Electrical Hell!

[Lephosto]

okay! I am really slow so please bear with me. Is this the right setting to check with? If so, I got everything checked then!

Left Side

.0

.0

.0

.14

.0

.0

.0

Right Side

.0

.0

10.4

.0

.60

.0

.0

And when I disconnected the Negative side from the battery and then used that setting to check, it came up with 12.1. If this isn't the right setting maybe someone can tell me which one to use?

[MikeW]

If you read the meter properly you've only got a 12mA (0.012A) drain which is not much. Your headlights probably each require a 10A fuse and even if they actually draw 5A each for a total of 10A then that would be over 800 times as much current. When you accidentally leave headlights on they might drain the battery in a couple of hours so you should be able to go for a couple of months at only 12mA. Lasting only a week clearly is a problem. I suppose it's possible that the problem is intermittent. I'll have to let someone with a 280Z let you know what those fuses power as it's probably different than my 240Z. You might try pulling the 3rd fuse on the right side and see if it will sit a week that way.

[Lephosto]

Appreciate the link lmcguffin. I now know the fuses are pretty much all wrong. Makes me wonder if when I put in the right ones if they will blow immediately. This is a picture I took of the mess. The wires confuse me and I get lost easily since some of them have been spliced with other colors.

And thanks for the advice MikeW the only thing is, is that it already won't start...I had automatically had concluded it was an electrical issue since I have worked on other parts. Perhaps I was wrong to jump so quickly...

[Lephosto]

Well, I got it running again. Traced some wires to the started and one that looked like it had been spliced and wrapped with electrical tape had corroded away inside the tape and was no longer making a connection. Fixed that and it started right up again! -sigh- Now all I have to do is figure out why there are so many loose wires....

[Lephosto]

And now it goes down again!! Driving it along, charge light flashes on the voltage meter, and then the car dies. I get it started again by stepping on the gas but now a nice black smoke is bellowing from it....

[lmcguffin]

Lephosto,

There are circuits that are fed from the fusible links under the hood that don't go thru the fuseblock. These are circuits for the fuel pump, fuel injection, alternator, etc. The relays for the fuel pump and fuel injection are located inside the bracket/box that the fusible links are mounted on. Check these devices for bad connections and/or current leakage. If the relay that supplies the fuel injection system is bad or has a welded contact then that could be a source of current leakage. Could also explain why the engine died suddenly.