'88 Chevy 350 Electrical Short?

Anonymous-0 · Dec 11, 2012

About two months ago I installed a new battery in my pickup, (which I haven't driven since). The other day I got somehing off the seat & noticed a dim dome light. Of course the starter was too. Upon putting the battery charger on it, the indicator needle stayed on "charged". I left the charger on for about 20 minutes & needle didn't move. I disconnected positive terminal, put charger back on and after about 20 seconds the meter dropped down to the charging position, (50 amp boost charger). I then set it at 2 amps & let it charge up slowly. I have not gotten back to it/hooked battety back up.

Is that initial charging situation normal? Also, how long should a battery maintain enough juice to start a seldom driven vehicle?

Thank you,
Glenn F.

MarkB_MI · Dec 11, 2012

I'm guessing you didn't have the battery fully charged when you parked it. There's a fair amount of battery drain on an '88 when it's parked, but a new battery shouldn't go dead in two months. Leave the charger on it for a couple of days and it should be fine.

LJD · Dec 11, 2012

There are a lot of newer cars and trucks that cannot sit more then 1500 hours before the battery gets too discharged to start (i.e. two months). All it takes is a built-in 50-100 milliamp draw. Seems though that a 1988 would not have that much draw unless you've got an alarm-system on it.

Besides a small constant draw - any lead acid battery self-discharges even when not hooked to anything. 10% per month is an average figure. Some more and some less. The more heavy-duty the battery the faster it discharges all on it's own (due to the extra antimony).

My 1998 Dodge van can last 6 - 8 weeks before it gets dead on it's own and it's been like that since new. Owner's manual says it must be started every 6 weeks or have the battery unhooked. I just leave a battery maintainer on it.

ASEguy · Dec 12, 2012

Sounds like you might have a drain. Leave the positive cable hooked up and disconnect and isolate the negative cable. Hook a test light between the negative post and the negative terminal of the battery and see if it lights. If it does, and is not really dim you have a drain and need to disconnect fuses to determine the circuit involved. I use small Vice-grips to hold it in place. Hope this helps. Gerard

ASEguy · Dec 12, 2012

Sorry, I didn't answer your other question. Yes the charging rate you describe is normal for a run down battery. Completely charge the battery and disconnect it if you can't find the drain at this time. Remember not to charge a dead battery if it's frozen. Thaw it first or they can explode.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 12, 2012

I have put an ammeter in series of course on the positive and wiggled wires until it jumps to find intermitent shorts once I know which fuse/circuit its on as previous post described. Good luck

'88 Chevy 350 Electrical Short?

Anonymous-0

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MarkB_MI

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LJD

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ASEguy

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ASEguy

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Anonymous-0

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