dragonwingsubaru Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 recently i seem to have a bad voltage drain problem if i leave the sooby sitting for even a cpl hours its has to be jumped off to start. now i have a brand new battery and a 105 amp gm alt on it. the amt is still working fine i had it tested and if i go to start it up a few minutes after i shut it off it will start up just fine. im wanting to know where are the common shorting spots, especially problem spots if you offroad at pretty much stock height. i really need to get this fixed so i can drive the sooby again any help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humble Nuto 53 Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 back in the late 70's gm alternators were famous for leaking. hate to admint my i had a pontiac grand lemonz (ha!) that would drain the battery if it wasnt driven every few days.... put an ammeter inline with your alternator and you will see its pulling juice even though your ignition is OFF not to helpful but its a start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 If you don't have an ammeter, you could just disconnect the alternator and see if the battery still drains. If that isn't the problem, repeat this test removing the fuse of a suspect circuit and seeing if the problem continues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 i second checking the alternator. there are only 4 or 5 fusible links you could try pulling each one of those until you locate the circuit it's on. then pull fuses like mentioned earlier as well. the only battery drain i recall anyone having in a soob was the trip computer/clock. is your trunk light off when the trunk is closed? radio? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwingsubaru Posted September 17, 2005 Author Share Posted September 17, 2005 well to start the alt is from an 89 astrovan. and was bought brand new about 3 months before i scrapped it.right at the moment i dont have a ammeter, but could get 1 if nessesary. just a thought dont know if this would help someone figure this out, my stock alt was running high voltage for about 4 months before it finally died out. didnt burn and lights out but ther were bigtime brighter than they are now. ill let the battery get a little juice to it and try disconnecting the battery from the alt to see if that stops the problem. if that doesnt work i guess i could try out the fuses 1 by one and see if i get anywheres with it. im gonna put a pic up of the alt so you guys can see which 1 im working with and can tell me if i got it hooked up right. its a 3 wire and the red isnt being used on the clip piece, but the battery 1 is connected on the bolt spot on the back i got the black 1 going to the black 1 on the car, and the brown 1 going to the i believe the red and white 1(sorry not right in front of it at the sec) does that sound like its the right way??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwingsubaru Posted September 17, 2005 Author Share Posted September 17, 2005 oh forgot to respond on another question. all i have is the clock in mine, dont have the trip comp and whatnot. i have a wagon so im possative the cargo light is off and as for radio im still running the stock stereo so im pretty sure it shouldnt be shorting there but ill double check that 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 It sounds like there is a pretty high drain somehow. If you have a test light probe available you can put it in series with the suspected lines. If the light is bright, and everything is off, then you are on the correct line for the drain. You can check the alternator also. Sometimes the internal blocking diode shorts and will cause this kind of problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EYE_WHY Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 If you don't have one alreay, go out and get a test light (like $5). Hook it up to the battery per instructions (the light should light up) and start pulling fuses. When the test light goes out, you've hit the right fuse. Look up what the fuse powers and start investigating. This sounds like a problem I had in my wagon. If I left it for a couple days without running it, it needed to be jumped. I bought a new alt and battery but nothing changed. I installed a battery cutoff switch by the radio which switched off the power. If I know I am going to be leaving my wagon for a couple of days, I just switch it off. Never had a problem since . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwingsubaru Posted September 21, 2005 Author Share Posted September 21, 2005 well i thought i had it figured but i guess it wasnt what i thought. drove the car to work last night after boostign it off and while i was sitting in it 4 a couple minutes before i went inside i happened to look at where i had my toggle switched hooked up in teh centerconsole and noticed that the power wire to the one i used to have running my extra electric fan was pulled off and sitting on the radio. so for good measure i yanked those wires out and also took the radio out to make sure to rule that out and it still drains. im gonna hopefully have a chance to pick up a test light tomorrow and try traceing it some more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Good deal. With the light you should be able to track it down pretty fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwingsubaru Posted September 21, 2005 Author Share Posted September 21, 2005 well its the wee am hours here and im busy working on it, didnt get the light yet but beenlooking it over top and bottom and after spending about an hour looking over the car top and bottom and got back to the engine bay i noticed a light buzzing from the alt,(gotta love the quiet at 230 am). anyways i took off both of the plug in wires 1 at a time and when i took off the black 1 from the alt going to the black and white 1 on the soob the buzzing stopped. so i guess i have an important question. do i need that wire hooked to anything , and if so where does it need to go to and where does it lead 2. or can i just leave it unhooked??? im hopeing some of you night owls can answer this quickly so i can get back out there and finish this, thanks in advance, and big ty for all the advice so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 The lead you are talking about is the sense lead for the alternator I believe. It should tie back to the battery through fusible link #2. The same wire color, B/W. The lead needs to be connected to the alternator so it can check the state of the battery for proper charging. You can leave it disconnected until you are ready to drive the car, then just hook it back on and start it up. A new alternator should fix you up. Good trouble shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwingsubaru Posted September 21, 2005 Author Share Posted September 21, 2005 hmmmm thanks cougar, ide prefer not to have to unhook and rehook up a wire every time i wanna drive it, im wondering if i might have hooked it up wrong on that plug. i have a brown, black, and red wire coming outta it and the brown 1 is hooked into the white and red 1. im wondering since its a larger gause wire on the plugin if the red 1 is the one that is supposed to hook to that. and the main battery 1 is the same hookup as on a sooby alt. i really dont wannna get another alt since the main reason i put this 1 on is because i didnt wanna buy 1. it does charge quite well it just is taking the charge away at the moment as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 The white/red wire on the car is for the exciter of the alternator. It is normally marked the 'L' lead on the alternator. The black/white wire should go to the 'S' lead of the alternator. The b/w wire is always hot to the battery, and the w/r wire is switched on with the ignition. You could try switching the leads and see what happens. It shouldn't hurt anything. If that doesn't help, you may have an internal problem in the alternator and will need to fix it. l Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwingsubaru Posted September 22, 2005 Author Share Posted September 22, 2005 yay i got it figured out. took off the black wire and covered it up, and took the red wire and hooked it to the black and white wire. now no buzzing and from what i can tell so far no voltage drain, and the voltage while it is running looks right. it was at about 12.5 or 13 now it looks closer to 14 or 15. so 1 problem fixed now maybe i might get around to getting some oil pressure lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Good deal. Thanks for the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonwingsubaru Posted September 23, 2005 Author Share Posted September 23, 2005 your welcome, and thanks for all your help figuring this out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 Your welcome also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now