battery draining while driving not when sitting???

[Ben Duke]

I just installed all brand new wiring, and there is something weird going on. I will hook the battery up, it will fire up on the first turn of the key, dont even have to hit the gas peddle. i would let it sit for a couple days with the battery hooked up to see it something is draining it, It still will fire on the first turn of the key, sitting there idleing for a while, i will shut it off and it will start right up. But when i drive it around for a little bit, eventually it will start bogging out and sputtering wanting to stall, i will then shut it off and it will just click and not start, i will have to jump the battery. Could this be the ignition switch. Everything is new , battery, starter, alternator, resistor, coil, so on. while driving it something is not right for it to not recharge the battery, not sure what would cause this. Could something that hooks up on the backside of the dash cluster cause this.

[duster7071]

slipping belt at speed, ballast wires wrong? wrong/bad/miswired voltage regulator, weak/bad/or no engine ground.

[Ben Duke]

i will go over it again and back track a few things to make sure it is hooked up right. i will double check the grounds. i will double check the voltage regulator to make sure it is getting a good ground.

[tvandmoviecars]

mine did same thing, wiring issue with the alternator... I had a mechanic change up the wiring, and has been ok ever since... also take it to autozone or such and get the alternator checked... it can be on the car, for the test...
if neither of those issues.... change the ballast resistor... if that turns out to be ok... put the old one in the glovebox, as its ALWAYS good to have a spare one, anyways.... and they are cheap.

[Ben Duke]

i did take it to autozone and i had one of the older guys who work there come out and check it out. the young guys in there dont have a clue with old cars. Whenever i go to get a part usually at any of the autoparts stores and a few young kids are working, i order a part and they tell me yes for sure, that is the right part, so i pay for it, so i have to weight for a couple days or so, and when it comes in, guess what it is not the right part. so i will usually prefer an older guy for help. The guy at autozone hooked up a few different machines up and everything was good, alt,battery, voltage regulator so on. This guy couldnt find the problem. Maybe the way the dixie horn is wired up would cause a problem. While driving or sitting, when i hit the horn button it only blows air and when i push on the gas the horn will start to blow. I guess giving it gas pushes more juice into the system causing the horn to work. Maybe the way the horn is hooked up it is causing a problem. The think the reason the horn is not working right is because its not getting enough juice when i push the horn button, when i push on the gas peddle then the horn will blow your ear drums out. I will double check the dash cluster wires, steering column wires, and the wires from the dixie horn. Messing with wiring is a pain in the OL' brown eye

[duster7071]

disconnect the power from the horn for awhile and drive it around to check?

[HazzardHistory]

Ben, I agree with Derrick.
Disconnect horn.

But I strongly think it's a ground. Two years ago, filled up with gas, on my way to 4th of July party, car start hiccuping.
I thought, great it's that new ethanol crap.
When ready to leave, it started at the party, weak.
About a mile down the road, died. NOTE: always have emergency kit and flashlight. DEAD BATTERY=NO FLASERS.
Almost had some idiot hit me.
Put new battery in, no problem. On the way to Carlisle, it started hesitating and missing, like you did Ben.
I CB'd friends and told them to get off next exit. Coasted into a restraurant, car died.
Tried new alternator, nothing.
That summer, ripped the dash, checking wires. My Dad found out the ground on the back of the block was a little loose, and that's what caused it. It wasn't charging the battery back up.

Hazzaryhistory

[CHARGERHUNTER]

I agree, sounds like a ground issue to me.

[Ben Duke]

i charged up the battery, disconnected the horn, i put it back in the car and it fired right up, i drove it around the block and up the street and back to the garage, i got it halfway into the garage and it died on me.(battery). I will check all the ground wires and see what happens. crazy it will kill the battery that fast.

[duster7071]

elec ign will kill a battery in just 2-3 mi,,, points will go a long way though usually.hook up aftermarket gauges, volt/amp amp tell as soon as something is drawing power,volts just tells slowly you are losing voltage, with amps, just pop out one fuse at a time to see which circuit is pulling power.

[dchargerman]

I'd definetely say it is alternator related. Crank it and then pull one of the battery cables off while it is running. If it dies out it is the alt. It will probably be a simple wiring issue.

[CHARGERHUNTER]

With an electronic ignition won't it die even if the alternator was good? I know that does not work on newer cars.... I have tried it with my points ignition to test my alternator and all is good...

[Ben Duke]

i have the points type in it. I havent had the chance to look over it yet, the guy that helped put all the wiring in just had back surgery, and isn't able to move around. i will probably just wait for him, if he doesnt take to long. Since he installed alot of the wiring, I just thought of something, what if my alternator is internally regulated, and is basically fighting with the Regulator on the firewall creating problems. would that cause the battery to drain. I will still go over all the grounds to make sure they are good.

[duster7071]

still have points? ok..

the alternator should not have an internal regulator , unless someone changed it?