New battery, dead battery

[fiatnoob007]

I have been working intermittently on my Spider which hasn't been starting. Every time I turn the key to the start position, the battery nearly dies, the car makes a clicking noise, and all lights die as well. After charging the brand new battery up again, the same thing happened. I am guessing a short is to blame but the wiring colors are messed up and don't match the wiring diagram colors. Any ideas?

[4uall]

test the battery may just have a bad cell

[wizard124]

I would trace out the basic starting wiring, make sure that is correct ( if color coded incorrectly). Then look for shorts powered thru the ignition switch. Other shorts should be fuse protected.

[baltobernie]

A little more info would help us help you. Has this problem just begun? Was the electrical system performing OK up until this issue?

+1 on the battery test first (free at big box auto parts stores). If the battery is OK, you have something draining the battery with the key Off. Troubleshooting a car with butchered wiring is challenging, since you can't use the factory wiring diagram. Are any of the wires or connectors under the dash or in the engine compartment burnt? With a fully-charged battery, are any of them warm to the touch?

Still no clues? Next, you'll need a multimeter. Inexpensive ones can be had for $10 or so. Look for a model that has the ability to measure current, expressed in miliamperes. Even the cheapies can measure up to 0.2A, enough for our purposes. With the key Off, remove each fuse, one at a time, from the panel and attach the multimeter leads to each end of the fuse holder. There should be zero current showing on the meter (except the circuit(s) handling the clock and, if equipped, a modern radio; but even these would be almost zero).

If you can't find any current draw in the fused circuits, then the problem is most likely the ignition switch, a known weakness in our cars. If you get this far without an ah-ha! moment, re-post.

[nalle]

1. Load the battery full
2.Check the battery voltage,
without load ~12V, if less there is a battery problem.(wait a little while ando tyhe mesurin again)
3. put light on or someting else (small load ) and check the voltage, it should not drop much.
And do all mesures at battery poles.

If you found out that battery is ok, then check the battery grounding.
On the other words check that negative pole is grounded well ( big copper flat between pole and car body).

I do not belive on shorts in battery circuit, normal battery gives app. 600A so if there is a short there will be also smoke and possible fire.

[narfire]

I trust the battery connections are tight as is the grounding cable to the car and pos to the starter...