Dead battery...

Good luck Patrick. I went through this same stuff with my '63 chevy P/U. I actually carried a second battery with me just to jump the truck. It seemed that my Crane box and my stock alternator didn't like one another.

 

Before you try to check out the whole wiring system and rewire the jeep to find the problem. Do something simple like putting another good (or better yet a new) battery on it. Clean your battery cables at both ends.

 

Patrick, sounds like a faulty ground to me. Each time this has happend did you hit any bumps in the road or go wheelin? A friend had this problem a while back he woulld go wheelin and knock some thing loose and it would drain the batt.

 

do you have the "normal" type of battery patrick? its not like an optima type is it? what i am getting at, is if it is a lead plate type, i wonder it one or two of the plates are a little dameged from vibration, and then they end up touching one another now and again.

 

Have you load tested it, could be bad cells. If I remember correctly, Autozone will test your battery and if it is bad will replace it. Might help to at least elliminate that as a problem.

 

Patrick, Nothing you haven't seen before, but just maybe not....

I had a '64 Chebby 1/2 ton that we spent the better part of 2 weeks figgerin' out why the thing would sometimes start, sometimes not, it would stall just going down the road, all kinds of goofy stuff. We finally replaced the battery after checking (and re-re-re-checking) everything else. Seem to remember Dad thinking it was a couple cells shorting out inside the battery.

 

Are you running anything electronic?(MSD box, fan, fuel pump, amps, etc..) Like I posted earlier, I ran into the same problem with my truck. The battery might be fine but your charging system could be in trouble or just not strong enough to keep up with the demand. My truck would run fine and the next day the battery would be dead.

 

I found I have a small drain in my Jeep. After beating my brains out trying to find it, I installed a battery disconnect. Now when I park it for more than a day, I pop the hood and flip the switch. I havn't had the battery go dead for over a year.

jay

 

I wonder if maybe you might have a faulty switch. Perhaps the ignition switch might be covered on the backside with some light grit or grime from the positive terminal tab that also touches the outside of switch housing. If so, it could allow a small amount of positive voltage current to ground out when the weather was real humid. Not sure if this makes since, just a thought out of the blue. Take a mirror, get on the floorboard and look at the backside of your electrical switches. Don’t forget the horn button. Might be time to remove the rubber cover and get some Emory cloth and just clean up the brass contacts a bit.