Starter drain the battery dead???
- Volts.
- Factory starter relay.
- Big Stud
FINALLY, A BREAK !!! I pulled the starter relay wires off one at a time (except the main battery cable) and when I pulled the starter cable off the relay, the Meter read 000.00
- I'm certain nothing is on such as a radio, tach light, or brake lights. Nothing.
- As mentioned in the first post, I pulled all the fuses. I even disconnected the connectors under the hood that would pull apart. Everything. The only thing that let the meter read zeros was when the main starter cable was disconnected.
Willrun, Lets work on our descriptions so we are all talking about the same thing.
@67Dart273 is right on the money in post #23 but we need to be using terms we all understand to mean the same thing.
Volts. There was a voltage differential between "between cable and battery post" post #1.
Volts drop when there is flow through resistance, that is true. So there would seem to be current flowing. But other than that, we are all struggling to figure out what two points the red and blacktest leads were touching.
Starter cable is usually the 6 to 2 gage cable one going from the battery positive to the starter.
The 10 or 12 gage wire from battery positive to the starter relay, is main battery feed for everything else. Not a starter cable.
The 14 gage wire from the relay to the starter solenoid could be called the starter solenoid feed or something equally clear.
My suggestion is to do what Del sugested. Put a test light between a battery post and its cable. With key off, door closed, etc. it should not light. If its bright, there is a big drain. start hunting. If its not so bright, or not seeing anyhting then you can change the multimeer to AMPs or microamps. Then place the ammeter in line. That is let the power run through it. Some meters will not be able to handle AMPS. Those that do can usually only handle about 10 amps for a short period. They have a fuse. A slow drain is probably less than amp but best to assume higher until you know otehrwise. Unless you like buying new meters.. LOL
Volt measurements are between two points in a circuit. You do this when looking for power, continuity, or resisitance when current is flowing. For the last you have to know where the current is flowing or is not too helpful.
It is worth check if your van has a very similar wiring to that of a-bodies through 74, and I've seen that on some later 70s trucks, but it may not be so.
