ka24de new battery, new alternator, Bad parasitic draw.

[ShouldaHadaV8]

Ok So I bought my new alternator, and got a brand new duralast gold. I have always had a bad paprasitic draw and always left my battery terminals unpluged. Well all seemed good when I replaced both, everything was working fine and starting great.
BUT this morning I connected the terminals and went to crank and it , but it just didn' have the amps. I jumped it and immediately pulled off the the ground terminal and it died, I jumped it again and used a voltmeter to test how much the alternator was putting out and it was only reading 11.08 i gave it gas for about 30 sec and it went to 10.72 so I shut it off. Im confused because they're both brand new ( batt. and Alt.).
Now, I know I need to test where the parasitic draw is coming from BUT is the draw whats causing my alternators to die? has anyone had this happen to their 240sx before? I know the parasititc draw is common.

[96SLWs14]

i have a 96 which had a bad draw for almost a year. i did the same. new alt and bat and all seemed fine till a month later. the guy b4 i owned it when he put the engine back in he never put in an engine ground. i regrounded the engine ran a new battery ground. and i changed the starter. definetly check your grounds and maybe look into a starter as well... hope this helps.

[OutToWinPAHC]

Pulled this from my how too's

Batteries 101

Batteries are just batteries right?
NO, Unfortunately I know too much about batteries and that is way wrong. To keep it simple were only going to talk about car batteries.

Most car batteries are rated at 12Volts, some race cars use 16Volt applications but let’s stick to 12Volts. 12Volts is the Nominal voltage, not the actual. The actual voltage on a car battery will range from 13-14.5 while charging via the alternator.

Car batteries use primarily flooded lead acid technology or sealed tinned lead acid batteries. Flooded or wet batteries are typically OEM type. They are filled with sulfuric acid, and can be topped off with distilled water. Sealed tinned lead acid batteries, aka non-spillable, aka gel batteries use a gelled acid that cannot be topped off. Both batteries in 12 volt form consist of six 2Volt nominal cells connect in series to make the sum of 12Volts.

What are cranking amps?
Good question, they are a rating that is set by that manufacturer to identify discharge power. Each battery company sets its own formula to determine this rating so if you ask me its complete fiction. The real rating of a battery is in Ah Amp hours which are a calculation of current discharge over time. The other good rating is watts per cell. This is a power rating of the individual battery cell vs. time.

End Cell Voltage?
All batteries have an end cell voltage rating. This rating is represented in voltage of a particular cell. If the battery voltage drops below this voltage while discharging damaging to the lead plates occur. Discharged under this also create more internal heat causing the plates to separate and crack. This can lead to shorted or open cells.

Thermal runaway and Temperature
Per Battcon the battery standard organization, batteries should be maintained at 77 degrees. This is the perfect temp for a battery, but lets face it doesn’t happen. Higher temps offer more battery capacity, but internally dry out the battery causing cell cracking and cell swelling. Colder temps prolong battery life, but limit the capacity of the battery. Too hot or too cold is bad so keep that in mind with battery location

What size battery to use.
Well bigger does not hurt IF it's the right type. However, using the wrong type of battery can strip the starter teeth tight off. I have seen it happen, my own fault.

Normal VS Deep Cycle and why not to use deep cycle in a car.
Your battery is meant to start the car and that’s it. The alternator is sized above the current draw to run the car and recharge the battery. Technically once the car is running you can disconnect the battery. A standard car battery is designed for these short, high current discharges such as starting the car. Deep cycle is designed for a small to medium discharge over a long period of time. A short high current draw on a deep cycle battery provides more power then needed and can burn up starter winding, and even over spin a starters teeth off. However with a proper set up, in audio applications deep cycle batteries are recommended.

Optima red/yellow tops, Odyssey spiral cell, Gel cell batteries
These batteries are very similar to UPS batteries, but are designed for outdoor temperatures. They used a gel electrolyte and tinned lead acid technology. They offer greater starting power at lighter size and weight, but have negatives. These batteries are designed to be float charged. Our cars alternator does an okay job at that, but alternators have a lot of noise on them so they tend to wear these batteries down fasted then flooded type. The life cycle of these batteries is rated in 5 years but we only see 3, flooded are rated at 10 years and you can see up to 7 on those. Because these batteries are designed to be float charged you should never use an automotive battery charge on them. Those chargers don’t limit the voltage at the proper lever of under 14 volts for these batteries. They will ramp the voltage up to 19 volts and shut off when the current gets under a half an amp. A float charger will control the voltage and current charge of the battery a proper level, and then continually keep the battery on a stead float charge of 13.5 volts which is perfect for a 12V nominal battery.

Electrolyte aka Acid.
Never pour it out then fill the battery with water, its ruined if you do that. Test the acids specific gravity with a micrometer. The specific gravity should be 1.25 or the green ball on those floater types. Then fill the battery with distilled water to the fill line then charge the battery before use.

Clean spilled acid with ammonia and water 20% ammonia 80% water, or sprinkle baking soda on the spill to neutralize the acid. Then clean with water. Acid will eat metal and clothes. Always wash your hands and wear gloves, touching your eyes with acid on your finger can cause you to go blind.

BOTH THE BATTERY AND ALTERNATOR CHECK OUT GOOD, BUT AFTER A FEW DAYS MY BATTERY DIES?

Parasitic battery loss is the technical term for this problem. It is caused by two root factors.

A – A circuit or device in the car that stays on drawing current. All cars have circuits that do this such as the ECU, clock, and headunit memory. Those items are not issues usually, unless something breaks down in these devices causing them to draw more current. But if you have added new devices like amps, caps, engine electronics, they could be wired incorrectly causing them to stay on all the time. The other thing that can cause this to happen a nick in a harness shorting to ground. It may not be a hard short due to a painted surface, but if there is a current loss you will drain the battery.

B – The other thing that causes this… A leaking battery. When a battery dips or leaks it leaves a trail of electrolyte down the side of the battery. The chassis is grounded so if the battery is leaking a little (like a single drip that runs down the side of the battery) it will make a trace to ground. Kind of like a tiny solder trace on a board. Current flows down this trace to ground causing a small but stead discharge of current. If you battery is leaking replace it. If you have wet mark around the terminals or green fuzzy looking stuff known as copper sulfate on the terminal replace the battery and cable.

[rioredstang]

If you take the white wire off the alt. it should have 12v on it. This is the charge wire to the battery. I have seen these blow the fuse link when the alt. gets changed. I also believe there is a 10a fuse in the power distribution box under hood. Check for power on these wires, also make sure the ail. has a good ground.

[ShouldaHadaV8]

I haven't tested whether it has 12v off the Alternator but its getting 14v with it on. But I pulled the battery's ground terminal and it died right after installing the new alternator , with a fully charged battery. So i've come to the conclusion that the alternator just isn't giving any power to the battery at all. The lower engine harness is brand new and it had its own ground which is reading zero ohms, this is the harness which connects the starter,alternator,speed sensor,etc. to the main harness. ( i've heard of people having to ground the alternators to the strut tower).

I tried to use a DVOM to test my amps while pulling fuses , but I think I fried it while trying to learn..lol.

Could anybody tell me why the battery wouldnt be charging even thought the white wire is at 14v while running, im thinking it could be a problem with the main harness. I noticed the P.O wired the ground for the electic fan to a looped three-way wire which was spliced into two brown wires I have no clue what they originally go to, but its the only thing I see wrong and I couldn't see it causing all this trouble with the alternator.

[ShouldaHadaV8]

I just tried but cant find any automotive wiring guys in the area....and I certainley cant drive it to one , dont have a flat bed to bring it to one, so I guess im counting on NICO help again, please guys im on a two year long motor swap and this is all thats keeping it from being a DD, I need help.

[OutToWinPAHC]

http://mechatronics.mech.northwestern.e ... meter.html you need someone with a AC/DC current clamp, and a multi-meter. If you can get that I can walk you through it on the phone.

[ShouldaHadaV8]

Im gonna go buy the current clamp and take you up on your offer, I tried regounding just the alternator to the srut tower but it didn't work. The only thing I see wrong is that the P.O. spliced the ground for the elec. fan into two brown wires which seem to run into my ign. coil relay circuit INSTEAD of just grounding it somewhere like the struttower or headlight, but I just cant see that being my problem

[compactfean]

Yeah! I love the do it yourself attitude! With that amp meter, im sure we can help you now! Lets get rid of this demon.

[Gabes13]

from the 75a alt. fuse a white wire should lead to the lower harness accompanied with a black wire. The wire wire should lead to your alt. post and receive constant 12v, or whatever your battery voltage is. The black wire is your ground and should be ground on the back of the alternator.

You should also have ground wire connecting your motor to the chassis, and from the chassis to the battery. This will complete your alternator circuit.

Does your battery light turn on when you turn the key into the "on" position? If not, then the bulb is out or there's a break in the circuit. You can check the continuity on the lower harness (the plug that clips directly onto the alternator has 2 wires one white (i think) and the other white w/ red stripe. This is the white/red is the dash signal and the other wire is another power source that should emit the same voltage as your battery.

If you have a parasitic draw, check the "Room lamp" ( i think that's what its called) fuse in the driver side kick panel. I think it's a 10a fuse and is second down on the right. I have a problem with that fuse now and have read that others have problems with it too.

hope that helps

[ShouldaHadaV8]

All great info thanks . Im going to work on it tomorrow and run a few more tests.

[ShouldaHadaV8]

Ok well first off I checked again and I 've got the white wire connected which is putting out 14v ( gonna check later if its got 12v disconnected), Ive got the black ground wire connected to the back of the alt., and a second ground from the back of the alt. to the strut tower, I've got the ground from the intake mani. to the strut tower then to the battery.

My gauges never worked 100% so im not going to worry about the light, I didnt have gauges at all untill me and compactfean re-wired it recently. and the parasitic draw I can figure out by testing amps and pulling fuses, but i've already almost killed my volt meter trying it the first time, so we'll get into that later on.

BUT I never replaced the 75a fuse maybe that my problem. I looked at it before but it looked fine, so I assumed it was ok ,which it probably is.Its raining really bad outside today so I cant realy test anything, no garage

[ShouldaHadaV8]

Go figure the 75a fuse WAS blown..now its time to replace it and hope we get rid of the alternator problem.
Im surprised I didn't notice it was blown, I know I checked them before but that was almost a year ago, .

Anybody know a good place to get the fuses, I googled but only found used ones for around $8.00.

[compactfean]

Pick and pull...handfulls of them. There are some Nissan's with fusable link type 75amps and work as well...(they look the same but with a wire that goes back into itself.)