dead battery every morning.

Don't really know exactly where to put this but I have a 84 4X4 with the 2.8 of course. I have a new tested battery and new alternator and also a new voltage regulator. All have been tested and they all check out good. So something is drawing power when the switch is off. Has anyone had this problem before or does anyone know how I would find what is drawing power?? For now I have installed a battery cut off switch and will see how this works out in the morning.

I had this going on on my 85 B2 once it was a relay located inside the passenger kick panel right near the computer. It was stuck closed, and would drain the battery in about 5 hours. They are fed from fusible link orange i think straight from the battery and turn on your coil and some other stuff. You can't test it by going to the fuse box. I pulled one from a local pull a part, and didn't have any more problems. They are only used on these engines though.

My friend had a chevy that would do the exact same thing, new battery and alternator... turned out to be the starter for whatever reason. You might want to get it tested or the solinoid (but those don't go out very often).

thanks for the input guys. I found some sort of relay boxes that are on the inside of the pass. side fender that click when I reconnect the battery. They look like they have vacuum hoses going to them. Any ideas?? on what they are??

Remove the negative battery cable. Put a test light between the cable head and the negative terminal on the battery.

Make sure the doors are closed, glove box closed, ignition off, under hood light off.

If the light illuminates, you have a battery drain. If it doesn't light, and the battery continues to lose charge, the battery is possibly bad with an internal short.

With the test light illuminated, remove the large wire on the back of the alternator. If the light goes out, the alternator or the wire going to the alternator has a problem.

If the light remains lit after the alternator wire is removed, replace the wire and go to the fuse box.

Start removing fuses and relays and see if you can get the light to go out. If you remove a fuse or relay, and the light no longer illuminates, you have a problem in that circuit that needs attention.

When doing this, it is a great help to have a electrical circuit diagram. Most Chilton's have a diagram that is helpful enough for diagnosis.shady

They are solenoid valves for your smog system. They are used to turn on vacuum diaphrams for things like your egr valve and such. Find out what is turning them on, and it could be your drain. You need a manual with a wiring diagram for your truck then go line by line from the battery. Find out what is on like shady said for all of your circuits and then find out why.
It could be a switch that's bad or most likely a relay that has its contacts welded shut.

All a relay is is an electrically controlled switch. It can carry more amperage(current) than most switches, as well as control several items at once like turn something on and something off at the same time.

A solenoid is similar but instead of opening or closing electrical contacts it opens or closes orifices for such things as vacuum, pneumatics(air), or hydraulics. Inductive loads like coils that operate these devices can be great loads. The relay that I talked about in my last post controls the ignition coil, and some other things at the same time.

Did you check that one. It is under your passenger kick panel. If you take it out you should see two terminals that are separate from the other 3 or so. These are your coil If you put 12v to these you should change the state of the other 3. One of the other 3 should be common, one should be normally open, and one should be normally closed. The common one is where you where you would put 12v to power what you want to control. Normally open is in the off position when you are not powering the coil, and normally closed is in the on position when you are not powering the coil. Now when you power the coil you change the state of the NO, and NC contacts turning off NC and on NO. If your relay doesn't do this the contacts are welded shut and the load it is controlling is always on even when you turn the relay off, because it can't release the NO contacts. Put your multimeter on continuity or OHMS it looks like a horse shoe or omega symbol. Then use it to identify your contacts. It should read 0 from common to NC and infinity from common to NO. Apply 12v from your battery to the coil and your contacts should change. The one that read 0 should be infinity and the one that read infinity should read 0.

Hope this helps, not sure where your skill level is so if this is below your level sorry. If it helps you or some one else I guess it's ok.

That solenoid under the kick-panel clicks rather loudly about 10 seconds after the ignition turns off. Turn off the truck and listen; if there is no click, start there.
I'd use a ammeter setting between the batter post and cable to see how much is being drawn with the ignition off. (don't try and start the engine with this set-up because it could fry your meter.) Then pull one fuse at a time to see if you can locate the circuit.

The must be more detailed trouble shooting info on the 'net somewhere.
My experience is that auto electrical troubleshooting can be some of the hardest to find, but easiest to fix.

Yes this little problem is a pain in the neck. To make it ten times as bad is it is only a sometimes problem. Sometimes it drains the battery and sometimes it doesn't. I have a battery disconnect switch and at times when I shut her down I can hear something clicking a few times after it has sat for about 15 minutes or so and at other times I have sat beside the truck for an hour and not hear anything. The relays that were clicking when I turn my batt. disconnect switch on only click about one out of every four days I try it so I have no clue where to go from here. I am sure it is something simple but when it only happens every so often it will drive you nuts!! The parts store is about to shoot me because I have had my battery, and alternator tested so many times. So for now i will just disconnect the battery every night when I park her.

A bad solenoid somewhere! Maybe get some from a junker and replace them and try it out. That one under the passenger kick panel controls the others and may be the place to start. If a used on fixes the problem, then buy a new one and relax for 20+ years.

One more question.... Since it is only a sometimes problem and the truck has to sit for a few minutes when it does happen wouldn't it be something else besides the relay inside the kick panel? I would think that something is breaking down somewhere sometimes and is sending power to the relay inside the kick power causing it to close. I would think that if the relay was bad it wouldn't open after turning the truck off, and then all of a sudden decide to close on it's on a few minutes later. Dang this has me stumped..

The relay may have an intermittent problem. Th relay coil is actuated by electricity, by the contacts are mechanical. It would not go 'on' without current, but it could stay on due to mechanical malfunction. Some relays have both normally open and normally closed positions, so it could be either way. The relay at the computer has a timer to turn off after all else is off.
Sorry that I can't give an easy answer, but although this stuff seems like magic, it is basic logic and mechanics.
While we are on electronic components, the ground is just as important as anything else in the circuit. I have found more than one problem that was caused by a poor ground.
Also the ignition switch may be a problem, but not likely.

Yes I was assuming that it was normally open when things were shut down because it opens after turning the switch off, and closes as soon as you turn the switch on....of course that is when it is not acting up. Yesterday I hooked up /reconnected my battery and noticed the relays were clicking as soon as I made contact. When I removed the kick panel and shook things up a bit the relay opened like it should be and the power drain stopped. things have been normal as of right now. Nothing clicking when I reconnect the battery and such.

Ok update..... I just got back from the parts store where I bought a ECM/EEC control relay. The parts manager stated that it was possible for the relay to heat up while running and then cause it to close after it cooled down. The relay was only $14 so we will see if this fixes the problem. The only next step I can think of is just getting a new EEC/ECM as that is what sends the signal/power to the ECM/EEC relay. They have them for like $130. I just hope by some chance it is the relay.

Well it has been 8 days since I replaced the relay and the battery hasn't died yet. So I guess it is safe to say that was what caused the problem.