Battery Drain Problem

[ford feller]

Alright my Fabulous Ford Friends, I'm hoping it's ok that I post about a problem with a vehicle other than my 71 ford. The other day a friend of mine was going to take his 95 toyota tercel to the scrap yard and get about 200 bucks. The car runs great just doesn't hold a charge on the battery. He was junking it just because of this problem. I gave him 150 bucks and now it's my problem. He told me he had the altenator checked and it was fine, same with battery. I know that the altenator checks they do aren't always accurate, so that is still an option. I hate to buy an altenator and not need to though. I was also told by someone that if you take the possitive lead off your battery and put a test light between it and the positive terminal and it lights you have something grounded out somewhere. I did that last night and no light. What I'm wondering is if this a fool proof method. Could I still have something something draining my battery and it not light the test light?

[fordman]

remove the negative cable and put the test light between the cable and the battery post. if the light comes on then you pull fuses until the light goes out. when the light goes out you found the leak in that circut. if no light have both the battery and alternator checked from more than one place.

[McDays]

Ok. I did it but: should I turn the ign key on or not? When I did it I turned on the ign key and the light came on. I checked both fuses and nothing happened. The light was on all the time.

[70_F100]

If you have the ignition key on, there are all sorts of circuits that pull power, so the test light will light.

Leave the switch off, the doors closed, and if there's a light under the hood, remove the bulb.

Oh, and by the way, referencing your first post, ALWAYS pull the negative cable FIRST. Otherwise, you might get a BIG surprise...

[fordman]

if the light is on all the time then you have a short or leak in the wiring. there are more than 2 fuses. there are 5.