Jack71

Experiencing a strong draw on my battery when car is no running. I put a light between the negative battery terminal and negative post and it lit up brighter than Xmas tree I still have to get rid off. (I had the door switches depressed, too)

The weird thing is when my tester touches the battery terminal, I'm hearing a quiet "bong" noise from what sounds like beneath the rear compartments. Its like a switch engaging or something. I'm going to run through the fuses next, but this sounded funny. Anybody know the cause?

I'm terrible with electric problems -- all of those wires are filled with smoke.

I'm also replacing the power steering, that control value is stubborn. I'm going to try and rig a puller onto it.

Two problems at once. At least I'm busy!

Thanks in advance,
Jack

BLT-71

Not sure but is it your alarm system. If you have a factory alarm.
Electrical is not my specialty either.

daily_driver

the noise below your rear compartment is prolly the alarm relays....

mayberg

My guess is for the seatbelt interlock sequence module. When I brought my '74 home I was constantly jumping it to get it started. With the help of a mechanic and the wiring diagram and a test light, we traced it to this harness that is behind the rear compartment bulkhead on the driver's side. Yes, even though the wires under the seats had been cut I still had an electrical draw.

We disconnected the harness and taped it off. A new battery, alternator and battery disconnect switch and I have had no battery trouble whatsoever.

Good luck in finding your electrical leak. GM

spiru

Does anyone know if the 78's had a factory alarm? I took my center console completely apart last week when I was replacing the shift cable and couldn't find an alarm. :cheers:

SmokedTires

74Jack, I had a problem before where I would charge my car up and be able to start & drive it around but when I put it away for the night, the battery was dead :confused: . I took it to a local Chevy dealer and they found that the altenator(s/p) was bad and therefore killing (drawing) the battery overnight. Works great ever since :) .

Jack71

Is testing draw from the alternator as simple as pulling the plug off it and whippin' out my test light again?

More problems, just tried removing my power steering control value and the damn thing is frozen on the relay rod. I've been soaking it but with no luck. It turned about a 1/4 turn, under alot of pressure, and seized up. Damn. Threads are probably shot if I do get it off. Looks like a new relay rod.

Jack71

The only reason the noise caught my attention was because I was looking for a draw & I didn't remember hearing anything in the past. I'm gonna splice an extra long wire onto my bubba test light and check the circuits directly at the fuse box tomorrow.

At least its cleaner than power steering :lol:

redfisher

I hate tracing electrical problems. Especially on vettes where the wiring is so inaccessible.

Just got done redoing my power steering though. I also had trouble getting my control valve off. You do know it's threaded onto the end of the relay arm? I had to take the whole relay arm off the car with the control valve still attached. I put the arm in a vise and used a big pipe wrench to unscrew the valve off the arm. I found out it's also a lot easier to put the new control valve on the arm with the arm in the vise.

redc3vette1

I HATE ELECTRICAL DRAWS I GOT THE SAME PROBLEM :cheers:

Corellian Corvette

Simple question -- have you checked the light in your center compartment? Those things are classic battery killers. If the compartment isn't closing and the light is staying on, you'd never see it and it would kill the battery. Just and idea.

Dalannex

Spiru, I am fairly sure the 78's all had alarm's. Look inside your driver side fender, above the vent on the side, and see if there is a horn in there. That would be the horn for the alarm. If you look where the pin for your t-tops goes in, stick a screwdriver in there, and the center should push back. That is another switch that activates the alarm. There will also be a switch that looks like an interior light switch on a door jamb, but it's on the back center of the hood, mounted to the firewall. That's another alarm switch.

Jack71

Looks like the relay rod must come off. Hopefully the threads are ok.

What center compartment are you referring to? None of my compartments have an operating light that I'm aware of -- I'll have to double check tonight.