I have hesitated to post further on the matter, lacking further evidence on the issue and not wanting to distract the Teeming Millions unnecessarily.
Now, however, I think another mechanic and I are onto something.
He wasn’t sure, but he thinks that Circuit No. 8–whose fuse protects the dome light, the clock, and the power-controlled side mirrors–may be shorted out somewhere and draining the battery. So I removed the fuse (and have continued to leave the battery itself disconnected at night) until I can have that circuit itself inspected.
That said, I have a further question: Is there a device that measures the battery’s power independent of a charging apparatus–that is, in the manner of the old ammeter that cars used to have as part of the dashboard instruments?
You’re confusing a number of things there. Firstly, the old ammeter showed how many amps the alternator was producing. Secondly, what do you mean by the battery’s “power”? Do you mean volts (and if so under what conditions) or do you mean amp/hours ie current producing capacity?
Golly, I’d think “current-producing ability” would suffice. The battery–even the new Sears DieHard one–would get drained so that it would take the heavy-duty AAA truck engine (or rather, its battery!) to crank my car’s engine.
When the alternator, battery, battery cables, voltage regulator, and starter relay have all been replaced, and the battery still doesn’t have the oomph necessary to crank the engine, then I have to look for something else to blame…
Something is drawing power when i’s not supposed to. You need to take the car to an auto electic shop. They should be able to determine, within minutes, where the problem is. I can’t believe that your still having this problem. This is not rocket science.
Auto electric shop, eh? Can I expect to find such a place specifically so named (Yellow Pages, for example)?
I’ve seen them around here, anyway.
If you can’t find something specific then call a few places and tell them your trouble, that no-one can seem to fix, and ask them to recommend an electrical ‘specialty’ garage. A dealer may have some places in mind too.
If you are disconnecting the battery, there is no reason to take the fuse out also. Circuit 8 cannot drain the battery if it is not connected. If you are thinking that this circuit is draining the battery while you are driving, I doubt it. The alternator should be able to produce way more current than that circuit can use. Hint, how big is the fuse for that circuit? 15A? If yo draw much over 15A the fuse would blow.
If by power you mean state of charge, then yes there are several. Perhaps the easiest to use is a voltmeter which if you use it correctly will give you a very good estimation of the battery’s state of charge.
To do this test you will need a digital voltmeter.
Condition to do the test: Engine must be off for at least 4 hours.
Place the red voltmeter lead on the positive terminal of the battery, black on the negative. Read voltmeter.
Above 12.72V = Surface charge, turn on head lights for 30 seconds, turn off and wait one minute then retest.
12.6-12.72V = Fully charged battery
12.4V = 75% of fully charged
12.2V = 50% of fully charged
12.0V = 25% of fully charged
<11.9V = Dead.
It’s 15 amps–light blue fuse. The owner’s manual doesn’t even mention the power mirrors, but then again it mentions two other items–on Circuit #8-- I don’t even have in the car.
A few other things to note:
Several months ago I removed the bulb from the little compartment in the center, between the front bucket seats. The lid is supposed to shut the light off, but it’s old and twisted and doesn’t push the switch button very well. I got tired of this and removed the bulb months ago.
The motor driving the right-hand door window hasn’t worked in years. I’d like to disarm the motor (that is, remove the fuse) but if I do I might disarm the left-hand door window too.
The right-hand front speaker wire for the radio seems loose–sometimes it sounds and sometimes it doesn’t. I wouldn’t even mention it but it is included in the wiring diagram I have…
http://www.akramautoelectric.com/
http://www.diamondbarautoelectric.com/
http://yellowpages.superpages.com/listings.jsp?search=Find+It&SRC=comwp&sid=
12213&STYPE=S&PG=L&R=N&C=automotive+electrical&T=Gardena&S=CA
Uh, dude, unless you’ve got some kind of strong attachment to this car, I’d say that it’s time for you to seriously start considering driving something else. What I’d do is install one of those easy to use battery cutoff switches (fairly cheap, about $10 or so) that way you can keep the battery from bleeding dry while the car’s parked (yeah, it’ll screw up the clock, but from the way things sound, you might not have the clock for much longer anyway) and take what you’re spending now on car repairs and put that towards buying something else. This appears to be rapidly turning into a nickel and dime you to death kind of situation. What are you going to do if one of these electrical problems decides to act up while you’re on the freeway late at night? From personal experience I can tell you, there’s nothing quite like having your car’s entire electrical system go out on the highway with a semi trying to give you a proctological exam. :eek:
You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!
A friend I’ve mentioned on the board, named Maureen, has an '88 Cadillac I drove with her and her 10-year-old grandson Bert to the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, about 20 miles away. (Maureen did not have her regular glasses with her–and she’s almost 80.) I had no problems with the car, driving it back and forth, and in Torrance that evening, to a restaurant, two pharmacies (she had to get a prescription written out and filled) and then to her son’s place, a mile or so from mine. He drove me home and as he was leaving my place the alterrnator failed (a friend of his had bought one in a salvage yard and installed it). Now THAT would have been a wonderful thing to have happen to me on the freeway!
More to the point, one of the two mechanics who tried to treack down the electricity drain has referred me to an auto electric shop in Harbor City; my next-door neighbor referred me to one perhaps two miles from here. The saving grace is that Maureen has me do chores and pays me money I can use for the repairs; buying another car is out of the question for me right now. A few years ago I sunk $1100 into a rebuilt engine (rebuit by mechanics who really know their craft 
)and scrapping the car now would be difficult to countenance.
About two months ago–while my subscription to the SDMB was in limbo–I took the car to the mechanic who replaced the alternator. He made a through inspection of the starter and found it was burned out! (This was not the car’s original starter.) I have had no trouble starting the car since then.
Sic transit gloria thunderbirdi. :rolleyes: