gordonr

Since your not keeping the oem set up. I would make the goal of your PCV system in keeping the oil moisture free as possible and the tops of your pistons clean.

Mach1 Driver, I don't see the necessity of a 130 amp unit if you stay away from radiator fans. Also the lack of heated seats and rear window defrost really suggest to me you can keep the standard V belt with a 100 amp alternator and keep the "Electrical Gods" happy.

I measured the current draw off my systems with a power supply that maintains exactly 14vdc . My 69 has stock factory wiring in very nice condition.Only mods are that I changed out the head lights for Wagner halogens and replaced the rear tail light bulbs with plasma leds. Park lights and dash illumination on max bright (all bulbs in dash illum operate) 5.82 amps Head lights on low 5.3 amps Head lights on Hi 12 amps Brake lights (plasma led) .5 amps Factory A/C Blower motor 15 amps Factory A/C compressor clutch 3 amps As far as how long it takes for a battery to recover from a starting sequence I would say a few minutes. The largest current eaters that I come across are cooling fans. For some reason they are set to come on at a low temps and basically never shut off which does lower alternator life. Also I would wire A high pressure switch for the a/c fan actuation as it doesnt need to run at at speed. In general I will always recommend the largest capacity alternator that fits and looks good. Going larger is a good thing.

I like your spreadsheet. There are a couple items that need clarifying though. 1st there is a wild card you haven't listed and that is the battery. It is a load. It can draw as little as 5 amps (a sulfated battery) all the way up 40-50 amps (low charge state due to a drain overnight or a charging issue generally). Avg current draw is 8-12 amps. 2nd is the lighting. I could expect max total lighting current draw at 21 amps. But the front lower park lights are out with head lights on so subtract. To get an accurate amp spec from your car the associated wiring and switches will cause voltage drops and lower the current or the motors such as blower, radiator fan, wiper, fuel pump can draw more or less. If you have an amp clamp handy wrap it around the main battery power feeding to the solenoid. Battery charger attached engine off for lighting and motors. leave the EFI systems out. Do those test running and clamp main associated with those circuits. For battery current draw battery, charger off and engine running, leave clamp on the same cable and read.

Could you list out the current draw of each system your going use? Keep in mind 70 to 80 amps is what max output would be at idle with most hi output passenger car charging systems.

I see devices as these as a future problem to deal with. I'd pass on it.

I would like to see some more voltage tests. Obviously your issue is puzzling and any real legit swing like that will cause excessive heat in either a positive cable from a shorted line or starter or the supply to the alternator. I would assume Also do you hear a loading/ unloading whine coming from your alternator? Do you have a clamp on amp meter to verify. Your meter is in question for sure with me. I would borrow a Fluke as it has better shielding circuits and retest.

Glad to see you figured it out with no guessing. With electrics you shouldn't be surprised, outcomes for the same symptom can and will have different causes. Being consistent with procedures for locating drains will always have a good outcome. If you saw no other drains then I assume you have no electronics in your car that require memory power. For example a viper remote start will draw around 43mA or a standard cd player will be 5 to 10mA as a couple examples. Also another tip, if your meter shows nothing doing the test open a door (turns on interior lights)or turn on the park lights to insure your meter doent have a blown internal fuse and connections are good as operating as those items will actually work.

Just to add a little. The interior perimeter of those cut outs in the body need to be insulated away as none of the wiring can possibly rub against an edge.

Lol, Back in the early 80's I remember using a 20 foot harness, 2 alligator clips and 194 socket and bulb walking around the cars looking for drains based on the illumination. Then when electronics (BCM's) came on the seen I moved up to a 3 watt 1 ohm resistor and read mV across the resistor for a drain reading as most hand held meters amp functions were lacking. Also the standard was pulling fuses for locating the offending circuit . Today s cars you cant do that unless you want spend all day on it. The standard now is reading for a voltage drop across fuses with your meter set to millivolts as pulling a fuse can wake up computers and ruin your test. It also takes two meters for a tech perform a test. I miss the good ole days!

What model meter do you have?

Now your getting somewhere. That reading is good but moving your ground for the module to the battery you said corrected your no spark issue. If that is the case testing for a voltage drop at the same point where the module ground ring terminal was mounted should show an issue or it was dirty, corroded and or loose causing the issue?

Its best just to see if you have excessive draw. Its very easy to check. 1st You need a hand held volt meter with a 10 amp function. Disconnect the negative cable. With your meter setup in "amps" hook up one lead to the post on on your battery the other lead on the cable. Any circuit drawing current in your car has to pass thru the meter and there is no guessing. As a daily driver .050 mA or less is acceptable. For cars that can sit for a month or two it is not. I like to see .020 mA or less.

As I was explaining and it is hard to understand. Using an ohm meter to test chassis wiring circuits will not get you the answer you need. Look up "voltage drop tests" . In other words its like checking oil pressure when an engine is shut off and your taking a syringe full of oil in substitution for an oil pump.

The term "Dead Head" comes from the current being tested is terminated to ground thru your meter. There is no spec in current draw as the specs are in measurements of "ohms". Whats the difference? Your meter outputs around 1.5 volts when it used in the ohms setting for measurement. Imagine having a wire in your harness hanging by a couple strands thats being tested feeding a coil, an ohm meter will show ok, Now disconnect the negative side of your coil while having the positive power supply terminal in place and turn on your ignition. Connect your amp meter in series with the negative terminal to ground. As a set points being closed with key on engine off your meter will measure the total current draw of the coil and if there is a loss of voltage to the positive side of your coil with a second meter set to volts dc measuring to insure no loss.

All coils get hot just by way of under hood temps. I mentioned dead heading the coil to ground through an amp meter earlier. This does a couple things. It checks the integrity of the coil and stress tests your ignition supply power to the coil. Trying to confirm if there is an intermittent power supply can be difficult. I would find a 194 bulb and socket and temporarily wire it to the coil power supply and ground the other side. Bring the bulb assembly inside the car and you will have the info you need upon the next failure.

" After a recent incident of a dancing tach, I decided to check all 3 original grounds and added a couple more. I added a new ground from the back of the intake manifold to the firewall as well as firewall to frame." A few things are going on here . Besides the ground providing a path for the ignition coil to saturate then release the high voltage it is the power "on" for the module itself to operate. As with the conversation around the pertronics and bypassing the resistance wire because of low voltage issue hurting the module, a poor ground can have the same effect. Testing electrics is testing for a difference of potential . For example using your voltmeter on "volts DC" add attaching one lead to the negative battery terminal and the other to where your module ground was bolted. Measuring a ground point to another ground point will measure a difference of "0" on your meter or "no difference" in a perfect circuit when cranking or running. In your case it wont be. I would be checking your 4 gauge engine ground as it also supplies the path for your alternators charging system. The acceptable spec with engine running with all your accessories on is .5 volts or less across your main ground. Your chassis ground can be measured the same way by moving your lead of the intake to a chassis point. Your goal is as close to 0 volts as possible as its responsible for all the accessories on your car.

If your current was too high it would have ruined your module. With most coils under 1 ohm you can expect 15 amp draw or less dead headed to keep modules happy. By having a poor ground as in your case the current draw would have been less through the module than with a good ground. BTW I would have installed Midlife's yesterday.

Sorry forgot to mention to disconnect your tach wire before the test light diag.

As most has mentioned, insure the rotor is turning. If it is do a visual inspection inside the dizzy while the cap is off. Next inspect the external ground (black wire) being clean corrosion free and tight. Next use a test light on both the positive and negative terminals while cranking the engine. Positive terminal should show a steady light. The negative will show flashing on-off-on etc. if it does remove the coil Hi tension wire from the coil and put your test light a little less than 1/4" inside the coil tower and crank to visual see any spark jumping to you test light (You wont get shocked).If it does the the coil wire is bad. From there if nothing else is found or If the test light doesnt flash on the negative side, the possibility of excessive current draw from the coil taking out your ignition module in the dizzy or the module just gave up.

Having the t/s indicator on with park lights activated usually indicates a bad ground on the that light bulb. When the park light filament cant find a ground thru its base it and associated black wire to ground will find another way. That way is thru the turn signal filament back up to the indicator on your dash illuminating it. The poor ground can be due to a couple of issues like corrosion in the light socket, corrosion in the pigtail or a bad light light assembly. Pull the lens off and while your testing also verify the right bulb is in there it is an 1157a dual filament.

When the park lights on only does the left turn indicator come on in the dash?

Try Shafer's Classic Reproductions for hose replacements.

I would look into disconnecting coil positive and running that power to the sniper ignition "on" and also a supply for the activation to an ignition coil power supply rerouted thru a relay. Relay internal coil activation draws 250 mA so you will have no issues with the resistance wire in the factory wiring and gain the ignition power supply when cranking to the sniper. Seems as thou Holley doen't want the same power line feeding the Sniper as the ignition coil.

In the early 80's I ran across this "conversion" once . A Volkswagen Bus had a fuse box (magazine) full. Lol. I can laugh about it now but it wasn't so funny then as he had an electrical issue.