Electrical Problems, I have a short somewhere, Possible Solutions Options

[Cutrara]

Since Monday, a short somewhere in my wiring has been draining my battery (No, it's not the battery or alternator, I had them both checked) I took my car to get inspection/emissions and had them check it. He said the alarm was draining more power than it should. I pulled the alarm brain and disconnected the constant 12+, and ground wires from the alarm harness, and it's still draining. I have work all weekend and school all next week. I've designed a battery kill switch to cut off the battery as a temporary solution until I can diagnose the wiring problem over Christmas break.

Here is the kill switch I've designed:


Does this look OK for the application I'm using it for?
Would you improve anything?
Do you think something is shorting out?
Where do you think the short is?

Thanks,
Alex Cutrara

This post has been edited by Cutrara: Dec 17, 2005 - 4:00 PM

[TwistedmindZ]

hmm check for bad pin switches that is also a leading cause in drainage because it would have interior light on maybe at intermittant times. so try disconnecting the pin switches for a day or so and see what happens (just unscrew them and unplug them). with that test light thing you mentioned earlier it wouldn't make any sense to pull fuses because as long as the main 100 amp fuse is connected it completes the ground to the alternator/starter so it should always stay on anyways as long as it completes the path to ground and only way that it doesn't is if it is disconnected at the main fuse. Like i mentioned earlier try pulling out various fuses and putting a multimeter set up for reading amp draw and the 2 probes in 1 on each side of the fuse slot. If it reads more than an amp in certain fuses that could be the reason for the drain. If you follow that last step you should be able to figure out your problem. Let me know if that helps if not i'll think of other stuff but as far as i know if any accessory is drawing any current at all it should show up on the multimeter. this must be don't with ignition off and key out. there are 2 reasons a battery would drain besides having a bad cell 1st is grounding or getting pinch slightly (enough to drain power but not blow fuse (like a cigarette lighter when you push it in it heats up but doesn't affect the cigarette light fuse)) 2nd is something is defective and is either staying on after car off (ie. doorpin, relay not closing, could even be defective radio that drains too much for memory although rare). check all alarm connections make sure they taped up good or crimped good with no strands poking out. if you have amps check for loose strands in cables.

This post has been edited by TwistedmindZ: Dec 24, 2005 - 5:19 AM