Electrical gremlins have moved in.

[TeddyThom]

Afternoon all.

Apologies for the vague title, I have actually got no idea what is causing my issues.

Bought a new battery about a fortnight ago, it's dead as a dodo. Won't keep charge, and from what I can see, it is being drained. Owing to the fact I have been sorting issues out, I haven't been able to keep the nova running constantly enough for the alternator to charge properly. Done some checks with the multimeter, and the battery is giving off a weird as fook reading. Like it isn't showing a voltage, the multimeter comes up with some strange numeric.

Tried on my mates electricals and it works just fine, so I assume the multimeter just doesn't like my nova.

I do have some slightly eccentric wiring, like my horn and electric windows wired (and fused) direct to the battery (permanent live). I disconnected the horn from the battery and it still doesn't like it. Would it be a safe bet that my electric windows are draining my battery? Surely if it was to drain the battery, there would be some sort of indication that is doing that? And surely if there is no connection (as in the switch isn't being used) then there should be no circuit to drain the battery? Everything else seems to be wired in correctly and was working correctly when I had the car running.

Almost went nuclear at the car today, as it was supposed to be booked in for its retest, and the boost box I was using also blew up due to old age.

So any and all help is greatly appreciated, even if it sounds like a stupid idea, I want to hear it, just in case I have actually missed something.

[dgbnova#1]

Ok well bit long but one way to see if it's factory wires or odd ball ones is take a photo of your fuse box so you can see all the ends then remove the lot re fitting on at a time testing as you go or rig your meter up in the car and check as you go if it goes :tard: Then you know it's that item then if all is fine then need to look at all wires that are non factory and check the cables to the doors make sure there is no breaks in the wires if you got factory eletric windows remove the black and red that are clipped in bottom rh side of the fuse box to test it's not them as I don't think they are fused could be wrong

[mowgli]

do this electrical test.....

my dad taught me it a very long time ago..


with the ign off, undo your +ve terminal, and make a connection with either a test light or a multimeter set on voltage from the +ve lug to the terminal. this should show a minor voltage. the clock & radio memory should be the only things working, so remove the fuses for them. alternators can cause aggro, so unplug that to make sure it isn't at fault... then start systematically removing fuses one at a time & see what the reading is. this will identify where you need to look.

its not quick, but it is effective.