Re: battery drain/gauges

[jtrealty@xxxx]

The first thing to check is to make sure the switches on the doors 
still have the little rubber boots on the plungers on them. In many 
cases the boots get brittle and break or just fall off and then the 
plunger is not moved all the way when the door is closed so the lights 
never go off.(including the 3 on the edge of each door just in case 
you have the front and rear courtesy lights off). To test this theory 
just remove the wires to the door switches and see what happens. 
Another area is all of the diodes in the courtesy light circuit. If 
one shorts out it will cause a current drain. Make sure the lighter 
isn't stuck.
Load test a fully charged battery.(Sears will do it for free!) Clean 
all of the large, current carrying connections. Check the alternater 
output. The fact that the gauges "don't settle down" has nothing to 
due with current draw, they are off when the ignition switch is off 
and their position is normal. You might consider installing a master 
switch. Bypass the clock so it still works, then when you go to shows 
and leave the doors open the battery doesn't go dead but you still 
have your presets and the correct time.
David Teitelbaum
vin 10757

--- In dmcnews@xxxx, eurojet@xxxx wrote:
> I am finding that when I don't drive my D and let it set for two 
> weeks that I need to jump start it. I have an Interstate battery 
> which is pretty new. My other cars don't have this problem. Also, 
> when I shut off the key some of my guages don't settle all the way 
> into their resting positions. Should they all go down or do some 
stay 
> up like the fuel gauge and tach? Sometimes they'll go down all the 
> way and then go back up. Could they be draining the battery in these 
> positions? What's normal? How do I fix it? 
> Fil Vigil
> 6232