Battery Drain

[Dads502]

I have a recently restored 69 Camaro with Painless wiring, and Optima battery mounted in the trunk. It has a high output Alternator, and 1 gauge cables running from the trunk to the engine. While driving, the battery charges normal, but after shutting down the engine, there is a 4 amp draw on the battery as measured with an ampmeter on the cables. I have checked all fuses and nothing seems to be related to the current draw. It will go away after several hours of sitting, and it will also go away immediately if I disconnect the battery cable for about 10 sec. Does this sound like a bad relay, or battery?

[XcYZ]

4 amps is a substantial drain.

Have you tried disconnecting your alternator?

[morris69]

I just had that same problem with my 69 it was my altenater it was a one wire and i had a two wire setup

[907rs]

Did you ever figure it out?

[71Nova]

with your battery in the trunk are you running the 1 wire alternator wire all the way back to the battery? or to the starter?

[fatlife]

make sure you have your meter set right, a .004 amp draw can look like a 4 amp draw if you don't have it setup right. If your battery isn't going dead after sitting for awhile I would say nothing is wrong

[Dads502]

I'm running # 1 wire directly to the starter, and a #1 wire both to chassis ground and all the way to the engine block. The amp meter was set correctly and it was a 4 amp drain.

As it turned out, there was a faulty internal voltage regulator in the alternator. I sent the alternator back to Tuff Stuff and its being repaired.