Jonathan_ED3

Like the title states, I have continuity at my battery lead wiring....where/what do I do from here?
My car is 100% completely bone stock (right now), I haven't touched any wiring.

I've been having problems with my battery running down overnight so I finally got around to testing my connections and now that I have, I don't know where to go from here.

A friend said 'just start testing everything from the battery leads back'...which makes sense, but I'm not sure I know how exactly to to so?

TIA

TurboBumblBee

i dont understand what your tryin to do... explain a little better.. if your saying you have continuity from your + terminal to the body of the car that is not good.. and would mean that you have a + wire touching the body of the car which in turn could cause serious damage to the car, yourself, or even start a fire.....

Jonathan_ED3

Yes....that's what I'm saying. I have continuity between my positve batter wiring and ground, which is bad.

What I'm trying to do is LOCATE the short.

EBP_SI

hmm...well first thing i would do it disconnect the + terminal on the battery and start at the fuse box. take the fuses out and check for continuity on the load side and the line side on the fuses. from there you can sort of isolate whats connected and causing the short.

before you do that though i'd double check any ghetto install jobs you may have had done to your car.

Jonathan_ED3

Car is 100% completely bone stock in every sense of the word.

I don't even have a radio in it. Just randomly started doing this one day.

I just now found my keys so I'm going out now to start testing.

Jonathan_ED3

After going through both fuseboxes (underhood and in the cabin) only one isolated the load.

It was the 60amp battery fuse in the engine bay. When I removed this, the continuity between the terminals ceased.

Which doesn't really tell me much, I don't think?

TurboBumblBee

who voltage does the battery put out if any??? how do the main engine grounds look? should be one on the valve cover, tranny, thermostat, and check the main battery ground as well...

Jonathan_ED3

Battery is currently putting out close to 11 volts. Any ground I tap is also showing 11 volts. 11 volts everywhere!

All the grounds are good in the engine bay.

Random crap like this pisses me off.

The only thing that stops the continuity between + and - is removing the 60 amp battery fuse.

TurboBumblBee

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jonathan_EH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Battery is currently putting out close to 11 volts. Any ground I tap is also showing 11 volts. 11 volts everywhere!

All the grounds are good in the engine bay.

Random crap like this pisses me off.

The only thing that stops the continuity between + and - is removing the 60 amp battery fuse. </TD></TR></TABLE>

is that fuse blown or is it good?? check continuity between both sides of that fuse.. im lost bro.. if i think or anything ill let you know

Jonathan_ED3

Fuse is good.

I don't know where to go from here

TurboBumblBee

you need to follow any + wire that is coming off the battery or that fuse box under the hood until you find the wire that is grounding itself out on the chassis of the car.. i would follow all the main wires first, alternator, starter, ecu... make sure nothing rubbed against the wire and damaged it..

does the continunity only happen when the key is in the ignition or just sitting there? it its when the key is in the ignition i think it will be a lot more work to trace the wire.. if its a constant wire it still may be a lotta work but will illiminate all the possible switched wires it could be..

Auex

Ok, lets start from scratch. How old is the battery?

Jonathan_ED3

Battery currently in the car is about a year old. It's good.

I tried a brand new battery and after 6 hours overnight it ended up with a little over 2 volts.

Jonathan_ED3

Update:

Pulled every fuse I could find, underhood and underdash.

Nothing gets narrowed down. The only thing I found out is that if I pull the 60A battery fuse the continuity stops.

On a side note, this may be unrelated but my left turn signal makes a buzzing sound everytime I hit it and thinking back, this started the night before my battery was dead one morning.

Is there something relating to the turn signals that I can change out, or is there nothing there that can be shorted?

TurboBumblBee

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jonathan_EH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Update:

Pulled every fuse I could find, underhood and underdash.

Nothing gets narrowed down. The only thing I found out is that if I pull the 60A battery fuse the continuity stops.

On a side note, this may be unrelated but my left turn signal makes a buzzing sound everytime I hit it and thinking back, this started the night before my battery was dead one morning.

Is there something relating to the turn signals that I can change out, or is there nothing there that can be shorted? </TD></TR></TABLE>

yes there is power going to the turn signals.. do you hear the buzzing noise coming from the bulb outside the car or inside the car??? do it make this buzzing noise when you have the hazards on? i would do a couple things to try to narrow it down.. remove the bulb, does it stop? yes? no? is the bulb blown? if so replace it w/ a good one... if it still doesnt go away, find the turn signal relay under the dash and find out if it is good or bad..

Jonathan_ED3

Thanks for the reply:

I hear the buzzing inside the dash somewhere....sounds like maybe under the driver side a/c vent.

It does NOT buzz when the hazards are on.

I've never had to locate the turn signal relay under the dash...what should I be looking for?

TurboBumblBee

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jonathan_EH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for the reply:

I hear the buzzing inside the dash somewhere....sounds like maybe under the driver side a/c vent.

It does NOT buzz when the hazards are on.

I've never had to locate the turn signal relay under the dash...what should I be looking for?</TD></TR></TABLE>


a buzzing noise would indicate relay trying to connect and click like it normally would but isnt cause its more than likely fried... remove the under dash assembly and look on the side you should see 2 weird looking "boxes" w/ some wires coming out.. get your hands up there and touch them you should be able to feel the buzzing also as its tryin to click.. best place to get a new one would probably be a junk yard.. i had some at one time cause i swapped an integra dash in my car but they are gone now i think..

nsxxtreme

Have you meaured the load to find out what type of load we are talking about?

Usually the "battery" fuse is larger than 60 amps are you sure you read the correct label.

I would not use a continuity test for any of this. By doing this you are forcing current back in the opposite direction. You take the risk of damageing electronics attached. If your car is equiped with air bags this is a BIG NO! NO! Also your short may not be a short at all.

I would use a current meter to measure the current then start yanking fuses.

Jonathan_ED3

I don't know how to measure load.

I just do what I know how to do. Which is test for voltage and continuity....with my limited knowledge it seemed to me that testing for continuity between the two terminals would be a way to test for a short.

If it's not a short, what would it be called?

The battery fuse on my '91 Civic is 60amps...I'm reading the right one.

I don't know how to test for current/use a current meter unless it's something that can be done easily from my multimeter.

nsxxtreme

There are many things in a car that could appear as a short when measuring continuity from the battery terminal. In a car current is always being drawn by something. Clock in your car, radio, any capacitor will appear as a short until charged, small amout to ecu ect,

When voltmeters measure continuity they will supply a very small current to what you are testing. If your current draw is more then what the DMM is supplying it will appear as a short. This is also dangerous because you take the risk of damaging sensitive electronics.

If you have a DMM it should be able to measure current as well, do you have any picks of your DMM. You want to put the DMM in series with the load. Most will measure up to 10 amps.

Jonathan_ED3

Okay, bear with me.

What am I going to want to do here? Test for current at what location?

Am I looking for a high current or a low current, or what when I'm pulling fuses?

nsxxtreme

Do you have a picture of your DMM?

Here is a picture of a DMM http://www.fluke.com/products/...34473

You would need to switch the red lead all the way to the left marked A. Then you would need to turn the dial to the position marked A.

Now connect the red test lead to the + terminal of your battery. Then connect the black lead to the wires on your car that normally go to the +. This will read how much current is being drawn.

If you are using more than 10A you will blow the fuse in the DMM. They are replaceable. Do NOT turn anything on in this configuration. A car should pull a few milliamps of current normally. Yours is probably fulling a few amps. So start pulling fuses until the current drops.

Jonathan_ED3

A Fluke 77 is what I have...got it from my dad, so I don't know how old it is.



Do I put the red lead to the "10A" marker, leave the black lead at COM and then follow your instructions?

nsxxtreme

So the red lead goes in the hole marked "10A" then turn the dial to "A"and connect as I described. Watch the reading on the meter if it exceeds 10A disconnect it and take it to a professional.

Jonathan_ED3

Is it possible for an alternator to cause this sort of problem?

I traced the 'problem' wire from the underhood fusebox to the top of the alternator.