# 1966 gto 389 voltage drain



## louie3888 (Oct 9, 2011)

Guys,

When I disconnect the negative terminal and put a test light between the battery and cable the light comes on. If I put a dc amp meter it shows 1.19 a being used. If I pull the regulator connector it drops to .20a which I can live with. Purchased a new acdelco VR and it came but it looked used and it still showed the same results. So I decided to try a cheap unit from the parts store and when I hooked that one up I got 4.4amps being used. So I was going to return the AC Delco unit since it looked used and try again. Any other ideas on what's going on?

Thx


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

doesnt the power for the car go through the regulator? the big cable only powers the starter i think.


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## louie3888 (Oct 9, 2011)

I just used the negative cable and between the neg battery post to look for the amount of drain on the battery when off, if I pull the VR terminal then the drain goes away. I check everything in the car and pulled fuses and still a 1.19a drain. If I put a new VR cheap unit I get >4.00a drain on the system.


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## pontiac (Mar 6, 2011)

leave VR hooked up and disconnect battery lead on back of alternator, what do you get then? then after you measure that, then hook up battery lead back on and pull the two small wire plug on alternator, what do you measure?


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## louie3888 (Oct 9, 2011)

If I disconnect the battery cable from the alternator and then look for drain I then get 0.00 since I guess there is a second 8 gauge ring cable on the alternator that connects further down to a bunch of wires. If I put the battery cable back and pull the terminal wires off from the alternator and look for Drain I still show 1.19a of drain, guess since there is still 12v at the VR on the third terminal down still even after pulling the alternator cables. So I guess it gets feed by another power source as well.


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## louie3888 (Oct 9, 2011)

Guess can I try a new VR since the Delco I purchased came used. Out of ideas where the drain is coming from, and with putting a new cheap $20 unit and the showing a result of a 4 amp drain makes it even harder to think that it's somthing still on somewhere.


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

Do you have any aftermarket accessories? Such as radio, CD player, etc.


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## pontiac (Mar 6, 2011)

bad alternator diodes, VR is fine. Change alternator.


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## louie3888 (Oct 9, 2011)

This is the second alternator and today input the new VR and still a 1.19 a draw. Pulled all fuses, check doors, dome light, wiper, radio and still drawing. I guess I can return the Delco alternator back to the dealer, is there a way to check if it's the diode?


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## louie3888 (Oct 9, 2011)

Problem fixed. Boy I'm a dumbass! Guess as a new owner you learn the hard way.


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

key turned too far back? dont leave us hanging. glad you got it fixed. :cheers


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## louie3888 (Oct 9, 2011)

You are correct. Key was all the way to the left! Picked up on it when I was running a choke wire and testing with a test light and noticed all things where on with key position on off. Well shortly after I realized that was not off position. After I moved the key to the correct area meter read 0.08amps 

Lesson learned.


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## buish (Sep 17, 2011)

i think i have the same problem with it draining and my key all the way to the left also. i put it straight up as in the manual and will check again in the morning.


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