JPaganel Posted July 1, 2003 Report Share Posted July 1, 2003 I haven't been around in a long time. My Cutlass has been parked and I have had no time to work on it, so I drove an Astro instead. This Friday the Astro was stolen, so the Cutlass is back! I seem to have some kind of an electrical leak somewhere. In cold weather it drains the battery overnight, in warm it takes a couple of days. I know it will take me months to find this, so I was thinking of adding a second battery. My question is, how do I do that? As I see it, these are my options: 1. Wire the battery directly in parallel to the stock one 2. Get a high-amp relay and wire it to be on when running/off when stopped with a switch to connect it for starting 3. Get a battery isolator and hook it up per instructions. There are several kinds, some say they are for emergency starting, but they are pretty expensive. What am I missing? What are the downsides? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slade901 Posted July 2, 2003 Report Share Posted July 2, 2003 It seems that there is a huge current drain in your system. The draint in your electrical system is going to cause your alternator to work more harder because of that short. I'd say disconnect your battery terminal when the car is not in use. If your battery terminal is screw type then get that battery ratchet to connect/remove it from the battery. If your battery terminal is the clamp type then you can get a battery terminal puller (it looks like a miniature jaw puller used when removing a tie rod) or you can purchase an inexpensive quick disconnect on the battery terminals. I'd say find which component that is draining the battery. Just find out first which circuit that is draining excessive amount of current. Get a 12v electrical tester which has a bulb in it and you connect it by removing the positive cable from the positive terminal and connect that tester in between. The tester will light up if there is a current drain. The tester will just blink if the drain is minimal like stereo or clock or car alarm. Disconnect the alternator connector first. While the tester is in place, it should be lit up because of the huge drain, gradually remove the fuses until the light on the tester turns off. If that fuse is something that is not really need for the car operation (like interior lights) then leave that fuse out until you got a chance to trace final circuit that is draining too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomshado Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 whatever you do, do it fast. a low battery charge will cause the alternator to work overtime to draw up the voltage in it, and anyone who has a W-body will tell you that these cars eat alternators like women on chocolates, or old people on Geritol. Alternators aren't cheap either. Just a clue, alternators give very little warning before they go out, but if they do, watch the lights. If the lights (any of them interior, head, dash etc.) start to flicker you're almost out of time, and when that alternator goes you're screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baddflash Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 Yeah my alt just died like no warning at all. And what a pain that turned into I ended up pushing the car 3 blocks cause there was no way off the road and there was no way to push it over the curb. Don't run a weak battery, it will kill your alt which is atleast twice a expensive as a new battery. When I replaced the alt I put in new batt and I got the biggest one I could fit I believe it's like 1100 CCA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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