lights are draining the battery

[81SPIDERMATT]

81 fiat fi spider 2000.... all the lights work ..left turn signal works all the time...no right turn signal...when the lights are on the emergency flasher button is lit..when i activate the emergency flasher no flashing lights and no turn signals...after A LOT of reading i am thinking that it is a grounding issue... i have downloaded artigues diagrams and am going to the printer tomorrow to print on big paper... lots of time and patience... i have a basic multi meter and i am confident that i will be able to figure out the problem...or so i thought until last night...while driving at night only for the second time (new to me fiat) the brake light came on... at the same time everything dimmed...an hour away from home and getting honked at by people for dim lights i made it...pulled in the garage turned off the car and checked to see if maybe the brake fluid was low to activate light..full..checked under the brake handle and everything looked fine..tried to start the car again and dead or severly drained battery..this is the second time it has happened.. tthe first ime a found that the po had a bypass switch for the radiator fan had come loose and was contacting the hood release ..fixed and done .hence the reason for my post...i understand about when i read about the flashers and grounds and tracing circuits.. but i have no idea why the battery would drain when lights are on..also i do not know how to use my meter to see if the alternator is doing its job...maybe the lights were too much for a failing alternator... how do i know if it is a internal regulated or eexternal and where would the external voltage regulator be located..or is it something else...i have all new brake stuff coming monday and the car will be up on jack stand for a few days while i do the rotors and pads and front bearings (i hope that i can figure all that out) but while it is up i want to track down my flasher issue..any points in the right direction about the battery would be apreciated... also i read the grounds look like bottle caps..where are they located and how many are there..sorry about the length....matt

[majicwrench]

Whoa,,,, lots of things there. One at a time. Meter...should have a DV voltscale set it too 20 volts or whatever is close. Check battery voltage, engine off, just sitting there. Should be 12.4 to 12.6 volts. Anything less that that is a low battery and needs to be charged. So charge battery. Now start car, check volts with car running at say 1200rpm. Should read 14 to 15 volts. Check those things and get back to us.
Loose alternator belt can cause battery to go down. With engine OFF, push hard on the alternator cooling fins and see if you can rotate alternator pulley. if you can, belt is too loose.
Fix charging issues first.

[81SPIDERMATT]

ok did not check voltage before charging this morning but assumed it was low because car would not start...voltage with engine off 12.71...voltage with engine running .. 12.36 .... tried a few different times... off engine voltage is dropping as well is the engine running dropping at the same rate.... after a few tries several minutes apart off engine 12.2 ...engne running 11.84.... belt is not loose... can not turn alternator by pushing on fins

[seabeelt]

Sounds like alterantor or voltage regulator, With an 81 they should be the all in one unit.

[Zippy]

How old is your battery? If it is more than 4 years old I would change it before I even looked at the alternator. I had the same symptoms and took my alternator to a rebuild shop. He put it on his tester and it tested good. Turns out I had a bad cell in the battery. Can you put in a known good battery and see if your voltages come up?

[81SPIDERMATT]

autozone says they can check it to see which one it is.... is the duralast one ok for me... and why is the one at IAP so much money....thanks for your help

[81SPIDERMATT]

battery is new

[spider2081]

Sounds like you have an alternator that is not putting out. Does the "battery charge indicator" light when you turn the key to the run position? This is important because the current through this light activates the alternator's field. If the bulb burns out the alternator does not work. Even if it does light it's good to measure the field voltage at the alternator. It's the small wire with a single spade (push on ) connector. You should have battery voltage there with the key in the run position. Good Luck

[81SPIDERMATT]

ok... alternator was good...regulator was bad.... autozone had 3 in stock..25 bucks...back in buisness..engine on meter is reading 14.8.and i wondered what that light was on the dash under the battery symbol that was bright red..now i know..thank you all so much....now i know i saw somewhere about the location of the grounds but now i can not find it....first the bulb check ..then start checking and cleaning the grounds from what i read is the first thing to solve my blinker problem...have not taken the cover off the tail light yet...there appears to be 4 lights???? are they all the same bulb??

[81SPIDERMATT]

oh and voltage to the small wire at the alternator matches engine off voltage at the battery....

[mdrburchette]

Doesn't the 81 Spider have the ground "pods"? All the grounds in the area share a funny looking round thing with several prongs coming from it for female connectors to attach to. I would remove the wires, take the pods off and clean them with a dremel or sand paper, make sure the area it screws back onto is free from rust and paint, touch a little dialectrical grease to the prongs to keep corrosion from building up. Clean the female connectors and reinstall.

[81SPIDERMATT]

found and cleaning as we go..... when testing power to the turn signal i am getting voltage...but it is constant...with the turn signal on shouln't it be not constant..only on the front so far have not taken the back lights apart yet

[DanaT]

Having a similar problem. New alternator, new ignition switch and battery was tested when the new alternator was installed. When the headlight switch is off, battery light on dash glows barely visible. Go to parking lights and it gets brighter; all the way to headlights and it glows brightly as other dash lights go on/off. At the same time the two blue wires to the ignition (one blue&red, one blue w/ light blue stripe) get really hot. I can only drive with parking lights. Any clue where to start?
A possible related issue - The car hasn't shut off with the key for about 8 months; have to stall it. New ignition switch didn't fix it. Starts great, runs strong as ever.
Can any of this damage the new alternator?

[seabeelt]

Matt, Do you have the wiring diagram for the car? Sounds, in addition to the turn signal and alternator problem that you have a short somewhere. As posted before, I would work on one circuit at a time. As far as the turn signal goes you basically have six options. A) bad bulb, b) bad circuit board (rear), c) bad flasher relay, d) bad ground, e) bad positive wiring (ie a short) or f) bad column switch assembly. there is not much else in there for that circuit. If you had a short in the turn signal circuitry, more than likely you would be blowing a fuse or burning wires. Here is the lkink to the wiring diagram if you dont already have one: http://users.chartertn.net/jseabolt/elect.htm

[81SPIDERMATT]

GOT THE WIRING DIAGRAM.....WILL KEEP YOU POSTED....GOING TO BE A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE I GET TO IT