Car is a late-70s Lincoln sedan, moderate mileage, owned and not driven much by an old man (friend's late father). Naturally it has power windows and other accessories.
The battery went dead, and looked old and crusty. So my friend bought a new battery and asked me to help with swapping it in. When I went to connect the cables to the terminals, there was so much arcing that I couldn't get the clamps on.
Key was out of the ignition. No accessories, to our knowledge, were turned on. Yet something is obviously draining power . . . .
I'm an experienced shadetree mechanic; have rebuilt engines and auto trannies. However, electrical gremlins are not my forte and neither are FoMoCo products. Any suggestions? How do I go about tracking this one down?|||Start at the fuse box. Connect an amp meter in line at the battery, and start pulling fuses and breakers. If you still have an amp draw, disconnect the voltage regulator, if external. If this removes the draw replace it. If you still have the drain, disconnect the alternator. If disconnecting the alternator removes the drain, replace the alternator. Replace fuses and breakers one at a time, checking amp meter each time, and you should find your drain.|||not to dout your abilities,but first make sure you are connecting the battery up right.the positive goes to the starter solenoid mounted on the fender by the battery box.if the arcing contines,disconnect the cable at the solenoid and remove the smaller wires.reconnect the large cable and then start touching the smaller wires one at a time to the large cable.the one that arcs is the culprit.|||Shouldn't be any arcing from a new battery into a car. Off or on. Thats the strangest thing of what youve said.
Might want to check out the starter and the alternator as well. If those are on the fritz they can cause a drain that will kill a battery.
If you have AAA they can check out the lead culprits for free.|||you f'd up on installing the battery or the starter is also crusty to the point that it is touching neg to pos , replace the starter, you probably fried the voltage regulator hopefully it is separate from the alternator, if the car is running test the voltage on the battery while the car is running, also see if there is battery fluid coming out of the top of the battery, if so the voltage regulator is shot, and you don't have a draining problem you have a battery killer problem by continuously over charging the battery via a faulty voltage regulator sending to much voltage back the battery, each battery may work for a week or 2 but it will kill the battery and possibly make it explode.|||Before you start self diagnosing the problem and spending mucho dollars only to find out it didn't work, take it to an automotive electrical shop. They can trace the draw in a very short time.Then you can decide whether you want to pay them to repair it or do it yourself.Be prepared to spend $50-$75 for the diagnosis.|||I've worked on a few old Lincolns. You have to love them, because the original harness has usually been cut into several times. If it sparks to ground right away, I'd be looking at the biggest lead going to the starter. The old starter may be shorted, and that will cause a huge arc. After you find the BIG short (and it shouldn't be hard to find. Substitute a small battery and use a regular static light) isolate/remove it and then replace the new battery. Then run some heavy ground straps (8-10 Ga.) from the engine and from various other solid parts of the body to various other parts of the engine compartment. This will eliminate transient drains caused by corrosion and wear. You may want to just take the time and run the whole harness from the fuse box with the ohm setting on your multimeter. If you plan on keeping the car it's a good investment of your time. All classic car diagrams are available free on-line. (several sites).
Good Luck,
Sisao Tresed
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