65Caddy Posted December 5, 2010 Report Share Posted December 5, 2010 Hello everyone! I have a 1965 Cadillac DeVille Convertible. She has a 429 engine and everything is all original. I have had the alternator and radiator replaced and the carburetor rebuilt in the 2 years since I have owned her. I used to turn her on every two or so days. Lately, I don't turn her on until a few weeks have passed. Something has been draining my battery though. I don't know what it is. I have to jump my car every time I want to start it up. The battery is so drained that I have to have the jumping car connected to my car for at least 20 minutes. I have an optima battery (red) and it is 2 years old. I don't know what else to include in this message. If you can help, please let me know what to do. Thanks! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted December 5, 2010 Report Share Posted December 5, 2010 What you are telling us sounds like you don't have a problem other than not getting around to driving the car often enough. The first thing I would do is to use a trickle charger overnight to get the battery to a full charge, then check the battery to see if leaving it drained has ruined it or not. Once you have a known good battery at full charge, you can check for things the would drain your battery. Common things are glove box light, vanity mirror lights, underhood light, or trunk light. I also suggest that you get a battery maintainer and keep it on the car, particularly in the wintertime when driving a convertible is likley to be last choice just about every time. This looks like a good one, for the right price: http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SEM-1562A-Speed-Charge-Maintainer/dp/B0009IBJAS I've seen battery maintainers that include a long 12V cable with a quick-disconnect plug that you can dangle through your grille and run under a closed door to the charger/maintainer, which you keep warm and dry inside - and which will simply unplug if you forget to disconnect it when you back out. -- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data -- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterset Posted December 5, 2010 Report Share Posted December 5, 2010 Hello everyone! I have a 1965 Cadillac DeVille Convertible. She has a 429 engine and everything is all original. I have had the alternator and radiator replaced and the carburetor rebuilt in the 2 years since I have owned her. I used to turn her on every two or so days. Lately, I don't turn her on until a few weeks have passed. Something has been draining my battery though. I don't know what it is. I have to jump my car every time I want to start it up. The battery is so drained that I have to have the jumping car connected to my car for at least 20 minutes. I have an optima battery (red) and it is 2 years old. I don't know what else to include in this message. If you can help, please let me know what to do. Thanks! :-) 1965 - It would have been nice if the car could give us the trouble codes. I would do the battery ground trick on this vintage. with everything powered off & the doors shut etc. disconnect the ground & touch it to the battery & see if you have any minor sparks. if it has an analog clock, it might spark, but it shouldn't be constant. pull fuses till you don't see any sparks, and that should help track down the drain. also check the heavy cables for tears or bumps in the plastic insulation which could be a sign of internal corrosion - which can cause a drain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted December 5, 2010 Report Share Posted December 5, 2010 I had a 65, 66 and 68, Have the battery load tested, it could have bit the dust Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1 >> 1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/ Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 Be sure that the trunk light is going out when you shut the deck lid. If that is OK, pull the negative battery cable and put a 12v test lamp in line between the cable and the battery. If it lights, you have a draw. Start pulling fuses until it goes out. Then you'll know what component or circuit to concentrate on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 sorry Ihave trouble responding without pics, Lol. It is possible that the car is not being let run long enough to keep the low battery charged, Kind of like if you start the car every day it is worse for the battery than sitting for a few weeks, The generator doesnt charge fast enough. I have 4 vehicles and constantly have 2 trickle tenders on hand, This year though on my new 97 have put it iinto storage mode and am going to see what happens lol. Welcome to the forum GM FAN FOREVER Nice, clean, luxury= fine automobile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65Caddy Posted December 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 I want to thank you all for the helpful advice. I'm going to try a few tips of yours and I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again!!! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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