Electrical Issues, Sadness... Options

[Poonicus]

Alright so last night, even though I was just driving my car about 2 hours before, the battery was dead so today after i got off of work I consulted the almighty Haynes Repair Manual(Celica Bible). Which lead me to what I thought it could be which is a bad alternator or bad battery upon testing following the book in this step.
Step 14 in Chapter 5 Engine eletrical systems
i)with the key off, insert a test light between the negative battery post and the disconnected negative cable clamp.
1.if the test light does not come on, reattach the clamp and proceed to the next step.
2.If the test light come on, there is a short in the electrical system of the vehicle. The short must be repaired before the charging system can be checked.
3.Disconnect the alternator wiring harness.
A.If the light goes out, the alternator is bad.
B.If the light stays on, pull each fuse until the light goes out(this will tell you which component is shorted).
-From page 5-9

I had to stop on number 2 because the light was still on and I was wondering if it would be better to try and hunt down the short or just park the celica and find a 3gste or something to stick in it since I was looking into turbo charging the motor anyway or what. I also don't depend on the car for much or should I just sell the car and let someone else deal with it and move on to a better project that doesn't have rust on the body from being up north, just looking for some opinions and maybe some help.

[JasonTX]

if you have a multi meter you can diagnoise this pretty quickly and they can be had for about 10 bucks

place the leads on the battery terminals
on the dc voltage scale you shouls be getting 12.4 volts when the car is off
13.8-15 when the car is running. if you are not bad alt.


if you are getting the correct voltage when charging shut the car down dissconnect the battery and check the battery after a few minutes and see if your battery has discharged. if its less than 12v, bad battery

if you car is charging and holding a charge connect the wires and if it drains the battery you'll know to start checking each curcuit at the fusebox. put your multimeter on a miliamp scale and check each circuit

your more than welcome to swing by here i've got everything you'll need,i've got a battery tester, multimeters and prolly even a spare harness, but its a bit of a hike.



peace

-jec

This post has been edited by JasonTX: Mar 1, 2014 - 1:47 PM

[eMrock32]

Well how long could the test light stay on after you removed the cable? Does it stay on for quite awhile? If it does, then it could be pretty easy to track down. I basically use a high end meter at work that tells me how many milliamps the car is pulling. Once it gets to around what it needs to be, the light shouldn't turn on.

Hook the light back up and start pulling fuses. Once it goes out, look at the last fuse you pulled and find a diagram of what all is on that circuit. (Stay away from the bigger fuses or ignition fuses till you have tried all of the small ones first, this will eliminate circuits farther down the line).

Once you have a diagram, put the fuse back in and start unplugging the accessories that are on the circuit. Once it goes out again you have found it. Sometimes it sucks when you have to rip out the interior to get to the connector, but the last one I did, I had about 4 hours in tracks wires and it ended up being a 650$ bill. Customer wasn't as thrilled...

I'd say try to find it and if you Dont succeed, then think about parking it.

[Poonicus]

I think I might park it because with this mandatory insurance stuff happening in 30 days I'm going to be able to afford the car anymore unless I park it and do a motor swap later..

[JasonTX]

I think I might park it because with this mandatory insurance stuff happening in 30 days I'm going to be able to afford the car anymore unless I park it and do a motor swap later..

hasent liability insurance always been mandatory in tx?

[Poonicus]

I think I might park it because with this mandatory insurance stuff happening in 30 days I'm going to be able to afford the car anymore unless I park it and do a motor swap later..

hasent liability insurance always been mandatory in tx?

No the health insurance stuff, obamacare and whatnot.. Been thinking about it and I think I might do a 3gste swap anyone selling a decent motor?