little to no power when car is off

[blueshark123]

In my s14 when i have the key on the on position the cars radio doesnt turn on. the doors dont want to to lock all the way with the electric switch and all the lights are real dim. its like its not getting enough power anywhere http://www.240sxforums.com/forums/images/smilies/aaadunno.gif what could be the problem

[g6civcx]

Loose battery cables, weak battery, short in wiring.

[blueshark123]

yea im thinking its one of those but why does it run fine when the car is on

[jsuhs14]

It is becuase your car is not running off the battery when the car is on.. It is running off the alternator. Use a voltmeter to check the strength of your battery when the car is off if you are not sure you have a dead battery.

[blueshark123]

battery isnt dead i just got it in summer new

[pbcstylez]

recharge the batt, its possible that it couldve just been a bad battery, if so cash in on the warranty?

otherwise it might just need some more water

[Skids2212]

parasitic drain?

[blueshark123]

i dont think its a parasitic drain because if that was the case i wouldnt have been able to turn my car on today after having it sit for a week

[sil_fourty]

bad ground on the interior harnesses?

[Gnnr]

Just to eliminate one possibility completely, take the battery to your local auto parts store and have them test it. Do that then come back and post the results.

[SHIFT_*grind*]

This might be a dumb/simple suggestion, but clean the terminals off really well. I can't count the number of times I've had friends or family flipping out about how their car won't start or the electrical system is acting strange, and then I clean off the battery terminals with a wire brush or some sandpaper and the problem goes away.

[blueshark123]

battery terminals are new so i know thats not the problem. I guess i just have to double check everything when i get chance and is not cold outside.

[Tenchuu]

check all grounds. it doesn't matter how many much power you have in a system. without grounds there is no flow, and hence no power.

[blueshark123]

^ hopefully i can find out where the bad ground is

[steve_o1989]

It shouldn't be a weak battery because if it isn't providing enough power to even turn on the radio, there isn't going to be enough power to start the car. I would check to make sure that all of your grounds are good. If they get corroded they can cause some havoc.

[blueshark123]

ok i just came from my mechanic and he told me it was the electric ignition switch not where the key goes but want sends the power its right by it? as well as the alternator isnt charging the battery so i got to get that rebuilt also

[Tenchuu]

wow that is allot of compounded problems.

[blueshark123]

yea sux but at least it will hopefully run fine when fixed caused im tired of it having that problem i even spent my birthday trying to figure out what was wrong yesterday and got nowhere

[blueshark123]

Well i found out it wasnt the alternator or the ignition switch messed up. It was a loose wire that goes to the red clip that connects to the positive side of the battery it was just a tad loose and it was causing all this problem. I temp. fixed it with a zip tie lol

[Gnnr]

Yep, that would do it. SHIFT_*grind* got it right.