Dies When Headlights Turned On

First off, I have a 88/89 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 with a 2.5L TBI and manual trans. I say 88/89 because the title says the Jeep is an 88, but they previous owner tells me that only 89 parts work with the engine.

I bought the Jeep Sunday, fired it up right after I signed the title (I had looked the Jeep over the day before), then started it up again when the tow truck arrived (didn't want to drive it without proper registration), and then again when they had to move it. After it was delivered, we started it one more time to get it into my driveway.

I didn't get back to the Jeep until Monday night. I sprayed some Gunk engine degreaser in a few places, and hosed off the engine. After everything dried, I decided to take the Jeep for a drive, but there was no juice at all. So I hooked it up to the battery charger and let it sit over night. Tuesday morning when I woke up, I went straight to the Jeep. I had headlights, signals, and interior lights. I went to start it and all I heard was a click, which made me believe that either my charger was not working (it is ten years old), or the battery was not taking a charge. After a couple hours of running errends, I hooked the charger back up to the Jeep. The charger stayed on the Jeep for seven hours, and still, would not crank. I ran the battery up to my work (I work in a tire shop) and tested the battery. Read 428 amps, and 12.56v. So I took the battery home, and left it in the Jeep, but disconnected.

Then this morning, I tried to start it agian. Still just clicking. I left everything connected, and went to work. Cambe back this evening and found a broken terminal connector. So I replaced that, and still nothing. So I decided to try to jump it with my other truck, and it finally cranked, and started. The Jeep sat running for five minutes while I moved cars around in the driveway to take it for a spin. And then as soon as I pulled the headlight switch, the engine died and I had no power at all.

I am taking the battery and alternator back to the shop tomorrow to test them.

Does anyone else have some advice for me on what to check for draw? It didn't seem to have any issues until I degreased the engine, but I don't see what that could have done to constantly drain the battery (if that's the issue).

I'd first check ALL of my grounds.

Well, the alt tested good (even though it's the 74 amp alt instead of the 105 amp alt I should have for AC). And retested the battery, it passed, but marginally, so I charged it a little more and retested it. Again, passed marginally.

Reinstalled the alt and battery, and the Jeep started fine. Even shut it off to restart it, and again fine. Turned on the headlights, brights, and 4 ways, and no problems. Let the Jeep run for a couple minutes, and the charge light didn't come on (makes me wish I had my Sport dashboard from my last Jeep in this one). Even took it for a drive, and everything was fine.

Started to do a parasitic (sp?) draw test, but there was no conductivity between the negetive battery terminal and ground wire.

Crabapple: I checked a few of the grounds, and they were all tight. Kinda limited to what I was willing to check in the dark with a flashlight.

I think one of the wires on the alt may have been loose, which prevented my battery from charging. I did have the headlights, brights, and signals on for some time trying to figure out another electrical issue. But that's another post.