Something in the electrical system, what could it be?

[dsmiruny]

Well the Talon is having some kind of charging problem but I can't figure out what it is. I had both the battery and alternator tested at a local O' Reilly's and they said they were both fine, so I drove home and it did fine. That was yesterday, went out today and it barely had enough charge to start. I got it running and disconnected the negative battery cable and the car kept running so that means it's not the alternator right? I took a look at all the cables and they looked to be good but it's so tight around that part of the engine bay it's hard to really check it thoroughly. Any ideas?

 

[dsmiruny]

anybody?

 

[Mr Peepers]

Make sure there are no interior lights staying on or anything else that could be draining power when the key is out.

 

[tenn-gsx]

Sounds like your dealing with a paracitic drain like I have been dealing with for a while. Disconnect the negative terminal and put a mulitmeter between the neg post and the cable. Close all doors and turn off anything that would draw power. Check the draw it should be somewhere below 45-50 ma. (I think, if that is wrong anyone can chime in and correct me) If it is higher than that then you need to start pulling fuses one at a time till you see it drop. Once it drops put the fuse back, start tracing the circuit.

 

[Mr Peepers]

I would definitely go with what tenn-gsx said. By the way, you could also use a test light in place of the multimeter. As long as the load is enough to light the bulb, the light will go out when you pull the fuse associated with the problem, or dim if there is more than one.

 

[luv2rallye]

Go with the test light first. If the short/drain is large it will blow your meter if larger than highest setting.