I have a 1968 Camaro. So I start my car when it is at my house, and it starts up great. Then I will be driving around and playing the radio, then if I kill the engine and try to start it up again the battery will be dead. What could cause this problem? I know its the battery becuase the lights won't turn on while the car is off, but the battery is only about 4 months old. So it is as if something is draining the battery, but the battery isn't being able to charge back up. Please give me some suggestions. Thanks

-James

Could be a bad bat but I would bet it is your altenator. I had the same problem last month and it was the altenator which took out my bat at the same time.

Had the same problem on a chevelle, turned out to be the header was heating up the starter to the point that you had to let the car for a while before it would start again. Asimple haet sheild solved the problem.
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Alternator or voltage regulator...beauty of 1960's engineering battery ,alternator,voltage regulator constitutes the bulk of the the charging system,aint that great!

Give your battery a good charge. Put a volt meter on the battery while it's charging. Should read about 14 volts once it's fully charged (charger putting out less than 3 or 4 amps. Turn off the charger and watch the volts decline to about 13 or 12.5...something above 12volts.

Hook it back up to the car (if it isn't already hooked up) and monitor the voltage while someone cranks the engine. Volts should stay above 8 while cranking if the battery is good. Between cranks the voltage should settle out to about 12. Once the engine starts the voltage should jump up to 13 or 14 volts.

Any deviation from the above readings / circumstances will tell you where your problem lies.

Follow dnult's suggestion. If battery is not being charged, look in two places; 1. Horn relay, driver side of radiator support underneath the washer bottle. It has two red wires with on having a fusible link and both attach to a buss bar. Clean the buss bar and terminals with a wire brush; 2. Junction block in front of battery on the radiator support. Terminals usually get corroded and broken strands. Clean & repair both.

Clean battery posts, clamps, and the terminals at both ends.

Alternator could be of too small amperage to charge battery if you are using alot of electronics/audio equipment.

Is your generator light coming on on your dash? I had a similar problem as you, but my gen light would not turn off and it turned out to be a broken wire going into the voltage regulator.