Topic: Battery is Draining?

[ta78w72]

my car drains
and goes dead in 2 days if i dont drive it
still havent found whats doing it
i do have 2 wires that have to be connected to the battery to make it start

You might see your problem go away now that you have your cluster wiring figured out.

[mikeb78ta]

That's not me, but thanks

[mikeb78ta]

I'm still having a batery drain issue.  Is it possible that a faulty ignition switch could be the culprit?  I noticed yesterday that unless the key is in the off and column lock position, my fan motor keeps running unless I slide the A/C switch all the way to the left and off position.  I also have power going to the power window switch without the key in the ignition. I have a new ignition switch I just have't replaced it yet.  Originally I was going to do it because I was re-keying the rest of the car, now it seems like I should do it to see what's going on in the column.  What do you think??

[ta78w72]

That's a good guess.  If it was only the windows, I'd be thinking that someone did some wiring to make the windows work with the key out.  But if the fan continues to blow, well that's an indication that somethings wrong.  The ignition switch is a moving part and wears out....so that's a great place to start.  You know, that could be part of your tach problem too.  That's a really long shot though.  You might not be getting enough current.  Did you measure the voltage at the tach terminal?  When cranking you should get more than seven volts.  At this point, I'm throwing darts in the dark.

I'm like the blind person throwing rocks at a coffee can a hundred yards away.  Given enough rocks, I just might get one to go in.

[mikeb78ta]

Okay.  I just replaced the ignition switch.  That was a lot easier than I thought it would be.  However the fan still blows after the ignition is put into the "off" and locked position.  The windows go up and down as well.  I have traced the wiring to the fuse block.  I tested for voltage with the key in the ignition and turned to accy.  The test showed everything at the fuse block 12 volts.  When I turned the key into the off position. I tested everthing for voltage and the Slot where the Rear window /cig lighter lit, the window lit as well.  As far as I thought there shouldn't be voltage at those 2 spots unless the key was in the ACCY position.  Could there be a bad ground somewhere.  If so where would the first place be to look? Thanks

[Rick]

How hacked up is your underdash wiring anyway?  You've been going nuts over the tach, and this problem is piggybacked in too.  How many other electrical problems are you having or have you had?  It may be time for a step back and look at the big picture...

[brian c]

<----  Agrees with Rick!

Time to take a step back and see what else is wrong with your wiring. It may just be time to bite the bullet and get an underdash wiring harness to straighten everything out.

M&H Wiring Harnesses has a very good product. I have all their harnesses under my hood which straightened a bunch of issues out for me!

[mikeb78ta]

So I went outside to figure out what was going on and I found this mess.  It is the grey wire that is fried.  Can anyone tell me what this cluster is for? It is from the most forward plug in on the steering column.  The wire was hot and is fried all the way to behind the dash cluster.  It definitely wsn't like this before.  Also the rest of the underdash wiring looks to be original. Only this new nightmare.  Any Help?
IMG]http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii354/mikeb78ta/067.jpg[/IMG]

[mikeb78ta]

OOps Here's the Pic.

[mikeb78ta]

It's not grey actually, its brown with a white line and looks to me that it connects with the orange wire and runs all the way to a large cluster to the fuse block.

[Eagle 1]

Here is a link that will help: http://www.firebirdtransamparts.com/techinfo/harness/harness.htm
Read everything on that page including the sub-links.

[brian c]

Not to sound overly reactionary or anything but.....is your battery disconnected right now? If not, would you calmly RUN and disconnect it until you repair the damage?

That looks like that wire took a lot more current (amps) than it should have and basically cooked the insulation off the wire. I'd find out what that runs to and see what's going on. I'd also definitely pull the rest of the harness to see if any other damage happened to any adjacent wires.

[mikeb78ta]

I think it has something to do with the voltage regulator and or the volt gauge.  If so is there a way I can bypass the old wire and run a new one.  The rest of the harness looks pretty good.  I followed the large group of multi colored wires I diddn't see any other breaks or burns for that matter.  The brown/white wire are connected to the thick orange wire in the picture.  My service manual is all in Blk and wht and I can't read half of it.  God I need to by a real manual with Colors...

[mikeb78ta]

Not to sound overly reactionary or anything but.....is your battery disconnected right now? If not, would you calmly RUN and disconnect it until you repair the damage?

That looks like that wire took a lot more current (amps) than it should have and basically cooked the insulation off the wire. I'd find out what that runs to and see what's going on. I'd also definitely pull the rest of the harness to see if any other damage happened to any adjacent wires.

Yeah First thing I did.  I don't want to see her go up in Smoke...

[brian c]

Ok cool.

Ohh yeah and what's with the silver/copper wires with clear insulation? Is that something you added? Is that about the time you started experiencing problems? If so....time to retrace your steps.