Need advise on finding a short!

[Klinthill544]

Hey guys, been having a issue with something drawing down my battery. It developed after some off-roading several weeks ago. At first I thought the alternator was bad, so I replaced both the battery and alt. a couple days later the battery was dead again.. I've since just been unhooking the ground cable while it sits, due to it only being weekend driven. It takes about a day to two days for it to run a new battery down. I also visually checked the wires that are exposed underneath and didn't see any burnt or damaged wires, that may have been hit by a rock or something..My question is, what's the best way to begin to track the problem down? Thanks for any help!

 

[Georgeb]

I would wire a test light in between the positive cable and the battery. If it's sized right the load should make it light up. Then start pulling fuses until the light goes out. The fuse that makes the light go out is on the circuit with the drain load. Then with a good wiring diagram I would start looking for a short or damaged component.

 

[MadOgre]

Disconnect the factory clock

 

[Klinthill544]

Thanks for the info guys!

 

[Klinthill544]

Update.... The light idea was a success, pulled the heater fuse and the light went out and now there's no more draw on my battery!! Now to figure out why! Again, thanks for the help!

 

[chengny]

The brown wire from the HEAT/AC fuse goes directly to the fan speed control switch. It splits off where it connects to the switch - and that branch supplies the common terminal of the resistor block (located in/on the blower housing). Try plugging the fuse back in - but have the harness connector unplugged from the resistor stack. Check again for battery drain.

Also - and this applies only if you have a base instrument cluster (i.e. without gauges) - at the point where the brown wire connects to the fan speed switch, an orange wire is tapped into that circuit. It runs from the fan switch up to the back of the instrument panel and is the power for the GEN indicator light.