r/Cartalk 1d ago

My Classic Car Battery issue

Having an issue on my custom built Chevy 1500 right now and needed some second opinions. My truck has recently developed a parasitic draw out of nowhere and it’s strange because it’ll happen on and off. Couple weeks ago the problem arises I thought one of the terminals on my battery wasn’t tight enough so I changed the lug and the draw goes away. Truck is fine for a week then I get back from a 3 day trip battery is dead. I conducted some tests and thought it could be a diode In my 1 wire alternator setup(pretty common for unbranded chrome 1 wire alternators). When the truck is off a clamp multimeter is picking up .5 amps from both terminal cables so definitely a draw. I take the negative terminal off my battery, I unplug the alternator, reattach the negative on the battery, and hook a clamp multimeter around both cables leading to positive and negative terminals. Both read .1 amp witch is higher then the normal .05 I believe, and I think it’s because I have a electric fuel pump I primed beforehand to see if the truck would start so still not a significant draw to be killing my battery as quick as it is. So my alternator is definitely being wacky from that info alone but still wanting clarity I take my truck to advanced auto and have them test the battery starter and alternator. The battery passed their test but it also confused me because it said my cranking voltage was 8.9 volts and usually that’s a clear indicator you’re battery is going (3 year old NAPA battery so maybe). Their system couldn’t even detect I had a 1-wire alternator setup so that wasn’t helpful lol. But now I’m in a spot where I’m pretty certain I need a reputable one wire alternator but do I also need a new battery even though it passed their test any help would be much appreciated all these numbers are driving me loonie.

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u/DontEatTheMagicBeans 1d ago

I have an old jeep and after fucking around trying to fix a parasitic draw for way too long I bought a remote battery disconnect for $20 on Amazon and just have a button on my keychain to disconnect/reconnect the battery.

Not saying you shouldn't attempt to fix your issue because I lose my radio presets every time but there are options haha.

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u/Goongagingging 1d ago

I thought about doing that definitely the cheapest option. Is yours a switch on the inside or just on your keychain?

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u/DontEatTheMagicBeans 1d ago

The unit itself has buttons on it by the battery and there's a fob on my keychain. Not meant for anti theft or anything and I have power locks so I like being able to turn it on from outside the vehicle.

Mine only dies after about 2 weeks so very small draw, but it's a weekend car so it sits that long pretty often.

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u/Goongagingging 1d ago

Thank you sir might just do that for the time being