first problem-when I turn ign switch on power windows work. but if I start car windows will not work. second problem- I just bought this car, engine bay wiring harness looks like it rolled off the assembly line. I drove it home about 20 miles no problem. next day battery won't stay charged. jump it, fires up fine then dies. battery not charging. if the battery is not charging how could I drive it 20 miles without a problem. voltage reg is new, found another new reg in glove box. this is a lean burn ign system

with everything off, pull a batt cable (either one) off of its' post at midnight & see if you see a spark (that'll tell us if there is a draw & is there a clock, or stereo light or anything lit up inside at night with key/lights off?). With it back running at a fast idle check voltage at batt terminals and at the blue wire terminals at the alt and reg and the alt "batt" terminal. that'll get us started

will do, had to leave car out of town. will get back to it Saturday. also when I hooked up jumper cables there was a lot of sparks, and electrical frying. at first I thought I was hooking the cables up wrong. but they were right.

yeah there is a dead short somewhere. EDIT pretty rare but the starter might be the DS inside it. removeing the batt cable from the starter large "batt" threaded stud & rejumping would ans that

i'm not a fan of pulling the battery cable off to see if "???" problem exists. i feel it puts extreme shock loads into the system when either disconnecting or reconnecting, which can fry things you don't wan't too. and that is a REAL no-no on computer controled engines, which the lean burn is, abet a very primitive system. i much prefer getting out the digital meter and start checking things, then make a decision on which way to go from there.

could the starter relay have something to do with no power for windows after starting?

no, because the window circuit is not [or shouldn't be] tied into the starter circuit to the starter relay. the reason for this is all circuits other than the starter and ignition system are disabled on "start" to allow all available battery voltage and amperage to be used to get the vehicle running. however, you need to have power from the "run" circuit to power the window circuit when the car is running. many times i have seen, and repaired, the window wiring at the door junction due to frayed and broken wires. sometimes there is just enough "connection" at those wires to make the window work, then with the engine running, the vibration[s] is enough to open the broken wire strands just enough the window won't then work. i would start at the ignition switch and work toward the window switches. could also be a bad master switch or the connection to it at the drivers door. a FSM would be a good idea, as it will guide you step by step in the electrical section to diagnose your window problem. wiring problems can sometimes make a guy pull his hair out [that's why i don't have much on top anymore], but if you take your time and think a little, all those bad boys can be fixed. the intermittent ones are the worst though, to solve. keep us informed on your progress and don't be afraid to ask more questions even if you are discouraged by some grumps on here. i'm more than happy to share my experiences before i croak.

Put your multimeter between the battery negative cable and the battery negative terminal. It will show the amperage draw. Start pulling fuses until the draw goes away. That will tell you if an interior circuit is the problem.

feets, what settings should you have a meter on to do this? I know ABSOLUTELY nothing about this stuff. I have one kinda doing the same thing, but it takes several days to drain the battery.

Depends on your meter. On my Fluke I like the 10 amp setting as long as I have the key off and make sure the lights are all off. Then when I hook it up I watch to make sure it dont jump up to near 10 as it would have a big drain and kill a battery real fast with a 10 or more amp draw. Then as long as the meter is no where near 10 I use that lower scale as the normal draw should be 50 milli-amps or less. Even a glovebox lite draw of 250 milli-amps can kill a battery in a few nights. Many times when you first hook the meter up in series between the battery and cable you might see a higher draw then normal and you will want to wait a good 20 minutes as some of the computers on the car can take up to 20 minutes to time out which can be normal. But yours sounds like a good size draw. I also like to open the drivers door and either remove the door jam switch or tape it closed so if you want to pull fuses in the car to trace the draw you dont have to worry about the interior lites coming on when you open the drivers door. That way the door is open and the door jam switch is closed or unhooked. Ron

http://www.measurementest.com/2010/08/how-to-measure-current-using-shunt.html

most cheap multimeters won't read more than 1amp before blowing an internal fuse.

that article explains putting a resistor in line will let you measure voltage and calculate the amount of draw.

I have a simpler article somewhere, but basically a 100 or 1000 ohm resistor lets you find the amps by just multiplying by 10 or 100 as I recall.

I think I remember that if it was the one posted here. If you can find it please post it (at least the wiring part/resistor value) to be able to do it

I also have a tool I made years ago where you wind wire in a loop of so many turns and tape it together. Its of a certain size wire that you hook in series with the circuit and then put an inductive clamp from an amp meter around that wire as it will multiply the reading. But I have used my Fluke 10 amp scale for at least 20 years as I feel its more accurate and it has a protection fuse that will blow if you put to much current through it. I have always been careful using mine as like I said I feel its much more accurate when reading milli-amps of draw. But the other ways can work ok if you do it right. Good luck , Ron

Yeah, I posted a scan of the article a few years back.
I still have the magazine somewhere, and maybe the scan. but I have to look for it when I have time. or someone might be able to find my post from back then if they look.

A safe and accurate method of measuring parasitic draw involves a 1.0-ohm, 10-watt resistor. The resistor is placed in series between the negative battery terminal and the negative battery cable to dynamically test parasitic draw. The key-off battery drain passes through the resistor, while battery voltage is allowed to stress the electronic components on the vehicle. Very little current passes through the meter, so there’s no risk of meter damage.

With the ignition off, placing the test leads of a digital voltmeter on either side of the resistor measures the voltage drop across the resistor. Using Ohm’s law, we know the measured voltage drop is a direct reflection of the current flow or parasitic draw that’s present. So a reading of .02 volt on our meter indicates a .02-amp (20mA) key-off battery drain.

Andrew I think that is it as there was a specific ohm and watt resistor that they wanted you to get but when I got to radio shack (several years ago) I had forgot what those (2) values were so I got both (1 ohm 10 watt & 10 ohm and 1 watt iirc) then I lost the note on it but iirc you could do that parallel check with eng running to check the draw (amps) being used. does that sound right. I have both resistors still so I am gonna try it with the right one you mentioned. I'm thinking it was a way to check running draw amps without pulling a batt cable & needing a high dollar meter in series with that cable/post that could handle & directly read amps

your resistor has to be able to handle the wattage.

amps = 100W / 12V = 8.3333A

so the 10 watt resistor is meant to check for under an amp.


http://www.amazon.com/Chassis-Mounted-Aluminum-Wirewound-Resistor/dp/B008IE2IWI

7 bucks for a 100 watt to take up to 8 amps.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/231092951644?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

1k watt for 35 bucks.
80 amps.

I just checked & found the one I did not use & it is a 1 ohm 10 watt so the other one that I tried to use at the time woulda been a 10 ohm 1 watt. I dont remember the exact result I got but I do remember I was unsatisfied. I will take note of your math for what I (think) I need. Thank you Andrew for taking the time to find it! (& post it)

I agree with you as thats a safe way to do it but my Fluke does have a protection fuse that will blow if I would forget and do something dumb like turn the key on with the blower on high. But I do use my fluke in series with the battery and cable all the time to check draws and I like how it reads just what it see's in milli-amps. But you are right for someone who does not do this alot for a living as the way you have shown is safer on the meter and will work. Myself I prefer how I do it but this is good that you have posted to show how the draw can be checked this way and its safe on the meter. Ron