Oh, boy. I've no idea where my head went when I wrote the below, but on
my way to a job I realized what a dunderhead I'd been. If his accessories
are staying on with the switch off, and if they all go off when he unplugs
the column connector, _of_ _course_ the switch is part of the problem.

And don't bother fussing with the radio, that's just a symptom, not a
problem. Oy.


On Mon, 12 Apr 2004, Lee Ayrton wrote:

> Isn't there a connector for the steering column just under the dash? Pull
> it apart and see if your current load drops to zero. That in itself won't
> tell you that the switch is bad or not, but it will tell you if whatever
> the problem is is on the key-switched side of the system or not.
>
> Oh, and I'm not clear on how you have that meter set up, but if it were me
> I'd have it in series between one pole of the battery and its cable (so
> the meter is actually part of the circuit), with the meter set for "amps".
> With the meter set to "volts" and a 100+AH battery behind it you could be
> seeing the miniscule current draw for memory modules or clocks but you'll
> never see the whopping drop when you pulled the radio fuse and never know
> that what you were chasing wasn't part of the problem.
>
> Radio. Hmmm. It seems that when folks pop in here and ask about curious
> electrical faults the radio is part of the symptoms (stuff like "my tail
> lights won't work but when I step on the brake the radio comes on.") Just
> for giggles see if you can pull the cable connector for the radio and see
> if it makes any difference. I don't know where you'd go from there, but
> still...
>
>
> On Mon, 12 Apr 2004, RJO wrote:
>
> > Thank you all. I did get a meter and was able to check the battery and
> > fuses yesterday. I even got down to the ignition switch but ran out of
> > time before I could test it. I think it's probably a ground somewhere
> > because, even with all the fuses pulled and all accessories off, the
> > battery was putting out a full 12.65 volts. tonight I'll check the
> > engine block and the two others you mentioned. If that doesn't do it,
> > I may go ahead and replace the igniion switch, as I am not sure how to
> > test it.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > mic canic <dbrider@cac.net> wrote in message news:<407955CD.A95202C3@cac.net>...
> > > you have some sort of battery drain. you can check the ing. switch if
> > > it's bad
> > > it's under the colum covers .not at the base. the saginaw steering colums
> > > were dropped in 94
> > > i would be checking out all the grounds real good when grounds are loose
> > > or poor, elcectric relays make alot of noise and battery power looks for
> > > grounds backtracking thru wires looking for the ground points and things
> > > get dim
> > > the main ones are on the engine block by the dipstick
> > > the dash harness has some on the lt side under the kick panel and one is
> > > under the drivers seat
> > > you can check for a draw using a test lite and pulling fuses
> > > RJO wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hey everybody! I bought a 1997 Jeep Cherokee Sport last November, with
> > > > 106,000 miles on it. I've since added 10,000 miles. Two seperate but
> > > > possibly related problems that started right after I bought it have me
> > > > flummoxed.
> > > >
> > > > The first is that when I turn the ignition key off, all the
> > > > accessories stay on: the fan, radio, wipers, etc. I quickly learned to
> > > > turn everything off before parking the car.
> > > >
> > > > The second showed up a few weeks later. When the car is parked for
> > > > several hours, the battery (which is a new die-hard) drains enough so
> > > > that the motor will turn over but not start. If it's parked for a
> > > > longer time, it has no juice at all. Sometimes, after using the power
> > > > locks to open the car, I can hear a rapid clicking behind the dash to
> > > > the left of the main guage display. If I use a jump starter it will
> > > > start, and after I drive it for a while, it will start again just
> > > > fine. So it doesn't seem to be the charging system.
> > > >
> > > > I've talked to a mechanic who says it might be the coil or fuel pump,
> > > > but that doesn't sound right.
> > > >
> > > > Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, since I have to do this
> > > > myself. I don't have the cash to take it to the garage.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks!
> >
>