w124 coupe - still has issues

[Snowdmc]

hi guys, am still having a few teething probs with my coupe and wondered if you could help?

first off its a 1990 230 Coupe with a new battery, i posted before about some electrical issues which all seem to be fixed, now i have some new ones......

1. the battery keep going flat in the space of about 2 days, i disconnected the vacuum pump as i thought this was playing up and it still went flat a day after a 200 mile drive., the only other thing i have fitted is an electric aerial from an e300, which seems to work fine, although it does tend to come on occasionally when i jump start the car. had the RAC out who said there was no drain on the batt when engine was off?

2. none of the dashboard lights are working at all - i saw a similar posting in which television talked about a little red fuse behind the dash? is this easy to get to? i think it may be my fault, the headlamp switch which i guess activates the dash lights was playing up, in that whenever you try to put the rear fogger on the switch pulls off instead, so lubed it with some wd40 and think i may have shorted something? - was going to replace the headlamp / parking lamp switch unit instead?

apart from that she purrs like a kitten

Kindest Regards

snowdmc

 

[Snowdmc]

and before u say it, am getting 13.8 at the battery when idling, so i guess its not the alternator

 

[BlackC55]

It also depends on the amount of amps being produced too.

 

[MIW615]

Connect a multi-meter between the positive lead and the battery and see if there is any current "draining" from the battery - like a glove box light / boot light etc. Not sure what the drain should be on your car, but cheked my W210recently and it was 45ma which I considered okay.

 

[television]

Connect a multi-meter between the positive lead and the battery and see if there is any current "draining" from the battery - like a glove box light / boot light etc. Not sure what the drain should be on your car, but cheked my W210recently and it was 45ma which I considered okay.

Yes it is the only way to go, could be anything, care must be taken not to open circuit the battery when join up as it could stop the drain source.

If the car is running at 13.8v the the alternator should be OK as the engine runs on this.

This cant be anything to do with the dash lights not working.

The current drain depends on if you have an alarm fitted and as MIW says 45m/a is ok

 

[television]

When joining up to measure current you need 2 leads on one terminal of the meter. One clamp and one probe.

clamp the single lead onto the battery clamp, and undo the clamp, Place the probe on the double leads into the center of the battery post and slide the clamp up the probe, then clamp the other lead of the double set onto the battery post

The meter must be set to DC amps before you start

 

[Snowdmc]

thanks guys i'll give that a try.......any ideas on the second point? do you think its the switch or the fuse?