something is draining my battery / Ignition Switch question

[Sinister]

First I believe its the aftermarket alarm system, remote power lock with kill switch, some time I cant start the car without press the unlock button on the remote , One time the alarm went off and I have to unplug the cable to the siren . I think from that day my battery start to drain alot faster. Will disconnect wires from the siren cause it to drain my battery ?

other then that, I dont know what else could drain my battery over night, or its just a bad battery.

I think I will take it to a local reputation car electric shop, and ask them to remove that POS alarm system + the kill switch, but leave the remove door lock alone , I like that remove power lock thing . But first I need some opinion on what cause my battery to drain over night or instant after car is shut off.

will bad Ignition Switch cause my battery to drain ?

my mechanic told me I will need a new ignition switch soon, should I stick with 50restore brand or BWD auto part brand ? and how hard its to replace.

[bob85gt]

easy way to tell if it is the battery, is to pull the negative cable off. if battery stays charged overnight, need to look elsewhere.

this is a lot easier if you have a voltmeter. do you have one? also is this a 1g charging system?

I have gone through several (4) external regulators that will drain the battery overnight.(over the 29 years that I have had this car)


a bad switch can cause lots of weird troubles.

the ignition switch has a habit of coming apart. need to pull the covers off the column and look at the switch. you will see a gap in the switch if it is coming apart.
not hard to replace , but I needed to put slots in the screws that hold the switch , to remove it. I put in a BWD but that was only 3 years ago.

[Sinister]

easy way to tell if it is the battery, is to pull the negative cable off. if battery stays charged overnight, need to look elsewhere.

this is a lot easier if you have a voltmeter. do you have one? also is this a 1g charging system?

I have gone through several (4) external regulators that will drain the battery overnight.(over the 29 years that I have had this car)


a bad switch can cause lots of weird troubles.

the ignition switch has a habit of coming apart. need to pull the covers off the column and look at the switch. you will see a gap in the switch if it is coming apart.
not hard to replace , but I needed to put slots in the screws that hold the switch , to remove it. I put in a BWD but that was only 3 years ago.

Thanks, I think my battery was bad , and its not holding charging, I bought brand new battery and seem like it holding really well.

I will remove the cover off the columm this weekend to check on it, im gone ahead and order a BWD one from advance auto part.

[STANGDUDE]

Another thing to check is your starter, these cheep aftermarket starters have a habit of failing after 5 to 6 months then draining your battery. l went threw a few of them before switching to a 96 style mini torquer, that was five years ago and still going strong...

[Sinister]

Another thing to check is your starter, these cheep aftermarket starters have a habit of failing after 5 to 6 months then draining your battery. l went threw a few of them before switching to a 96 style mini torquer, that was five years ago and still going strong...

My starter keep spining for 1-2 second after the car is running, is this the bad sign ? where do you buy your mini torquer 96 starter ? will it bolt right in our four eyes, without any mod ?

[STANGDUDE]

Yes it will bolt right in, the hard part is getting the old full size starter out. Then its easy peezy, you just have to run a new 8 or 10 Gage wire from the starter to the right side of the starter solenoid. Ask any Starter shop about the wiring if your not sure, same thing about the run on...

[84specialed]

The starter running for a second or two after the engine is running sounds like a bad ignition switch or a sticking starter solenoid. Or could be a bad bendix in the starter keeping the drive gear on the flywheel longer than it should be. What kind of sound is it? Grinding? Or sounds like the starter motor is just free spinning?

[Sinister]

The starter running for a second or two after the engine is running sounds like a bad ignition switch or a sticking starter solenoid. Or could be a bad bendix in the starter keeping the drive gear on the flywheel longer than it should be. What kind of sound is it? Grinding? Or sounds like the starter motor is just free spinning?

more like free spinning, my mechanic told me I need a new ignition switch soon, I dint know he was referd about the starter, until STANGDUDE mention it.

[84GT350CONV]

I'm leaning towards a sticky Bendix drive on your starter. Definitely do not buy a rebuilt starter from your local auto parts store. They maybe will last one year. On an old issue of Power Block T.V. they showed how to rebuild your starter with a kit. This sounds ideal if your car is to be stock as possible.

[Sinister]

I'm leaning towards a sticky Bendix drive on your starter. Definitely do not buy a rebuilt starter from your local auto parts store. They maybe will last one year. On an old issue of Power Block T.V. they showed how to rebuild your starter with a kit. This sounds ideal if your car is to be stock as possible.

I rather buy a good quality direct fit replacement with warranty, then myself rebuild a currently one . What a good direct fit replacement starter for my 85 gt. I wont replace the starter for now, until it getting worse, but I like the idea to know the part ahead of time.

[Sinister]

btw, how to take off the steering cover to install the ignition switch ?

[jsfrv6]

Generally if theres a draw on the system you will get a slight sparking when you disconnect a battery cable. If that is the case, try removing one fuse at the fuse box at a time until the are no sparks when removing the cable...The cicuit you just isolated will be your culprit... Just be carefully with sparks around the battery...

[JACook]

Intentionally creating sparks around a car battery is probably not something I'd recommend others to do.
Better (and safer) to insert a test light between the battery cable and battery post, then pull fuses until
the light goes out. If you get a dim glow on the light, it's probably not enough draw to worry about, but
if the bulb lights up when everything is off, it's a problem. Do make sure your doors are closed, and if
you have an underhood light, remove the bulb while you're testing.

[Sinister]

Forgot to update : Its bad battery, oreilly Super Start is POS, dead under 1 year, and they would not honor the warranty, keep telling me the battery is good, brought in 2 time, they charge it to full, take off the charger, and it drain itself , they say its good battery. I say F them, and use that POS for core for motorcraft battery.

My car dont have battery problem since new battery in.

I still connect the battery tender every time Im done driving, and after 1 min it show full charger, not like oreilly super start take 24 hours to fully charger, and if I disconnect and reconnect , it will take another 12-24 hours for full charger again.