Dale,
Here is a little trick I learned over the years that may keep most of the
smoke in the wires. Disconnect the battery to chassis cable, then wire an
old headlight (that works) with two wires, one on the ground and one on the
low beam. Then take that bulb with two wires and connect one to the chassis
ground point and the other to the terminal on the battery that was connected
to the chassis. You now have a current limiting device that won't allow you
to draw more than about 4 or 5 amps which will protect most of your wires.
To check it turn your headlights on and the bulb should glow, probably at
about 50%. Any thing that is drawing current in the car will make it glow,
you may have to look close for light loads. Don't try to start your car
because it just won't pass enough current to make it go. When you find the
short and have all loads turned off the bulb will be dark. Now the fact
that you can jump the car and start it up then 30 minutes later; it's
telling you that your battery is dead, it may be the battery or you may not
have any current flow from the alternator/generator. With the engine
running you should have about 14 volts, if you do and the battery still goes
dead then your battery is shot. A battery will get a surface charge that is
quickly lost if it has a bad cell, it's my guess that you need a new
battery. Even new ones go bad frequently so don't let the age guide you.
Write if you need more info...
Mark
Nashville
After putting a new battery in my 74 Americano Midget and doing quite a bit
of repairing and mucking about (electrically and mechanically)...
...the battery is robbed of it's charge/juice.
What are some of the MOST likely suspects?
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