Some of you may know I have two batteries. I do, but the rear one is disconnected. It'* not powering anything, anyway. I have a thread about how some random electrical things in my car went bad, like the dash, power seats, power windows, and so on, don't work. Another thread before that discusses how my other battery died. I think this is very weird. Do you think the replacement, a brand new Duralast, was just a miss?

This, by the way, is the front battery.

Not sure how much or for how long the car was driven after the new battery was installed, but....

1) Is the battery tie-down still in place? Though somewhat unlikely, the battery would become bad if it vibrated like crazy...or worse yet, you hit a huge bump, battery jumps up, and smacks the inside of the hood (If you have a hood liner, that would be your last line of defence).

2) It is entirely possible to get a brand-new fluke.

3) I assume you have checked all your grounds and fuses. Now, try to find a DMM that has an amperage function, and see what your current draw is at rest. Should be VERY little, as the only things that need power at that time would be the PCM and stereo memories.

I forgot...did you resolve any of your accessory issues??

About the accessory issues: I didn't resolve those yet. Some Dodge'* transmission died, and the victim has been driving my car, now totally stripped. There'* just the carpet, the rear 2 door panels, and one front seat. The center console is also gone. :P It'* so beautiful!

1. The battery wasn't technically "tied down," but I thought it was all right. I had tried to remove the rust under it so that I could put in a couple of new battery holders. How do you remove the plate that the battery sits on?

2. Yes. I'm hoping that'* it. I still have a warranty on the batteries I get as replacements for 7 years!

3. I have a couple MMs, and one is a digital. I'll go through everything once I pull of the trim and such. It should be a ton of fun.

Hope that helps. Most likely are 2 and 1, in that order. Thanks for that #1 tip!

That tray cannot come out, though it looks like it should. I think it rust-welds itself to the inside after a few years. And you don't need to buy the tie-downs from a store, unless the boss at the bottom for the factory tiedown is toast.

Lets try this when you get the time to...get a freshly charged battery in there, and take a voltage measure with no positive lead attached. Attach the lead, wait an hour, and take another reading. It should only be slightly less than the original number, provided the temperature has not changed (warmer temp will put a little extra kick in the voltage reading, cooler will decrease it slightly). If it is a significant value, then yes there is an issue somewhere. I always check to see if there is a hidden light on, like the trunk or the glovebox, or a stuck lock solenoid.

I should have gotten a new battery already. The guy really needs to drive my fairly stripped down car since he'* "Dodging." I'm really going to get in there and take care of this. Is it possible to tear that thing out, jab at it, or angle grind it away? I'd rather have some plastic or rubber so that rust won't come around again. The way this is going, I'd rather relocate the battery to the trunk.

In fact, after thinking about this, I might as well. I'd like to get a 0AWG wire to go to a distribution block and have 3 2-4AWG wires for the alternator, starter, and fuse panel. It seems that would make it far easier to maintain than the rusty battery bed I have now. But before I get into all that, I'm first going to see if there'* a draw just by hooking up the rear battery (235A lawn & garden that acts as a ghetto distribution block) only. It would speed up the testing, I believe.