I have a 90 Ford Taurus. New Interstate Battery. New Cylinod. New Starter. However, the battery keeps running down. The mechanic put it on a machine and can not detect a drain. I can charge the battery for a week then have to charge it again. We took the light out of the hood thinking it might be the drain. Help, anyone heard or know what else to suggest. Thanks

-- Beth (ballen224@hotmail.com), March 21, 2001

Answers

Bethie! My brother had a ford taurus and it was doin the same thing. Turned out to be the alternator "leak'n" through. Ya'lls mite not be the same but wouldn't hurt to check it out. His didn't show up on anything either. Matt.24;44

-- ole hoot (hjoot@pcinetwork.com), March 21, 2001.

Beth, The altenator should be charging over 15 amps. If it is not then you may have to replace it. Check and see if the altenator is grounded correctly. You can easily ground it by running a small wire from one the the bolts/screws on the altenator to the engine block. I had to do it a couple of times on an old van I use to have. Check and see if the trunk light is staying on after the trunk is closed. Sometimes this happens. I hope this is some help. Sincerely, Ernest http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks

-- Ernest in the Ozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), March 22, 2001.

pick-up an in-expensive 12 volt trouble shooting tester. has two leads with an led bulb. dis-connect the negative battery cable and insert the tester between the negative battery terminal and the dis-connected lead. the tester led bulb will glow to show the small drain on the battery. now,go to the vehicle fuse block & begin pulling and replacing each fuse. when you pull the correct fuse the tester bulb will go out, this will identify which circuit is at fault. you will then have to trace out each item on that circuit to find the fault.common faults are cigarette lighters, clocks, trunk lites, under hood lites, etc. if, you still can't find the drain give me an e-mail back and i'll give some other areas to check. bob m.

-- bob mccaffrey (bobmccaffrey1@netscape.net), March 26, 2001.

Thanks everyone for you response. I took it to my mechanic for Spring Break. It is staying with him until he can search out the problem. I hope it has a nice vacation. Thanks for your help...

-- Beth (ballen224@hotmail.com), March 28, 2001.