help battery drain

[jake.91]

g'day
ive only recently replaced the alternator and the battery. now there is a black plug that goes to the postive terminal and that plug powers the dash and ingnition and radio and uhf but it is also causing a 3amp drain on the battery with the car off
i have a 1993 GQ patrol 4.2 non turbo
any help would be greatly appreciated

[Yendor]

Hi Jake,

Is that black plug original? is that the one that goes to the main fusible link?

Was your alternator brand new or second hand?

I would start by disconnecting the wires at the alternator, both the large White wire (one that is connected via a nut) and the 2 pin plug, and see if this stops the 3amp draw.

If the 3 amp draw is still there I would then try disconnecting your UHF and then the radio.

If the 3amp draw is still there after disconnecting these then I would start to remove the fuses in the fuse box inside the vehicle one at a time until the 3 amp draw disappears.

Then you will need to see what is running off this circuit to find your fault.

Cheers Rodney

[jake.91]

cheers
i think that the black plug is original and i am unsure if it goes into the main fusible link as it goes into the loom. and i dont know where else it goes. also the alternator is brand new, part number hxa 007 it is a 70 amp with vaccum pump on the rear

[Yendor]

I would still start with disconnecting the alternator first.

[jake.91]

okay i removed the 2 pin plug ( im missing the plug but have both pins ) and the amp draw stop. so i swap pins around and it stop stopped the draw but it doesnt charge the battery that way

[Yendor]

You should have a small White wire and a small White wire with a Red trace.

The small White wire should have constant 12 volts in it.

The small White wire with the Red trace connects to the warning light in your dash.

Connect the small White wire to the "S" terminal at the alternator.

Connect the small White wire with a Red trace to the "L" terminal at the alternator.

Both the "S" & "L" terminal at the alternator should be labelled either by a sticker or stamped into the alternator housing. It might be easier to look at your old alternator if you still have it.

Now does your warning light in the dash come on when you turn the ignition on? does it go out when you start the engine? is your alternator charging? has the 3amp draw stopped?

[xamrab]

Sounds like a job for a sparky to me. I had a similar problem but less draw. Got a sparky to check it out and turned out one of the relays was sticking in the on position. I would never have picked that up. Cheers.

[jake.91]

okay with the white wire it is about twice the size of the white and red wire. with them both connected no warning light comes on (could this mean a break in that wire along the line somewhereand could that be the cause?) the 3 amp draw continues. I disconnected the white wire with red trace and the 3amp draw stopped (white wire still connected ) and still no warning lights and now also no charge to battery

[jake.91]

also i would love to take it to an sparky as alot of the wires are old and stiff as they are almost 20 years old but i have no coin until thursday and i really wanna take her out tonight to go chase pigs with my dogs

[Yendor]

When you turn the ignition on (engine not running) do you have any other warning lights come on? such as oil pressure light?

Are you sure you have the wires connected correctly at the alternator?

[jake.91]

cheers for the help the white wire with red trace have snapped along the line i replaced that in the now pissing down rain ... and all the correct warning lights come on and the amo draw is gone and is also charging the battery

[Yendor]

The alternator needs the warning light in the dash to be working to start charging

[Yendor]

Sorry I missed your last post.

Good job on finding the problem.

HXK-24 should be the part number for a replacement plug to suit your alternator, it can be purchased at Ashdown Ingrams and possibly Repco.

We will make an auto sparky out of you yet.

[MudRunnerTD]

Nice job Rodney.

Mate my GQ has killed 2 Gel batteries in a row and the one in it has sucked the aux battery down to 0.4volts! It wold be great to have a chat with you at some stage in January to try and Fault find this mate. I am not sure how to measure stray current but obviously I have something that is sucking the guts out. I simply don't understand how tha battery could allow itself to be drained so low???

Would be great to have a chat in Jan mate. Before I fit the new Optlmas as I don't really want to kill them. I am advised also that an Optima needs 14.4v to properly charge???? Surely not? Who has an alternator that is that efficient? Mine is a 120amp job pumping 13.9 to 14.1v on a good day.

Happy new year bud.

[Yendor]

Nice job Rodney.

Mate my GQ has killed 2 Gel batteries in a row and the one in it has sucked the aux battery down to 0.4volts! It wold be great to have a chat with you at some stage in January to try and Fault find this mate. I am not sure how to measure stray current but obviously I have something that is sucking the guts out. I simply don't understand how tha battery could allow itself to be drained so low???

Would be great to have a chat in Jan mate. Before I fit the new Optlmas as I don't really want to kill them. I am advised also that an Optima needs 14.4v to properly charge???? Surely not? Who has an alternator that is that efficient? Mine is a 120amp job pumping 13.9 to 14.1v on a good day.

Happy new year bud.

Hi Mate,

I'm more then happy to have a chat.

If you are going to be running two Optimas we can trick the alternator into increasing the voltage by .6 of a volt.

Happy New Year.

Cheers Rodney

[Dinger]

Hey yendor,
Have been reading the post and have jus started having the same issues. I am running two optimas.
Would it be possible to get some advice about trickin out the alternator?
I was getting good charge 14.8v until the last few days.
Regards