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I have an 1984 Ford LTD Crown Vic with a 302. This is basically my work-horse car and I've no problems with it until recently. My battery went dead a few days ago and thinking it ws an old battery (which it was) I replaced it because it would not hold a charge.

Since purchasing a new battery the car startred fine until I waited about 3 hours to start it again to find my battery was deader than dead. I recharged it - car started, ten minutes later it was dead again. Now if I happen to leave my postive cable off of the battery terminal post the car starts fine when re-attached so I'm figuring there must be some kind of heavy parasitic drain from somewhere or a short that is causing my battery to wear down.

Does anybody have any ideas or insights as to what might be causing this problem? and no, no electircal devices have been left on.
 

The reference below is from http://www.2carpros.com/topics/battery.htm
Copyright (c) 1995-2005, 2Carpros.com - Professional Mechanics Online

"Here is the procedure we use to isolate a battery drain.  Remove negative battery cable from the battery.  Using a 12-volt test light, hook one end to the negative battery post the other end to the negative battery cable you just disconnected.  The test light will glow or “light” if there is a drain.  If the “light or glow” is faint, that is probably normal draw for the clock or computer.  If the “light or glow” is bright, then there is a large drain.  That should be corrected.  Now start removing and replacing the fuses one by one until the light goes out; that one will be the circuit with the drain." - 2carpros.com

 

Can it be from either a blown diode inthe alternator or a short in the starter relay? I mean the battery drains itself dead within 7 minutes.
 

doratheexplorer wrote:

The reference below is from http://www.2carpros.com/topics/battery.htm
Copyright (c) 1995-2005, 2Carpros.com - Professional Mechanics Online

"Here is the procedure we use to isolate a battery drain. Remove negative battery cable from the battery. Using a 12-volt test light, hook one end to the negative battery post the other end to the negative battery cable you just disconnected. The test light will glow or “light” if there is a drain. If the “light or glow” is faint, that is probably normal draw for the clock or computer. If the “light or glow” is bright, then there is a large drain. That should be corrected. Now start removing and replacing the fuses one by one until the light goes out; that one will be the circuit with the drain." - 2carpros.com