Re: Stone cold dead

[four.rings@MCIONE.com]

Andrew Duane USG/PE <duane@zk3.dec.com> wrote:

Is it just a dead battery, maybe a broken cell? Tomorrow in the
daylight I'm going to go up and disconnect the battery and try
jumping it again.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Andrew, my Bentley sez that if you jump start the car w/o the battery,
you may fry it's brains.
If the battery is 3+ years, just replace it. 
Then connect the ampermetre in between the neg. batt post and it's neg
lead from the car's chassis. Make sure that you have the ampermetre set
to it's highest range first, usually 10 or 20a coz if the drain is
severe you may damage the ampermetre in the lower ranges. 
Close all doors and the trunk lid and make sure that not a single light
is still on. Ignition must be off.

If the ampermetre reads 30-50ma or less, you don't have a problem. It's
the current that the clock, radio memory etc. consume.
It might have been just be a shorted cell in the old battery. In this
case you're very lucky.
If the current is more than 50ma - you have a short. Start removing
fuses one by one, only one at a time, till the reading drops to below
50ma. When it finally happens, look up your Bentley as to which
components get electric tension from that particular fuse and check
their circuits one by one.

Yes, it's a painstaking process, but it's the only way to find a short.

Of course, it might just be a shorted cell in the old battery. In this
case you're very lucky.

-- 
Igor Kessel
'89 200TQ -- 18psi (TAP)
'98 A4TQ -- nothing to declare
Philadelphia, PA
USA