Rain and Battery Drain (1 Viewer)

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I've read through a number of threads and tried a number of solutions and am now running in circles so I thought I would start from square one with a fresh thread. Little background, since I bought my '97 80, when it rains, sometimes I would notice it hesitate after start-up for a short time until it warms up. I assumed there was something shorting and when things dry up the issue went away. I had replaced cap and wires with quality stuff, checked grounds and any potential exposed culprits and was unable to identify the offender.

Since I live in San Diego, this is rarely an issue until recently. This past week, the rains have been heavy and while I was driving, I noticed the volts running low after start-up and then run fine after warmed up. After a few days of this, on a particularly stormy day, while on the freeway, the voltage started going the other way, peaking at about 16 volts, at which point the ABS and airbag lights came on. O turned the heater blower on the got the voltage to come down a little but the lights stayed on.

I made it to work and parked. After work, I came out and the battery was dead. Got a jump and drove it home. Battery charged while driving and started right up. ABS light was off but airbag light was still on. Since the battery was old anyway, I replaced the battery with a Bosch 27 amp. Started the truck, airbag light was still on, car revved up over 2K and stayed there and the volts were still a little high. Shut it down and restarted and the revs came down around 1200. Let it sit overnight.

Next morning battery was dead. Jumped it and let it run and the battery charged up fine. Can't find anything on, no shorts, no bad grounds. Only thing is the airbag light is still on. Saw the post about grounding the pins with paper clips to reset that light. I'm guessing running high voltage cooked something perhaps? Starter solenoid? Did I cook the VR? Ideas?

Thanks

PS, I did see the post about water leaking under the dash. Took the lower dash off and didn't see signs of actual corrosion or wet surfaces. All the fuses under the dash and under the hood are good, nothing burned.
 
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Check grounds and battery terminals. Put some of that electric grease on them and make sure the surfaces are clean. Rust and bad connections dont do good with rain.
 
Yep, get alternator tested (and not by a monkey shop).

Could be a dead/shorted diode in the rectifier stack.

IF (everyone really should...) have a DC clamp meter you can clamp it on the alternator +ve cable (goes to the +ve of the battery via a fusible link) and see if you have parasitic current draw when everything is off. You can also clamp the other fusible links too to ensure you have no significant parasitic current draw when everything is 'nominally' off.

cheers,
george.
 
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Yep, get alternator tested (and not by a monkey shop).

Could be a dead/shorted diode in the rectifier stack.

IF (everyone really should...) have a DC clamp meter you can clamp it on the alternator +ve cable (goes to the +ve of the battery via a fusible link) and see if you have parasitic current draw when everything is off. You can also clamp the other fusible links too to ensure you have no significant parasitic current draw when everything is 'nominally' off.

cheers,
george.

Have a clamp meter. Going to charge the battery up some and then take your advice. Will let you know. Thanks.
 
That was it. Replaced the alternator and volts came back to normal. Had to follow the procedure to reset the airbag code and it worked perfect. Thanks
 

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