Triumph Repair: TR-6 Battery Drain, starter solenoid, fuse box

Question
Hi,

I believe my 1973 TR-6 is having some serious battery drain. I don't THINK it is the alternator because if I charge the battery I can drive the car for as long as I want and the car hasn't shut off on me yet. However, if I turn the car off after a long drive and try to immediately turn it back on the car battery is dead. It's a new battery so that should not be the problem either.

I did some troubleshooting and tried your light test for drain I've seen you suggest to other people. I disconnected the cable from the positive termindal and used a test light between that terminal and the cable.  Sure enough the test light lit up.  I tried reconnecting the cable to the postive terminal and removing all the fuses in the fuse box to localize which circuit was causing the drain, but jumping any of the fuses with the test light did not light up the test light.  I left the fuses out and disconnected and the cable from the battery and it was still showing drain.  This leads be to believe that the drain is somewhere before the fuse box but I don't know where.  I also disconnected the alternator but it still is showing drain.  Do you have any ideas where the drain could be?

Thanks !
Scott

Answer
Hi Scott,
I could not guess where a drain is on your car but I can tell you how to find it.

Take a wiring diagram of your car and first remove the large brown and the small brown wires off of the starter solenoid and put the test light between the cable and the battery post. Then test which wire is making the test light come on by touching each to the solenoid (with the battery cable on it). If it is the large wire remove the large brown wire from the alternator (this should not be the one because you said you already checked it) Now test the small brown wire and if it lights the test light remove the small brown wire from the fuse box. If the light don't go out you have a short in the harness between the solenoid and the fuse box. If it does go out follow the diagram and go to the next junction and so on.

You see how the test procedure goes. It must be a systematic procedure going from the wire to the drain or short a step at a time and following the diagram exactly. If you don't have a diagram let me know and I will put one up on my web site for you to copy.

Working in dealerships I learned never to try to guess what is wrong in electrics. The only way to find a problem is by testing. It is a 100% effective method of finding a problem.
Howard