flat battery

A common problem is the glove box light. If the door switch doesn't turn it off it will burn continuously without a hint. The easiest test is to open the glove box door and immediately feel the bulb; if it's really hot instead of just getting hot, remove the bulb or get the door switch fixed.

Mike

Hi Mike thanks for that don'e your test on glove box light working ok and all other lights ok but wlll test again . melv

Problem like you describe can be extremely hard to locate... had your problem once and after months of looking finally traced it to corrosion between terminals on trailer hitch connector...was making a high resistance short....finally put a meter from battery to measure current and started disconnecting things...connector was about the last thing I looked at...of course......

hope helps...have fun.....sno

cheers for that sno looks like that could be it i hope i'll start looking today?

Check the voltage on the battery when the car is running to see if its charging. Write the number here if you cant enterpret it yourself.

Greetings Niels

Was the voltage regulator tested?

Is the new battery bad? New Die Hard batteries have a fairly high dead on arrival rate. Other brands may also.

One way to test is to measure the voltage with the engine running and make sure it is between over 14 volts. Then take one strap off the battery and measure any change in the open circuit voltage of the battery at the beginning and end of a day or two period. If that tests OK, then you have a drag on the battery, such as a light or fan or short. You can track that down with an ohm meter and start removing fuses. The fuse that removes the drag will lead you to the culprit. If no fuse does, then it is in the headlight circuit. They normally aren't on a fuse.

Hi guys thanks; just trying what sno posted seems to be holding at 15volts all day so far i'll re-test in the morn if not holding i'll try your tests many thanks. it's a nightmare mel

If the voltage on the battery with running engine is 15 volt you have a faulty voltage regulator in the generator. Such a high voltage will destroy the battery.

Greetings Niels

It's hard to decipher your message - was this written on a blackberry? But I would do the following:

1. Check the new batttery to make sure it is in-fact good and does not have a weak cell.
2. Check the charging system to be sure it is putting out sufficiently to charge a battery. Rebuilt alternators can be bad.

Check that the glovebox interior light is really going out when you close it. Those doors warp sometimes and no longer fully depress the shut off switch. I fixed mine by gluing a US nickel in place as a spacer/striker plate and it has been working that way for over five years now.

... hope it wasn't a 1916 Double die ...

I solved the same problem by removing the glove compartment light bulb.

have you checked for glove box lights left on trunk lights or earth contacts

Try the following:

1. Once the battery has been partially recharged, check the voltage - probably about 12v.
2. With the engine running check voltage again. This should increase as the revs increase up to about 13.5 volts. If it does not it could be an alternator problem.
3. With everything switched off, doors, boot, glove box etc closed, disconnect one battery terminal and insert an ammeter between the battery terminal and its connector. There should be no current flow (perhaps a few milliamps for the clock!) If there is any significant current, remove fuses one at a time, which will hopefully locate the leaky circuit and then work down from there on the devices controlled by that fuse, as indicated on the fuse box cover. The circuit diagrams in Haynes may help. NB Although the starter solenoid is fused, the starter motor itself is not, neither is the positive connection to the alternator. If either of these is leaky, which is unlikely, you will have to check by removing their positive connectors and watching the ammeter - keeping the connectors well away from any earth!