JIMMYDRIVER1

as the title implies, my battery is draining. If it sits for more than a day it almost won't start. It has a new battery. I'm going to get the charging system checked soon. What else could it be and how do I figure it out?

canucklehead

Dome light on, but bulb burnt out? You can put a test light between the neg post and the neg batt cable to see if you have a draw...but that wont narrow it down at all. On that van, something must be on.....

kevinkpk

If you have a volt meter, attach it to the battery, remove fuses individually, if the voltage stop's, you've found the circuit.

JIMMYDRIVER1

Thanks guys. I stopped at Autozone today and had the battery tested. I bought it there 10 months ago and it tested bad. I will take tools tomorrow and change it out.

canucklehead

While the tools are out, clean up the cables and have a look at the ground strap.....corrosion not your friend....lol.

JIMMYDRIVER1

new battery. Still draining.

kevinkpk

See post #3

JIMMYDRIVER1

Thanks Kevin. What I have heard is to remove one battery cable and put a volt meter in between and pull fuses until the voltage shuts down. I know that the clock in the radio pulls juice but it can't pull that much. I'm wondering if the voltage regulator is draining it. I keep a battery cable wrench in the van so it's easy to disconnect it. Saturday a co worker is going to fix the tranny so I might fiddle with it while he has it.

JIMMYDRIVER1

I got my van back from a co worker who fixed the tranny. He knew that I have had several calamities in my life the last 14 months and he wanted to do something to help out a fellow man. Did I mention he used to rebuild trannies for a living and he did mine for free? Well anyway, I drive it a few days and notice it is doing a couple of the same things it was doing before the tranny job. running rough, bucking, sluggish, etc but far worse since the weather got frigid. It's acting like it has a misfire problem like our Blazer was doing right before thanksgiving. A new spark plug fixed that. So now I have new plugs, wires, cap & rotor in hand and 40 degree weather coming in a few days. We do know for a fact that the tranny was going bad by looking at the clutch plates. Since this is a conversion van I hope I can find out what is draining the battery. It might be worth taking the alternator out and having it tested.

JIMMYDRIVER1

Finally got around to messing with this problem. I did what you suggested but with a test light. It stayed lit the entire time. I pulled every fuse and unplugged everything from the fuse block. Problem is I need a schematic to show me where to plug everything back in. I'm wondering if there is a horn relay that might be messed up. It honked a few times by itself when the weather was really cold. There is a small black box underneath the driver's seat I have no idea what it is. Very frustrated.