Chasing electrical drain?

[87gtVIC]

The NSS is loacted on the transmission, drivers side mid way. Its closed (allowing voltage) in the Neutral and park position.

Im just thinking you have poor contacts between battery, fender mounted solenoid and starter based off of your descriptions.

[LeviMM]

Thanks. Yeah, it's time to replace my negative cable. Also I noticed the spark was gone after connecting the positive once I realigned the starter solenoid connections and also adjusting my negative cable a little.

[EaOutlaw1969]

You should really never disconnect the positive battery cable first or connect the positive cable last when putting you cables on.

First and foremost if you accidentally touch the tool your using to a ground the tool could get welded to the ground and cause an electrical fire.

The wrench that will be in your hand will immediately get red hot and burn the crap out of you and worst of all if you have a vented battery the hydrogen gas that gets released from the battery could cause a explosion which could send sulfuric acid all over you, your car and anyone else near you.

Please understand that 12 volt battery can be dangerous and should be respected.

[LeviMM]

Thanks for the safety tip EaOutlaw. I'll keep what you said in mind. So I'm back to square one of searching out this battery drain. How would I know if my battery is bad? I have taken it to both Advance and Autozone and they both have reported it as a good battery. I recently bought it towards the end of last year. And I remember having the same drain problem with my last battery. I have a multimeter, but I am very unfamiliar with how it works. I'm thinking of letting the local shop near me take a stab at it. They seem to have knowledgeable mechanics.

[EaOutlaw1969]

If your battery is a non sealed battery where you can remove the caps and inspect the acid level ( The acid level should be atleast just over the cells ) you can use a battery hydrometer which is a cheap tool to check the the condition of each cell. Keep in mind the acid level should not be too high or acid will leak out of your battery and corrode your connections and battery tray and other parts.

If you have a sealed battery you have to use some sort of electronic test device to test the battery, in cases with a sealed battery a battery load tester is one way to know if your fully charged battery recovers properly after a load has been applied.

https://www.amazon.com/OTC-3180-Batt...ry+load+tester

https://www.amazon.com/K-Tool-Intern...ery+hydrometer

If you do not own a battery charger you should buy one, I purchased this one because is can charge many types of batterys and as a bonus is will check the charging system yet your multimeter will do that also.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You need to make sure you are starting with a completley charged and tested battery.

Then you can use your multimeter to test for a drain on the battery, each year make and model car has its own test procedures because of different options that may effect the test procedures.

Things like automatic dome lights, computers, keep alive memory on radios etc all will effect the test procedures, to know the exact test procedures for your car that would need to be looked up in a factory service manual for your car ( perhaps someone has this for your car and can post the procedures )

All this being said this video and others like it can help you get an idea of what you need to do to test your car.

https://youtu.be/zdIKNnwEjIs

[VicCrownVic]

...
https://www.amazon.com/K-Tool-Intern...ery+hydrometer

If you do not own a battery charger you should buy one, I purchased this one because is can charge many types of batterys and as a bonus is will check the charging system yet your multimeter will do that also.

https://www.amazon.com/K-Tool-Intern...ery+hydrometer
...

D'oh, battery charger link is the hydrometer link. I've done that more than a few times.

[EaOutlaw1969]

D'oh, battery charger link is the hydrometer link. I've done that more than a few times.

Yeah my Dad came on Skype and I didnt have time to proof read my post, I fixed it.

Thanks for pointing it out.