[V8] battery drain issue

[Steve Kramer]

Fellow V8ers.  I have a 1990 v8 with 164k on it.  I'm having a drain on my 
battery.   I replaced the battery last week and had the alternator checked. 
The service shop said there were no problems.  However, after driving a 
little I started getting the faint lights lit on the battery, brake and cat 
lights. I suspect a few things listed below.


1. I was rear-ended a few weeks back. The other car's fender hit below my 
fender and pushed the rear spoiler forward - cracking the wheel well.  Does 
the grounding system extend past the battery under the bench?

2. I noticed after the accident that I wasn't getting good gas mileage (260 
to a tank)  I figured the gas tank had been compromised and I wasn't getting 
enough pressure. People have said that the car wouldn't work if the gas 
system wasn't under pressure. Is this true?  Perhaps the next item has 
something to do with the lack of fuel economy.

3. My left distributor cap is sparking.  I found this out last week when I 
checked the engine while it was running and put my finger on one of the 
wire - shocked myself pretty good.  It's been on my to do list for a while 
to replace the caps, wires, etc. I also noticed a lack of power while 
driving.  I now suspect that the lack of power is due to the distributor 
leaking and not sending enough electricity to the wires.  Could a leaking/ 
bad distributor cause a drain on the system?


Help,



Steve Kramer
1990 v8