.
if you have access to a wrap around amp meter, use it and disconnect fuses one at a time until the draw goes away

[cobalt327]

Originally Posted by cobalt327

X2- going dead that fast would have the cable arcing like a welder when you hooked the battery up.

You have a draw, of that there's little or no doubt.

To find what circuit its from, disconnect fuses one at a time until the test light (run between the battery negative terminal and ground w/the cable disconnected) either goes out or dims considerably. It might not go out altogether because there are draws like the radio/clock, the ECM (if you still have it) that will draw a small amount w/the key off.

Once you know what circuit is causing the draw, track it down from there.

I should have said that my recommendation was based on there NOT being a draw so bad that the battery went down in one minute. I'm thinking this was a typo. If not, don't reconnect the battery, use a meter to find the dead short.

[crownver]

You are sure it's the battery and not a dud starter that needs absolutely full voltage to run? Did you actually check the battery for charge?

[jarrettandroski]

thanks for the answers ill check it out today i got the day off, the car is running great besides that, the battery goes dead in like a hour i meant not a minute, i know the starter isnt bad because if i put a charged battery in it will start right up till i turn it off then its dead too hah, the battery does arc when i connect it but nothing like a welder. it does have arear window defroster i should check that!


http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1269257215482

heres a video of her taking off no brake just throttle,

[randolphi]

the starter solenoid internal relay contacts, with age, will become saturated with copper "dust" from normal use over long periods of time, and If thick enough inside the solenoid becomes a "discharging resistor film" which will run the battery down, also the starter motor may work fine when "cold" but need "triple current" when hot --also encountered sometimes - new battery posts were "hit with a hammer when installing clamps" this ruins batteries immediatly on the "first" installation-

[jarrettandroski]

it was the starter solenoid, like randolphi said strange i woulda never have guessed now its back running reliably