I'M BAFFLED. 85 MONTE CARLO.

Hey folks. I'm stumped on this one. I just picked up a 1985 Monte Carlo SS and found there is a power draw which kills the battery in a day. I thought it was a bad battery at first so I replaced it. When I was connecting the new one there was a sizable spark when I connected the second cable. I first checked all the fuses by removing them and no change. I then disconnected the positive cable at the starter. No change same power draw. Only one wire left running to the alternator. Disconnect that no more power loss of course because the battery is now not connected. I replaced the alternator with a new one, connected only the battery lead to it and my power draw was back, same as ever. ( there are three wires on this alternator. Battery to large terminal, jumper from large terminal to # 2 and small wire from # 1 to ???) The 1 and 2 terminals were not connected at the time. Connecting them made no difference. If anyone has any ideas I'd sure be glad to hear them.:confused::confused:

Does the car have any aftermarket anything like a theft system or remote start? If so, take it off and throw it away. I have seen dozens of these battery dead draw problems and they are usually caused by aftermarket accessories. Don't forget to look at the radio.

If it is aftermarket it could also be the problem. I had one that stated on the documentation that it had something like a 500 milliamp draw (don't remember for sure but it was high)and if you did not drive the car everyday the battery would go dead. Talked to the manufacturer of the radio and they told me that that draw was normal for their radio for the memory and clock.

If the car has any of that stuff, remember to fix the wires as many items of that time were installed with "scotch lock" connections and many times damaged the number of strands in the wire.

Thanks Larry. The car does have an aftermarket Sony stereo, but there is also a signal of some sort when I turn the car off. I have no idea what it is but when I turn the key off and remove it the car makes a beep, beep three times.I don't know if this is something that's been added or a normal procedure for a Monte. There is no alarm system that I know of. This is the problem with buying at a classic car auction, The previous owner was not there for info.