After I replaced the starter, the car ran fine for several days, then one day, came out, tried starting it, nothing, battery was dead. After I got it jumped I've now kept the battery off every time I park the car for more than one hour.

Today, disconnected the battery, came back after 40 minutes, plugged the battery back in, turned key to on, in order to lower my windows, I heard the fan come on, and my manual fan switch wouldn't turn it off. I tried starting the car, nothing, no cranking.

So I unplugged it all, waited for a while, reconnected, and the car started up again, however the fan has been running and still keeps running everytime I drive, right from the start.

Could a failed fan switch (the one i nthe passenger head) cause such an open circuit that it would actually drain the battery during the night, even with the car turned off ?

 

UPDATE !


Went out to start the car, same thing again, just a click and that's it, however second time I let the key in turned over and after 3 seconds the engine cranked. Seems like it took 2 seconds or so for the "power" to get to the solenoid.


I just got home, and because the car had been sitting around for 2 1/2 hours, and the day heat is gone, guess what .. car started no problem.. ok nothing big about that.. BUT.. I was actually able to turn the fan OFF using my manual fan switch.


Would underhood heat affect a fan switch that way ????

 

Voltage regulator ???

Fan switch ???

Starter solenoid ???

 

are all the wires on the started tight a loose wire can make a battery go dead

 

I haven't checked them since I changed the starter, however I did check them before that, and they were tight, which is why I got a new starter.

But even so, how would the fan stay on ??


I'm trying to find one of my bookmarks about something regarding GM wiring the fan switch into the system in a really weird way, causing problems.

 

I believe that the fan switch just grounds the relay via the green wire with the white stripe. If so, having that grounded all the time would NOT cause the battery to drain... I have a manual fan switch rigged up to that wire, and I leave it grounded all the time with no issues. The fan comes on with ignition, and shuts off when I shut off the car.

 

So it looks like I may have to do the following:

Big 3 wire upgrade
New fan switch
Bigger alternator

Would I need a longer serpentine belt if I use a CS144 alternator ? And a different mounting bracket ?


Unfortunately I can't do all of it at once, due to money problems, so I may have to drive and disconnect the battery when I park for a while.