Dead battery

================================== Does it even have antilock brakes? Missing fuses should help your problem :) Anywho, a common problem on those cars is the door switches stick so the dome light wont go off. Check that out. If it is doing that all you have to do is lube the crap out of the door latches( the switch is in there), they like to get dirty and sticky. Also, it might have a small delay on the lamp(10 secounds or so I think) when you close the door so dont let that fool you.

How much is "normal"? I have already removed the lights in the trunk, under the hood, in the glove box, dome. no lights stay on.

Could it be the alternator? It charges just fine at 14 volts.

the alternator will draw juice out of the battery if the diodes are bad in the alternator.... evenif it charges fine when the engine runs..... as soon as you shut it off the battery drains......

Checked the drain w/ammeter. 4.7 amps. Unhooked the Alternator and the draw is still there. Probably should start pulling fuses huh.

============================== YES! that is a huge drain.

Well pulled out each fuse one at a time and after going through all of them. No change. Unhooked + cable from starter. No change. Unhooked all the wires from the alternator. No change. I even unhooked the distribition box, no difference. Still 4.7 amp draw. I checked it with + battery cable unhooked from the battery and an Ammeter connected between the terminal and the + cable.

Could someone help me?

How many amps draw is concidered normal with the ignition off?

|Well pulled out each fuse one at a time and after going through all of them. |No change. Unhooked + cable from starter. No change. Unhooked all the wires |from the alternator. No change. I even unhooked the distribition box, no |difference. Still 4.7 amp draw. I checked it with + battery cable unhooked |from the battery and an Ammeter connected between the terminal and the + |cable. | |Could someone help me? | |How many amps draw is concidered normal with the ignition off?

50 _milliamperes_

Lg

I turned on the lights while measuring the amps. Still no change. So either my ammeter is bad or 4.7 amps is all that it will measure.

|I turned on the lights while measuring the amps. Still no change. So either |my ammeter is bad or 4.7 amps is all that it will measure.

hmmmm.

Your battery is maybe 520 CCA, 40 Ampere Hours. If you're pulling 4.7 amperes without the engine running, your battery WILL be dead in 40/;4.7 = < 1 hour.

Once it is dead, there is no bringing it back to life if the plates have sulfided.

I would move on to another ammeter if I were you.

Lg

|I turned on the lights while measuring the amps. Still no change. So either |my ammeter is bad or 4.7 amps is all that it will measure.

oops

Your battery is maybe 520 CCA, 40 Ampere Hours. If you're pulling 4.7 amperes without the engine running, your battery WILL be dead in 40/4.7 = 8.5 hours

anyhow, long story short, a lot depends on the temperature of the battery. 520 CCA and 40 AH is applicable for Zero degrees, IIRC.

warmer than that, battery will have more Cold Cranking Amperes.

I don't know if your ammeter is good or not. To test it, try it on a flashlight or something -else-.

Let us know what happens.

Lg

I connected the ammeter in series between flashlight bulb and batteries. Couldn't get any kind of reading. it measured volts but no amps. Probably a bad voltmeter I suppose.

|I connected the ammeter in series between flashlight bulb and batteries. |Couldn't get any kind of reading. it measured volts but no amps. Probably a |bad voltmeter I suppose.

hmmmm a typical flashlight is probably about 700 milliamperes or so, IOW,

0.7 amperes

I don't understand what could be taking 4.7 amperes from your battery if nothing is turned on. That would be a short circuit of some kind?

12 volts, 4.7 amperes, using ohm's law Power ( watts ) = volts times amperes that would be 12x4.7 or 56 watts. What would be drawing 56 watts?

a trunk light or something similar would be a small fraction of that. You know, a 56 watt drain, is like a 60 watt bulb you would use in a house lamp. Pretty strong light. So rule out a trunk light or similar.

Now I would believe a blower motor for your heater might draw 56 watts. That I would believe.

Why don't you find the fuse for the heater blower motor and pull the fuse and see if the drain goes away.

Lg

================================ Sounds like your meter is junk first of all. A light bulb will draw about an amp at least, of course it depends on the lamp, a blower can pull 20 EASY on high. Your first step better be: make sure your test equipment is working correctly. You can also put a test light in series with the battery and cable(just like your meter was hooked up). If you have a draw it will light the lamp, a small but still battery killing draw will show a dim lamp. The bigger the draw the brighter it will be. Of course you cant test with a completely dead battery. Are you sure you just dont have a bad battery or something simple like a glove box, under hood, or trunk light stuck on? Or maybe even a cell phone charger gone haywire?GL

|Sounds like your meter is junk first of all. A light bulb will draw about an |amp at least, of course it depends on the lamp, a blower can pull 20 EASY on |high. Your first step better be: make sure your test equipment is working |correctly. You can also put a test light in series with the battery and |cable(just like your meter was hooked up). If you have a draw it will light |the lamp, a small but still battery killing draw will show a dim lamp. The |bigger the draw the brighter it will be. Of course you cant test with a |completely dead battery. Are you sure you just dont have a bad battery or |something simple like a glove box, under hood, or trunk light stuck on? Or |maybe even a cell phone charger gone haywire?GL

My procedure would be this:

put something ( like your lightbulb ) between batter + post and the cable to measure current draw.

With ignition off, and key removed, I would start pulling fuses 1 by

1, and then reinserting them, to find the -circuit- in which the problem resides.

this would include the fuses under the hood as well as the ones in the passenger compartment.

Once I narrowed it down to the -circuit-, it would be relatively easy to find the culprit.

First thing is to find the circuit with the problem. IMO.

Lg

Ok. I got a lightbulb and started pulling fuses out from under the hood.. When I pulled the a 40 amp labled Jct Blk. the light went out. What does that control? The interior fuse panel? The alternator was disconnected at the time.

Dave

|Ok. I got a lightbulb and started pulling fuses out from under the hood.. |When I pulled the a 40 amp labled Jct Blk. the light went out. What does |that control? The interior fuse panel? The alternator was disconnected at |the time. | |Dave

Good Job and Good Question

Sounds like junction box.

Why don't you try this then.

Start inside with the passenger compartment fuse box and do this procedure in that. See if you can isolate the passenger compartment fuse box down to 1 fuse that causes the light to go out.

Lg

===================== Yep, I agree with the Glickman