Guest glarizza Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 i have a 1948 dodge custom all original except for the fact it has an alternator... it goes to an 8v converter and out.... i disconnected every wire in the car with the exception of hooking up the ignition, still the battery drains out on it. i jump the car it starts and runs great will even run without any battery attached to it.... if i start it right back up it will start, but if i wait a bit the battery will be discharged. i changed the igntion, the points seem to open and close fine, and the battery was new, but now has had to be charged several times because of being drawn down. i am totally clueless. i do find that there is a voltage drop when i turn the key on, but it does regain that lost voltage after a min or so. is there something missing or???? any ideas would truly be appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan at larescorp Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Might have dropped a cell? I would load test the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Might have dropped a cell? I would load test the battery.i brought the battery back to the auto parts store, but they claim it to be ok, i am truly puzzled on this. i am very inexperienced with the 6 volt setup and especially positive ground, but we have followed the schematics in my books and changed old charred wires. From my aspect everything seems correct in wires. the only thing that seems logical to me is that battery is no good also. Its almost like it has voltage but no amperage if that makes sense. Is there a way to load test it myself? and one more question, when the car is off the points are in a closed position is that correct? when i turn the car over with the cap and rotor off they do open and close, i just want to make sure that coil isnt powering up and draining the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan at larescorp Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 If you have an Oreilly auto parts in your area they will load test it for free. If the coil was hooked up with constant power you would think the car would keep running when you turned the key off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Walling Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 (edited) Disconect one battery cable and place a test light between the batt and the cable. If it lights, you have a draw on the system.Disconect each circut in the car one at a time until the light goes out. That will be the offending one. You could start with the fuzes, that would be quicker. It could be the small wire going to the alt., try unpluging it and watch the test light. Edited August 7, 2012 by Roger Walling (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Roger is right, that is the way to track down a current draw. Unfortunately the old Chrysler products use circuit breakers not fuses making it harder to do this test.Try disconnecting the alternator. If that stops the draw it is defective, or not hooked up properly. If not the alternator look in the glove compartment for a light, or in the trunk. Be sure to have the doors closed or the interior light turned off, easy to overlook and not usually the cause of the draw unless it is on all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Does it have any new stuff added to the electric circuits - like a battery tender? Those often go bad. DO youknowthe alternator is charging? It could also be soething in the 8 volt converter- what ever that is. Why doesn't it have a generatorand correct charging system?i bought the car with an alternator in it already, and the lady said it ran fine and didnt have to jump it, but im not sure if she is telling the truth. i do have a generator for it, but have no clue on how to hook it up properly. there are no extras hooked up to it, i disconnected everything..... the car does charge, and will run and operate lighting without any battery hooked up after it is started.... and i do get 9.1 v out of the alternator....must be 8v?????the weird thing it looks like a 12v alternator to me 1 wire on it, a yellow wire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Disconect one battery cable and place a test light between the batt and the cable. If it lights, you have a draw on the system.Disconect each circut in the car one at a time until the light goes out. That will be the offending one. You could start with the fuzes, that would be quicker. It could be the small wire going to the alt., try unpluging it and watch the test light.ok so we tried this tonight.... disconnect the battery put the test light on it no light on... now when i turn on the ignition it comes on, should it ? its weird because thats when i experience the voltage drop initially but then it goes back up..... there is nothing else hooked up in the car except for the ignition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 The test light should go on when the key is on. When the key is off the test light should be off. You want everything to be "off" when you shut off the key. Your problem is, something is still "on" which drains the battery.With the key off and the test light in place, try hooking things up one at a time and see if the light comes on. If it does, there is your draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 ok thats what i did key off no lights, key on light is on.... but i do get a voltage drop when the key is on.... around 1 to 2v but then is slowly recovers from it, is that normal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Walling Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 ok so we tried this tonight.... disconnect the battery put the test light on it no light on... now when i turn on the ignition it comes on, should it ? its weird because thats when i experience the voltage drop initially but then it goes back up..... there is nothing else hooked up in the car except for the ignition. Yes, when you turn on anything the test light should come on. If the test light does not come on, there is no draw on the battery. Bring the battery to a shop and have them do a break down test on it. Or you could fully charge the battery and then disconect it and wait a few days to see if it then fails to start the car. Do a voltage test before reconnecting the batt to make sure it is still fully charged. if the voltage is low, or if it faild to start easily, it is a bad batt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 thanks, and the ignition should draw some from the battery then initially? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 thanks, and the ignition should draw some from the battery then initially? Yes, because you are powering the coil, at least. Try Rogers suggestion of having the battery charged, remove both cables and leave overnight. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Yes, because you are powering the coil, at least. Try Rogers suggestion of having the battery charged, remove both cables and leave overnight. BenSo i went out and bought a new battery started great...went out 4 hours later still started great. Went out today...battery is dead...well this is what i dont get i bought an 8 volt battery its down to like7.98 volts car should ideally start right???? If i jump it,it starts, then will start up right after.....the test light shows no lights lit up for a draw there is nothing hooked up....just battery alternator...going to ammeter...then going to battery side of ignition...the coil going to coil.....the the other lead going to pushbutton going to starter.....no lights nothing hooked up...i am truly puzzled.....the alternator is charging the battery or so it seems?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X-Frame Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Obviously not a battery issue unless they bought a lot of bad ones. There isn't a mecahnic where you are buying the battery from to hook the car up on a machine to check the starter, coil, alt., etc... for shorts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 No local mechanics that will touch it....im thinking that alternator cant be hooked up right anyone know how to hook it up.... right now it goes to "a" side of the voltage regulator and from the "b" it goes to the ammeter. From there i also have a wire coming from the battery to the same leg of the ammeter...the other leg goes to the ignition and so on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Walling Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 (edited) What alternator do you have? Is it 6Volt or 8volt or !2volts?Is the regulator a matching unit? Are there only two terminals on the reg.? What is the 8 volt converter? And how is it connected in the circut? Edited August 14, 2012 by Roger Walling (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 We tested the output on the alternator is puts out 8.98-9.03 v..its a 1 wire alternator..it goes to looks like original voltage regulator which has 3 terminals on it...there is another box up.front that my distribution block for the lights.and all that are connected to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeCagle Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Greetings, my '37 Studebaker is 6 volt, pos ground and I have a 6v alternator (one wire). When I replaced the generator I also removed the voltage regulator. You have to rev it up a little to get it to start charging at idle. I am not sure why you still have the external regulator. This could be causing problems. Does your amp gauge show that the battery is charging? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Greetings, my '37 Studebaker is 6 volt, pos ground and I have a 6v alternator (one wire). When I replaced the generator I also removed the voltage regulator. You have to rev it up a little to get it to start charging at idle. I am not sure why you still have the external regulator. This could be causing problems. Does your amp gauge show that the battery is charging?it doesnt move much, so you have it wired direct to the ammeter or is it going somewhere else first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 (edited) It is hard for me to imagine you can't find a shop that will analyze and repair your problem. Where do you live? I take my 48 Plymouth in for brake work, electrical work, front end alignment, tires, & etc. and never had a problem. Did you try unhooking the fully charged battery and testing it a day later yet? Edited August 15, 2012 by JFranklin (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeCagle Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Yes, it goes direct to the ampmeter. I removed the regulator and stored it with the generator in case I ever want to convert back. When I first start the car I rev it to about 1000 rmp and it starts charging. The amp gauge will show about 15 amps. Once driving and fully charged up the gauge drops back down closer to 0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 I will try it tomorrow thanks very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 It is hard for me to imagine you can't find a shop that will analyze and repair your problem. Where do you live? I take my 48 Plymouth in for brake work, electrical work, front end alignment, tires, & etc. and never had a problem. Did you try unhooking the fully charged battery and testing it a day later yet?so a fully charged battery will start the car up a couple of times then its dead.... today i thought maybe it was that alternator so i went back to the original generator with the voltage reg hooked up... i polarized it, everything seems to work as far as the generator. i disconnect batt. lead it stays running and all that... again after i turn it off..... battery dead... so this is what i notice, i did the test lead off the battery with the light no light on, with the ign. to the on pos, no lead connected to battery light turns on, i go from 6v to less than 1v, the only thing hooked up, i have the gen with the voltage reg... from the b side on the voltage reg i have it going to one leg of the ammeter. i have a pos lead going to the solenoid and to the battery, as well as a wire going to the ignition on the other. the second leg on the ignition has the coil and the push button switch hooked to it. the pos. lead on that solenoid also has a kicker wire going to a little relay looking box maybe 3 inches by 1.5 inches has 4 terminal ends on it(not listed in my schematic for the car, but looks original to the car)the relay then jumps to power the coiltheres got to be something here im missing, prob something simple, but there is almost a direct short when i turn that key, i already replaced that ignition once, because i thought that might be the issue... HELP IM GETTING FRUSTRATED!!!!! pulling my hair out with this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeCagle Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Is the generator 8v? You said earlier that you were using an 8v battery, so if the gererator is 6v it will not keep the battery charged. Did you try hooking up the alternator straight to the amp gauge? If so, did the amp gauge show a positive charge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeCagle Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Here is a simple wiring diagram that might help: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest glarizza Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Is the generator 8v? You said earlier that you were using an 8v battery, so if the gererator is 6v it will not keep the battery charged. Did you try hooking up the alternator straight to the amp gauge? If so, did the amp gauge show a positive charge?when i had the alternator hooked up had tried hooking it straight to the amp gauge and the gauge barely moved same with the generator... is it possible that the gauge is no good and causing the problem???? i will try try the base schematic that was sent to see if that changes anything...... now when i got the car the lady had charged the car at 12v for at least 2 hours, and the wires going to that amp gauge were fried, so i replaced them, im sure i mentioned that in the beginning of the post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan at larescorp Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Im sorry if this has been asked before. I didnt see it mentioned before but im blind in one eye and can't see out of the other . What size battery cables do you have? If you have a set of cables for 12 volt they will be too small for your electrical system to work properly. 6 volt cables are much larger. Might be worth checking in to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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