Hey, guys, I have this problem with my 74 Nova draining my battery and I've been going through new batteries about every week. I try to start it, but it won't turn over. I don't have any stereo system or anything like that, except for a cd player.

At first I didn't have a ground wire running from the regulator and now I do and I thought that was the problem. I want to say it's the alternator, but I haven't got it tested yet. I wanna get second thoughts what else it could be. Thanks!

A short somewhere in the wiring causing the battery to discharge. If you drain a standard battery down below 10 volts you shorten the life span of the battery (6 volts for a deep cycle battery). So even though you recharge it with a regulated trickle charger you are throwing away years of a batteries life span.

Put a meter between the battery and the cables to see if it has current flowing through the wire (most meters are protected up to ten amps by an internal fuse, but I would use a test lead with a smaller in-line fuse for this test). If you have a short it will show a load even with everything off. It could be a defective ignition switch, or something that is always energized could be "leaking" (defective) such as a horn relay, lighting relay, starter solenoid, or even the fuse box.

Big Dave

Hey, guys, I have this problem with my 74 Nova draining my battery and I've been going through new batteries about every week. I try to start it, but it won't turn over. I don't have any stereo system or anything like that, except for a cd player.

At first I didn't have a ground wire running from the regulator and now I do and I thought that was the problem. I want to say it's the alternator, but I haven't got it tested yet. I wanna get second thoughts what else it could be. Thanks!

Well you can do a quick test of your Charging system by just putting a volt meter on the positive terminal of your battery with the car running and if you have at least 13.25 vdc or better your charging system is at least putting out ample amount to keep the battery charged. It's not saying that it is regulated but it should keep a charge.

Do you have any non-original wires running through the firewall? Do the holes have grommets preventing the possibility of a grounding situation?