I am having a big problem with parasitic battery drain. In other words, if I leave my my battery connected, my battery will not be able to turn over motor the next morning. I tested the battery after a full charging while driving and it measures 12.6 V and charged over 14V. It tested good under a battery loader test. Alternator was recently replaced with one form the local auto parts store about a year ago.

When I connect a multimeter in line with the negative post and the negative battery cable (with the key off and the door switch closed), I get 1.3A being drawn. If I disconnect the lower left hand fuse (circled in red), it drops down to 0.8A. It is the only fuse that does this. But that still left 0.8A unaccounted for. So I pulled the double wire that attaches to the alternator via a clip on the side. It dropped down to 0.2A (200mA). That is better, but not the 50mA I have heard about. Any thoughts on this?

Are you sure your stop lights are not on after you park the car? I've had to adjust my brk light switch before when this happened to me. Also an aftermarket radio will pull about .8-1A for the memory and clock. Shouldn't go down over night though.

One of the rear lights goes on as soon as the battery is reconnected (I think the outer one), but I disconnected the bulb before doing the testing.

Sounds like that's your problem brake switch or maybe the head light switch.

How to test those switches?

Also, what about the alternator? Why 0.5-0.6 amps?

Huh?

This makes no sense and therefore hints at grounds or short or brakelight switch problems. Curious which filament lights up? Brake or lights? That would give you a big clue. How about disconnecting the entire rear wiring harness at the plug up near the left kick panel and re-testing to see if that's where your leak is?

As for testing switches, ohm meter/continuity test while disconnected from the circuit. Make sure that the "off" positions are showing fully open (infinity ohms). Anything lower than infinity ohms while off, is allowing a voltage leak.

Ignition switch could also be suspect and should be tested. Maybe it's actually going into the accessory position instead of the off position. Easy to do on these cars.

I found that the left front side marker light stays on when the key is out. Also, before I tested the fuses yesterday, I pulled a bulb out of one of the rear lights (I think it was the outer rear).

if light stays on , the door jamb switch may be bad or sticky...maybe a lilttle WD40 will cure the switch to be loose.

If you have a rear light on and a front marker light I would think your headlight switch is the problem, easy, or the wiring harness is worn contacting a live wire somewhere and powering the lights, not so easy. Try pulling the connector of the back of the headlight switch and check if the lights go off. If the switch is 40 years old it could be giving up the ghost.

The hazard light switch could also be at fault. It operates with the key off or on as well, maybe just enough voltage jump to light up a front and rear light?

My ignition switch, in the off position, was allowing just enough voltage through to get a current flow from the battery but not quite enough to operate the fuel gauge, gen light , park light etc. I was chassing wires for hours before I disconnected the ign switch and discovered my problem.

Then there's the famous glove box ligh, if you have one. Can't see if it's on with the door closed. They've drained many a battery.

I don't understand... if I pull the connector out of the headlight bulb, shouldn't it go off normally?

And what is the ghost?

He didn't tell you to pull connector out of the bulb. He said pull the connector off the back of the headlight switch.

"giving up the ghost" is just a saying. He's saying your 40+ year old switch might be dead.

If you disconnect the switch and your current draw disappears, you may have found your problem.

All those years of college and graduate school and post graduate school, and I cannot read written English!!!

Too much school not enough practical.

Last post didn't include the second line.
"I went to school for 17 years and I can read, but I can't spell and cannot add or subtract numbers."
Thank goodness God invented calculators, now if I could only get the spell check on this computor to work.

"six munths ago I cutnt evn spel enjiner and now I are one" lol

Can I just reach up under the dash to pull the connector? If it is a problem, does the dash have to be removed to remove the switch?

Also, the alternator drawing 0.5 amp... how do I test that? Could that be on because the ignition switch is not really off? The key can be removed no matter what position the switch is in... car keep running. It is very hard to actually get it into what I think is the "Off" position.

Do you have the original style alternator with an external voltage regulator or has it been upgraded to an internally regulated 10si or 12si [systems integrated] regulator?

Older regulators where mechanical and newer ones are solid state. The number four connector on the regulator is ignition switch controlled off/on [brown], number three is voltage sensing [red] connected to the buss splice at the horn relay and always hot from battery, number 2 and F go to the alternator [blue and white]. If your voltage regulator is failing it MAY be allowing some current flow from the voltage sensing wire to the alternator. Or IF your ignition switch is not turning completely off it MAY be allowing some current flow to the regulator and allowing current flow to the alternator even when the car is not running and the system is supposed to be shut down. You could take the connector off the regulator and check the number four connector for voltage with the key off and on.

If you have an SI alternator the brown off/on wire will go to the number one pin on the alternator, or splice into the blue wire that goes to number one pin. The red voltage sensing wire will go to the number two pin on the alternator or splice into the white pigtail wire to the alternator. You can pull the brown[blue] wire off and check that voltage drops to zero when the key is shut off. If you have voltage to the brown[blue] wire when the key is off you have a faulty ignition switch or a short in the harness. If you get a voltage reading at the number one pin in the alternator then current could be flowing from the sensing wire through the alternator and out the number one pin to the idiot light in the dash, in which case a diode in the off/on wire would stop current flow.

Clear as mud?

Of course I could be wrong.

Be careful when using a sensitive multi-meter when checking for small volt or amp readings you can get a current from one probe into one hand through your body and out the other hand to the second probe. I had to release both probes on my meter to get an accurate reading. Really!

I had a similar issue when I first got mine as the wiring had been butchered by previous owner(s). It's a bit of a process but I removed each fuse separately and used a multimeter set on AMPS and placed across where the fuse had been (one lead on either metal piece which holds the fuse in place)to see what was still drawing current with power off. If you're not proficient with a meter you can remove one fuse at a time, gave it a day or two to see if the devices associated with that fuse were what was continuing to draw power and running the battery down. Takes time and patience for sure but does work.

Well this is certainly a big red flag in my mind, and it goes right in hand with my first reply to your question...I wondered if you are actually shutting the car off or not with the switch. And it seems like you're not even sure yourself. You clearly have a bad ignition switch. This MAY be causing your problem. But since your ignition switch needs to be replaced anyway, just do it. Then see if it happens to fix your battery draw.

Is this what I need:
http://www.npdlink.com/store/products/ignition_key_switch_steering_column-116971-0.html

OR

http://www.npdlink.com/store/products/switch_block_ignition_correct_green-178853-0.html

AGREE WITH YOU COMPLETELY. SOMEHOW MISSED THIS PART OF THE ORIGINAL POST.

I'm gonna say neither link you provided is correct. The first switch is only for 69 tilt columns, when installing a "Flaming River Column" whatever the heck that is. Does your car have a Flaming River Column? And is it a 1969 car?

The second part is a 69 part, and seems to not be an ignition switch at all??

If you want help finding the part, it would be beneficial if we knew exactly what year/model your car was...the 67/68 Birds (ignitions switch mounted on dash) is substantially different from 69 (ignition switch mounted on steering column).

1969 Vert 350 2bbl

I need to defer to others on that one. I was pretty well assuming you had a 67/68 when you commented on the key situation. I'm not at all familiar with the 69 setup with column mounted ignition switch, as I haven't worked on one before. I'm guessing that 2nd piece you found IS actually the part you need? Sorry I do not know for sure. I believe your key cylinder is a separate part from your ignition switch, whereas 67/68 has a combined cylinder/switch assembly. To me this means the fact you can pull your key out in any position tells me you need a new lock cylinder, but this likely has nothing to do with your electrical problem unless your ignition switch is also bad.

I admit I'm speculating/guessing.

Someone who knows 69's better than I can hopefully help you.

I can take my key out when it is in aux or run position as well, but mine is a 68.

Even if you find the ignition switch is faulty and staying somewhat on when you turn the car off, the rear brake/tail light and the side marker light should not be on. They should not be on when the light switch is off and a perfectly operating ignition switch is installed. Is the rear light and the side marker light that stays on both on the left or right side or is it one left one right? Sounds like you have two or more electrical problems at once.

Having a front marker and a rear light staying on would lean towards a light switch being the cause and not a brake light switch as the brake light switch does not operate the front markers.

Or some creative wiring by someone who used to own the car. Wouldn't be the first time that screwed something up.

Good point.

Just want to throw in this little tidbit. 69 side markers (mine at least) have their own ground. If the brake light switch stays on and the taillamps on that side are not grounded, then the current will backfeed from the brake/turn signal element through the bulb socket into the parklamp element and to ground through the sidemarker bulb causing it to illuminate. If it were me I would start with 4 new 1157 bulbs, 2 new 194 bulbs and check for good grounds through the taillamp housings and unplug the brake lamp switch until all turn signal and taillamp issues are resolved. My car is upgraded with taillamp sockets grounded through the harness, eliminates a lot of hassels.

You buy new sockets or attach a ground wire to the existing ones?
If new, what & where?
Seeing rear lights out or flashing off and on when following a Firebird isn't rare, and an obvious ground problem.

the sockets I have look just like the fm 750 sockets in the ames catalogue. I had to file three slots in the taillamp opening for the three tabs on the socket and the grounds are tied together and attached to the trunk lock support.

I did similar but used the factory style sockets. I created a topic with some pics about how I grounded my individual taillamp sockets last year:
Taillamp socket grounding

Well, I got a chance to fix the tail lights. I got new sockets and bulbs and grounded them along the same wire to a solid ground in the trunk. As soon as I reconnected the battery negative terminal, all the tail lights went on. Mind you, the key is out of the ignition and the headlight switch is off. When I try the directional switch (on either side), both lights on the desired side (the turning side) go out.

When I put the headlights on, the tail lights get brighter. And, with the headlights on, the turn signals on one side do not go out and on the other side, the inner tail light goes out. It's odd, because that's the one that had different wiring in the socket. The two left and the outer right tail lights all had a black and a white wire. The inner right had a brownish black wire and a double green wire. The socket was also a black plastic instead of a white plastic.

I am at a loss!

All the way back to the first 2 responses provided in this thread...

Something tells me that your brake lights are stuck on and what you perceive to be taillights coming on when you hook up the battery are your brake light filaments, not your tail light filaments. Then when you turn the lights on they get brighter because the 2nd filaments in the bulb all light up at the same time (as they should).

Have you checked and tested your brake light switch? Is it properly positioned at the pedal? Good continuity with plunger out? Open when plunger in?

Your turn signals sound like they could be directly related to the brake switch, or could still be ground issues, and they could manifest in grounding problems within the front turn signal lamps. Are the front lamps functioning?

Now that you have presumably good grounds at the taillights, do you have verified good ground straps between chassis and engine, and a solid ground between engine and battery?

As for chasing wires of odd colors and figuring out what they are, you need to use a multi-meter or at least a test light, and follow the conductor to see where it starts from. With your color description it sounds like someone before you may have attached a socket to the wrong wires, and you just blindly repeated the same error with a new socket. Or maybe a good repair was done simply with a different color wire at some time. Verify with wiring diagram that you have the correct wire, and verify again with multimeter/test light that the wire is live when it is supposed to be. It seems that you have a slightly hacked up rear harness and need to do some chasing to figure out why/how it's hacked.

sounds like your doing good, now unplug your brake lamp switch. It is a simple switch with a 2 wire plug on one end and a push button on the other. It is activated by a flat pad attached to your brake pedal arm. On mine the bracket for the switch broke allowing the push button to pop to the side of the brake pedal and was not shutting off. Had to take it off and weld it.

Unplugging your switch should make the lights go out. Your brake lamp and signal lamps use the same circuits and elements in the bulbs. Turning on your signal lamps opens the circuit from the brake lamp switch and closes the circuit from your flasher unit. this is why your lights are going out on one side when you turn the turn signals on.

Lol, Crazecars post was not up yet. Lots of good info.

Yep. Hacked up and rigged up harnesses very common in older cars like these.

I pulled connector on the brake light switch and sure enough, the 4 tail lights went out. I replaced with a new switch, but can see the problem as the plunger on the switch wanting to slip past the rod on the pedal.

I am just curious as I am a litle new to trying to figure out if I have a parasitic battery drain, but I set the multimeter to the 10A setting and it reads a pull of 0.02, which was 0.11 before I figure out that the aftermarket tach was plugged into one of the BATT connections on the fuse box. Once I hooked it up to something else the drain dropped down to 0.02. Is that good or not?

That's 20 milliamps. Basically that's fine. Presumably you have a relatively modern radio or similar that needs memory from power? A clock? Alarm system?

If you have neither, then I frankly would expect zero. But if you have one of the above, 20 milliamps is right about where it should be.