Folks,
I have a 74 standard Beetle, and when I go out of town for a week or so and do not daily drive my beetle, the battery is dead. It is a good battery, I have had it checked. There must be a short, but there is nothing glaring at me....I often wonder if the short may be in the alternator itself. I have a volt meter installed, and sometimes it reads around 14 volts when running, and other times it is more like
12.5 (both of these readings are during the day with nothing on) When i turn on lights, radio, etc, it draws down to close to 12 volts. I thought the internal regulator was suppossed to keep output the same?But main problem is when the car sits for a week or so. The battery is flat out dead then. After just a few days..3 or more, the car will turn over very slowly......