Owen, Welcome to the De Lorean world and the group. Earth ground just a general term that the frame is ground, but you will find places where the device is 2 wire because of where or what it is. Ground + hot. Be careful applying general automotive color coding to our cars and you can't always depend on the wiring diagram. Things were always changing. John Hervey www.specialtauto.com toll free 12/7 9am till 9pm. CST. 1-888-278-1629 -----Original Message----- From: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Owen Emry Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 9:21 AM To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [DML] Newbie Owner - First Question o0shoryuken0o wrote: > Hello everyone. > > I've been lurking here for quite some time as I've had an interest in > buying a DMC - finally bought one this month! > > There is so much that I have to learn but my first question is: > > What the heck is "Negative Earth"? What about this vehicle's > electrical system gives it that classification? Earth = Ground. That just means that the ground (or "earth") on the car is defined to be negative, so the frame and everything else is tied to the negative battery terminal -- in other words, it's like virtually every other car in the world. Expect someone to chime in with the exceptions, but you can safely ignore them. :-) > One thing that the > owner made me aware of is that over time, the battery will lose its > charge. After about two weeks I am starting to notice that. It still > starts, but gradually it is losing it. Best bet is to find out what's actually drawing current. You can experiment by pulling relays, and using a current meter. On my car, the culprit was the door lighting that turns on when a door is up. The switch that turns it off (when the door is closed) wasn't functioning, so the lights were staying on. -Owen To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/