Possibly Bad Ignition Switch?

[HarukoE30]

Car: 1988 325i
Body: 1986 325e
Trans: Manual

Issue:

When my battery is connected, with the car/ignition in the off position. Something is draining the batteries power over time. It's killed one battery and unless I disconnect the negative line, this battery is going to die as well. Bentley doesn't really give any way on trouble-shooting the ignition switch. Volt levels on any wires. I am getting within .5 volt range of battery on the red wire in the off position.

At the on position it drops below 12v. Any way to test and make sure it's a bad ignition switch? I doubt the 86 325e alternator has anything to do with this at all.

Thanks in advanced.

[jlevie]

If memory serves, the violet wire is the accessory circuit and the green wire is the hot in run and start wire from the switch. I could have that wrong...

Place an ammeter between the battery negative post and the ground cable and see what the current draw is. Normal parasitic draw is 30-60ma and more than that is excessive draw. To find the offending circuit(s) pull one fuse at a time and see which one(s) eliminate the excessive draw. If none of the fuses have an effect, disconnect the alternator to see it is is responsible. Note that improperly installed aftermarket electronics are frequently the cause of excessive parasitic draw. If that applies, disconnect them before checking the fuses.

[HarukoE30]

If memory serves, the violet wire is the accessory circuit and the green wire is the hot in run and start wire from the switch. I could have that wrong...

Place an ammeter between the battery negative post and the ground cable and see what the current draw is. Normal parasitic draw is 30-60ma and more than that is excessive draw. To find the offending circuit(s) pull one fuse at a time and see which one(s) eliminate the excessive draw. If none of the fuses have an effect, disconnect the alternator to see it is is responsible. Note that improperly installed aftermarket electronics are frequently the cause of excessive parasitic draw. If that applies, disconnect them before checking the fuses.

Jlevie, Are you saying even with the car off, the Alternator could be the culprit? How is that even possible? just curious to know more on how it works.

edit:

Yes I'll grab an Am-meter if I can find one

Edit Edit:

Also Jlevie, when I turned the car on to test voltages, I got my readings & the battery wasn't re-charging itself. So I shut the car down & the starter kept spinning for no apparent reason. Just spinning & spinning until I disconnected the negative at the battery. Anything I should look into as well?

[jlevie]

The alternator is directly connected to the battery, so a bad voltage regulator in the alternator can result in excessive parasitic draw. That would also cause the alternator not to charge the battery when the engine is running.

Your starter problem could be a bad ignition switch or a bad battery. A check of the starter solenoid lead at the starter will tell where to look.

[HarukoE30]

The alternator is directly connected to the battery, so a bad voltage regulator in the alternator can result in excessive parasitic draw. That would also cause the alternator not to charge the battery when the engine is running.

Your starter problem could be a bad ignition switch or a bad battery. A check of the starter solenoid lead at the starter will tell where to look.

Alternator passed at Autozone load test.

Starter issues is still occurring with a new ignition switch.

Now; with the new ignition switch, with battery cables connected, the battery is not being drained. However, still having the starter running when the car is turned off after being operational.

[HarukoE30]

Forgot to install my cluster, which explains the no charging issues.

However now that my cluster is in, my alternator is still not charging after the 1st turn-on. What I mean by that is that the first time I installed the cluster, the alternator was charging my car. Now every single time afterwords the car doesn't charge itself.

update:

Alternator is only putting out 12.10 volts while the car is running.

[alexboa]

so you mean every time you have to charge???

[HarukoE30]

so you mean every time you have to charge???

When the car comes on, you should be getting around 13.6-14.2 volts which means the alternator is charging the car. I used a new ground, one with bare metal & still no good.

I turned on heat, lights, brights, hazards, & the alternator was shooting out numbers 11.43 ~ 11.45 ~ 11.42 ~ 11.46 volts so it keeps changing. Maybe I have a bad regulator even though the alternator itself doesn't work.

edit: Which bulb on the E30 86' 325e cluster is the warning light bulb? I need to replace it. I have used google, realoem, & bentley.

[terenrico]

When the car comes on, you should be getting around 13.6-14.2 volts which means the alternator is charging the car. I used a new ground, one with bare metal & still no good.

I turned on heat, lights, brights, hazards, & the alternator was shooting out numbers 11.43 ~ 11.45 ~ 11.42 ~ 11.46 volts so it keeps changing. Maybe I have a bad regulator even though the alternator itself doesn't work.

edit: Which bulb on the E30 86' 325e cluster is the warning light bulb? I need to replace it. I have used google, realoem, & bentley.

maybe you should change your regulator.

boaz bagbag
boaz bagbag

[B-well]

you have to ground the alternator to the block.

If the alternator passed the load test and is good, and it worked one time after you reinstalled it im sure you are missing the alt to block ground.

and the reason it worked once is when you installed it there was a little connection between the case and the bracket which has since been lost once the alt centers itself in the bracket