Electrical drain Options

[Tom73]

Another newbe question here. Just got the car Sunday. Put in a new battery last night. Everything seemed all right and all electrics worked just fine. Went out this evening and battery is dead.

So apparently I have a major battery drain. Is there any quirks in a 914 that would cause a drain in any specific location/fitting/outlet/etc? What is the best way to track down the drain? Any special tricks you all use?

tom...

[sgomes]

I'm not an expert but I think I'm the only guy on this board that has 20 batteries in his car. <_<

First thing I would do is disconnect the battery from everything. Just yank the positive cable off the terminal. See if it goes dead overnight. You might have a battery that is internally shorted or sulfated.

Next, I would invest in an "amp clamp". Basically it's a meter or an attachment for your DVM that lets you just clamp around a wire to see how much current is flowing through it. They are less expensive than ANYTHING you might buy for this car. It's going to save you a HUGE amount of time though.

First, put it around the unswitched +12V going to the back of the fuse box. The current you're looking for is going to be very easy to see. Hell, I could sit here and list the top ten contenders but I'll let you have some fun.

My bet is on the battery itself.