Re: My Battery Keeps Dying!

[John Greenstreet <jgreenst@motown.ge.com>]

> From quattro-owner@swiss.ans.net Wed Feb  8 20:55:00 1995
> Date: 8 Feb 1995 17:02:49 -0700
> From: "Brian K" <bk@br213mail.nrel.gov>
> Subject: My Battery Keeps Dying!
> To: "Audi" <quattro@swiss.ans.net>
> Reply-To: quattro@swiss.ans.net
> 
> I have a 1988 90 that I bought a few months ago.  All was well until a few
> days ago when I left the rear defroster on.  It stayed on while I was at work
> and drained the battery.  Today I go out and the battery is dead again. 
> Nothing was left on (that I can see).  One recent development is that the red
> lights on the door handles that display the window switches will not go out. 
> This is also true of the seat heater lights on the center console.  Are there
> any ideas as to what is going on and why?  This is becoming a big hassle.
> 

A short in the rear defogger switch could cause this problem.  This
could have happened when you operated the switch.  This symptom would
be evident if the feed to the switch's internal light bulb became
shorted to the +12v terminal of the switch.  Simply disconnect the plug
from the back of the switch to verify if this is causing the problem.

One thing to note though, a short in any of the other switches could
cause the same symptom.  Plan on a new battery as well: each full
discharge causes internal battery damage and reduces its capacity
significantly.

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John Greenstreet, Senior Engineer           (jgreenst@motown.ge.com)
Martin Marietta Government Electronic Systems    Moorestown NJ 08057
WPI Class of '75, Temple Class of '94

My new car history:
  1975    1978    1982       1986        1989      1992      1995
   VW ->  Audi -> Audi  -> Mercedes -> Mercedes -> Audi -> Mercedes
Scirocco Fox GTI  4000S    190E 2.3    190E 2.6    100CS     S320

POSSLQ's* new car history:
         1978       1981       1985      1988        1990     1993
       Triumph ->  Toyota ->  Toyota  ->  VW    ->   Audi  -> Audi
       Spitfire    Tercel     Corolla   Jetta GL      80      90S

*POSSLQ = Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters
Note: All Audis and Mercedes above were sold to friends or family.
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