# Battery goes dead



## ricknkjo (Oct 12, 2013)

I have only had my first GTO 1966 for about 6 weeks now and had not had any battery issues when I drove the car every few days. I went away on business for about 10 days and went to start the car and the new battery was completely dead. Could the clock in the dash cause this? It does not seem to work but could still be drawing voltage, or is this just common on these cars? I have now hooked it a small Battery tender but would like to still know the cause.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

Yes anything drawing voltage while its off will drain it. I have a negative terminal disconnect key (kill switch) that i pull when i wont be driving it for a while and when i leave it in a parking lot for any length of time. Nothing besides the clock on these need a constant power source.


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## ricknkjo (Oct 12, 2013)

That is a good idea to add the cut off switch anyway. Do you know how to check for a voltage draw on the system?


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## Matthew (Feb 11, 2011)

Rick, if you have a multimeter, disconnect the negative terminal and test amp draw in line - hook one to the battery post and the other to the cable. What do you have for a draw? Matt


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

What Mat said....common culprits will be clock, radio and headlight switch/dimmer, also any under hood or trunk lid lights if equipped.


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## ricknkjo (Oct 12, 2013)

thanks guys I will give that a shot this weekend.


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## Matthew (Feb 11, 2011)

Rick, if you do have a draw on the battery, pull one fuse at a time. Check your meter each time. If you eliminate the draw, you have found your circuit. Let us know what you do or do not find. Thanks, Matt


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## chuckha62 (Apr 5, 2010)

Even if your clock was functional, it shouldn't kill your battery in that short of a time. I leave my battery hooked up while I'm in storage over the winter. It sits for up to three months and always has to crank a long time during the first restart. I have never had to recharge the battery.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

True Chuck, sounds like somethings drawing it down, its a good idea to clean all your grounding wires down to bare metal too prior to testing (block, chassis, ignition, under dash and taillight sockets). Electrical ghosts can be a pain to track down.


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## JVM225 (Jun 18, 2007)

I doubt that the clock will kill a healthy battery in 10 days. You may want to check other possible culprits. Some places to look if so equipped: Trunk light, under hood light, glove box light, etc...
A faulty switch that doesn't turn a light off will cause that light to run a battery down.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Something that can happen with the clock... they're actually powered by a spring that has to be periodically wound. When it runs down, it closes a set of points that energizes a relay to supply power to a mechanism to wind it up again, then the points open and the whole process starts over. Sometimes the points can stick and keep the current on all the time, which will drain the battery a lot quicker. It might take awhile, but if you sit in the car with everything off and just listen you should be able to hear the process happen every so often.

Bear


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