Hey guys,

after jump starting my car (1994 ef falcon futura, 6cyl auto on petrol) my dash board gauges are all dead.
I popped the fuse lid but couldnt find one for the dash, is there one or is it somewhere else on the car? Also, on the way home after jump starting it the car backfired twice, one right after the other, the car has never ever done that before.

Fixing the dash gauges will get me out of trouble for a while until I solve the major issue which is my battery going dead for no reason at all, 3 times in 2 weeks its happened. At first I thought it was the boot light staying on because I tend to gently lower the boot which closes it but sometimes doesnt disengage the light, but it aint that cause I have checked it. The only other strange thing the car has done in the last few weeks is the front passenger window button doesnt always work when you try to bring the window up, you have to press it a few times then it works.

any suggestions are greatly appreciated, its doing my head in,

Last edited by madmuso on Tue Dec 27, 2011 6:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

First thing I'd be doing is making sure your battery to body, and body to motor earths are all good, make sure your battery terminals are all clean and tight, and check the big fuses in the fuse box next to the header tank.

Gab

Hey Gab,

thanks for the reply mate, I checked all the terminals, even took them off and cleaned them up with sandpaper, everything is freshly tightened now. I followed what I think is the ground cable from the negative terminal to the block of the motor, that was all tight and good and not broken anywhere that I could see.

After I tightened up the terminals, etc, the dash board gauages began working again, so I thought it was just the terminals cables, etc, that needed tightening. So I jump started it and took it for a drive. Its now been sitting in my driveway for 5 hours, and again, dead, when I turn the key it just makes that ticking sound.

Something is draining the battery when the car is off and stationary but i dont know what. Could it be the rear passenger door lock trying to engage and lock the door therefore draining the battery?
I only learnt that the rear door hasnt been locking (think the lock motor is stuffed). I cant hear anything when the car is off though, its not like I can hear the locks motor trying to work, etc.

So far I have checked for the: Boot light staying on, amp from cd player staying on, lights in the cabin staying on, electric window buttons jamming/staying on, but all the above seem fine from what I can see.

I havent checked the battery to body and body to motor earth cause im not sure where they are, I could only locate the earth that goes from the negative terminal to the motor's block.


Im so p****d off,

Does your alternator work?Hook up a multi meter across battery terminals and check voltage with engine running,should be around 14.5 volts,if not,alternator may be stuffed.Also,your battery may be on the way out and not holding a charge.Remove it from car,place on a block of wood(or on a work bench-dont place it on a concrete floor),take a note of voltage and come back after about 5 hours.If voltage has dropped significantly,battery is faulty and must be replaced.If battery voltage is ok,then you have something draining your battery as stated above and you need to locate and fix it.

Hey Zabatron,

yeah we hooked up a multi meter across the battery while the car was running, it displayed 13.9 volts, does it need to be exactly 14.5? The battery thats in there is 2 weeks old because the very first time the car went dead I assumed it was the battery and replaced it. So, unless I have been unlucky and gotten a new lemon battery I dont know what the hell is goin on!
I have a replacement battery going in it this morning just to eliminate the battery from this equation, see how we go, fingers crossed. Will let ya know how I go, thanks,

One thing you can do to isolate which particular circuit is draining the battery is by removing each fuse one by one. You can also test to see if there is a power drain by putting a test light between negative on the battery, and the negative battery lead of the car.

Gab

we stuck another battery in it, was fiine for a few days until yesterday. I hadnt used the car for 2 days and thought id better kick it over. So, yesterday morning, I grabbed the keys and kicked it over, all was fine, started and ran fine. I let the car run for a while in the driveway then turned it off and locked the doors. Went out that evening in the mrs car, came home, went to shift my car and nothing, dead again. I have done what I can and tested what I can to the best of my ability, but at this stage im gonna take it to an auto elec on monday. I will let you know what the outcome is. thanks for all the help guys, really appreciate it

hey guys,

the car has been at the auto elec for three days and of course, the car hasnt played up while been there, so whatever is draining the battery is something intermittent. Just great. This scenario just gets better and better. Now I really dont know what to do, the only thing I can think of is changing the alternator just in case theres a problem with it that we cant see. Apart from that im stuffed, I cant trust the car until I find out what is wrong with it. Worst thing is the motor was taken out (around 3 years ago) and completely pulled apart, was reconditioned and new head,etc done. So the car runs great, just gotta solve this crap!

try removing the negative battery lead and getting an ammeter between negative terminal and negative battery lead and check if there is current, if there is current being drawn pull each fuse out one by one untill you find out which circuit the current is being drawn on then work form there.

i think the car draws about 30ma to keep all settings and things correct such as radio clock and stuff so if its around that it must be something else

Finally, we have made some progress guys.

Turns out the diodes in the alternator are stuffed, so the alternator was drawing current once the car was turned off. I am praying that this IS the answer.
We are changing the alternator tomorrow and will let you know how the car goes after that.

cheers again for all the help guys,

if this causes the battery to drain then im sure replacing the alternator will eliminate the problem, i was going to suggest you may have fried the computer/bcm when jump starting the car and its causing your problem, but i havent herd of people really experiencing fried ecu's from jump starting but aparently it can happen