battery keeps going flat

[kurtis]

hey guys.
heres the thing i just recently made a custom dash for my sprinter and noticed that as soon as the original dash cluster was removed my car can no longer hold a charge? i was wondering if anyone would know why that is?
i thought maybe the dash had power running threw it all the time and i have pulledd it out so power only runs to the dash but not back?


bit full on but hope you can help?

cheers
kurt

[rthy]

try pulling the fuses out one at a time and see which one is sucking the power

[slide86]

what you can also do is put a multi meter in series with the negative terminal and the battery. then monitor the current draw.

pull out each fuse and when you see the multimeter drop in current draw, you will know that the circuit you have just pulled is drawing excessive current

[us_ae86]

what you can also do is put a multi meter in series with the negative terminal and the battery. then monitor the current draw.

pull out each fuse and when you see the multimeter drop in current draw, you will know that the circuit you have just pulled is drawing excessive current[/b]
damn. you said it before i could.

[dirty_86]

i was taught that the dash light " charge" completes the circuit?

[slide86]

you are right ^^^

you will find that there is a wire that comes off the alternator for the charge light.

i think that the alternator WILL NOT charge unless this wire is operational. that is another thing to check.

check the battery voltage while the engine is running.....it should be round the 14.0-14.5v for a good charging system. this may be your fault