Alxx Nova

The PO had one of those things hooked up to the battery that senses a power drain and disconnects the battery. Since fixes like that bug me I had to tackle that problem right away and find the short.

Check this part out … as I removed the thing I discovered that it wasn’t even strapped to the battery. It was just flopping around … and it has the positive line attached to it !!! Although I guess that was actuall okay …. since the battery wasn’t strapped down either and was sliding around !!!

He also pulled out a large gromet from the fire wall so he could run a hot lead from the radio directly to the battery. So the hot lead (connected to a loose battery) is rubbing on a metal lip instead of through the rubber seal. ARGH!!!

So after some nuprins I hooked up a gauge and the battery drain was 100 mA. Pulled every fuse one at a time and found this …

Fuse # 8 - central locking system / relay sun roof
Pull it first and the draw drops from 100 to only 10-15. It was pulsing though, like a heart beat between 10 and 15.

Fuse # 1 - tailgate release / sun roof
Pull it (with #8 out also) and the draw dropped from 10-15 down to 1-5 mA. Still doing the pulsing. thing

The other fuses checked out fine. So I used a meter that gives a tone for continuity testing and followed the central locking troubleshooting tests. Every test checked out fine except for the “Checking operation of micro switches in lock cylinders”.

First part of test …
Checking across term 5 & 7 using key to turn cylinder to OPEN position. I had the (+) on 5 and the (-) on 7. No tone on left door. Tone on right only BUT only when turning cylinder to LOCK position. Interesting.

Second part of test …
Checking across term 5 & 9 using key to turn cylinder to lock position. I had the (+) on 5 and the (-) on 9. I was getting a tone from the second I hooked it up. Now every now and then, when starting to turn the key to lock left door, the tone would stop for just a second. But it was very rare.

Now with either of the two tests, reversing the meters positive and negative connections produced a continual tone. I'm guessing the positive should always be the first connection they mention right?

So this is what's going on with the central locks right now…

Using central lock button causes both to lock then immediately unlock. If doors are locked then pressing it causes nothing happens.

Using key in left side door only affects that door. Key is also hard to turn like there is something gumming up the lock cylinder. Turn the key then let go and it turns back very slowly. Do the same to the passenger door and the key quickly returns back.

Using key in right side door only unlocks the right door. Although when locking the door it locks both, but then they unlock immediately.

I’m pulling off the door panel today, hopefully, since the PO had it off to try and install speakers so who knows what was done in there. I’m curious to see what is gumming up the lock cylinder on the left door. Since it feels gummed up, I’m wondering if that microswitch is being constantly activated and it’s always drawing power and also making the doors unlock as soon as they are locked.

Anyway any tips, hints, or things to keep an eye on while I’m in there?

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this.

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Alex Portanova
1989 944 N/A
1992 Harley FXSTC
1999 Chrysler 300M