The Ford Barn

EdB · 11-06-2013, 02:37 PM

6 volt, pos. ground system. The battery will totally discharge overnight unless I pull one of the cables. New Optima battery. Mostly original wiring [ 1941] and I cannot find a bare wire that is grounding out. Been having intermittent trouble with the head & tail lights. Could it be the headlights switch? What else? All comments appreciated.
Thank you.

Steves46 · 11-06-2013, 02:50 PM

It sounds like you have a power draw occurring somewhere. Remove one of the battery cables and place a test light between the post and the cable; if it lights, you have a draw. Of course if you have an electric clock, it will draw power but not enough to drain a new battery. Touch the voltage regulator case to see if it's warm. If so, place a test light on the field or armature connections-if it lights, the regulator is faulty. The same situation happened when I first got my 46 and it turned out to be the regulator. Also, check your brake lights to see if they are on. A faulty brake light switch can drain your battery. Good luck. Steve

Rustyspokes · 11-06-2013, 03:24 PM

The drain on your battery could be the dash light sw. check it out at night in the garage, I found my sw faulty and of course the light was on and drained the battery until I found the problem, I have a 34..

rotorwrench · 11-06-2013, 06:51 PM

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The voltage is dropping somewhere. Could also be a stuck cut out point set in the voltage regulator. You can feel around on the components and see if anything gets hot. Switches, wiring, relays, ignition coil, or generator all can get hot if there a drain in any of them.

11-06-2013, 02:37 PM	#1
EdB Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 27	wiring problem 6 volt, pos. ground system. The battery will totally discharge overnight unless I pull one of the cables. New Optima battery. Mostly original wiring [ 1941] and I cannot find a bare wire that is grounding out. Been having intermittent trouble with the head & tail lights. Could it be the headlights switch? What else? All comments appreciated. Thank you.

11-06-2013, 02:50 PM	#2
Steves46 Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Lithia, FL Posts: 1,050	Re: wiring problem It sounds like you have a power draw occurring somewhere. Remove one of the battery cables and place a test light between the post and the cable; if it lights, you have a draw. Of course if you have an electric clock, it will draw power but not enough to drain a new battery. Touch the voltage regulator case to see if it's warm. If so, place a test light on the field or armature connections-if it lights, the regulator is faulty. The same situation happened when I first got my 46 and it turned out to be the regulator. Also, check your brake lights to see if they are on. A faulty brake light switch can drain your battery. Good luck. Steve __________________ If it aint broke, don't fix it!

11-06-2013, 03:24 PM	#3
Rustyspokes Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: West Coast Canada B.C. Interior Posts: 332	Re: wiring problem The drain on your battery could be the dash light sw. check it out at night in the garage, I found my sw faulty and of course the light was on and drained the battery until I found the problem, I have a 34..

11-06-2013, 06:51 PM	#4
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 16,422	Re: wiring problem Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) The voltage is dropping somewhere. Could also be a stuck cut out point set in the voltage regulator. You can feel around on the components and see if anything gets hot. Switches, wiring, relays, ignition coil, or generator all can get hot if there a drain in any of them.