Hi all, back at last...

So I just got back after a successful trip to L.A. last week (okay, our flight was delayed six hours by the storms and turned into a red-eye flight home, but I did get to see Elliott Gould and what looked like Demi Moore at the airport...), and the SSEi waited it out just fine in the Long-Term parking lot at O'Hare. In fact I was able to zap its remote starter all the way from the PeopleMover shuttle train as we were coming into the station, and finally walked up to a toasty warm car just as a parking-lot Security guy drove up as well, wondering why there was a car idling with its lights on at 4:30 in the morning...

So I get it back home just fine, park in the garage and was messing around with stuff in the trunk the next day. Left the trunk lid open maybe two inches while working elsewhere so I wouldn't have to carry my keys around. Big mistake. Yours truly Mr. Stupidhead went to bed without closing the trunk and woke up the next morning to a half-dead car.

Okay, no problem, we'll just hook up the battery charger, and let it go for a few hours. Things seem back to normal after that so I disconnect the charger and lock it all up. I do not actually _start_ the car after its recharge. Another mistake.

Next day, I'm lighting the barbecue outside the garage. Walk past the Bonneville and... wait a minute, where'* the alarm light on the dash? Open the door. Car is stone dead. Aaargh. One of its eight-zillion relays or other circuits must have not recycled itself properly when the car went down to half power the day before, and had spent the past 24 hours quietly draining the battery after I recharged it.

Hook up the stupid battery charger again. Charging needle promptly pegs itself. Uh-oh, bad sign, battery may be toast. Hang on, now the needle'* dropped lower on the scale. Battery'* charging now. Good. Whoops, now it'* shorted again. This is not good.

After a few minutes, things seem to be settling down, so I open the driver'* door. Hoo-boy, do things go weird now...

The interior lights are _blinking_, on and off, keeping time with the Security light on the dash, which is also blinking, which is normal, only what'* not normal is that the chimes are also chirping in time with everything else. Ack. Disco Bonneville.

So I close the door. This is when everything is supposed to shut up, only it doesn't. The interior lights go out right away, but the Security light keeps going, and I think I can hear the chimes as well. Apparently the interior light delay is allowing everything else to keep going, because after 20 seconds it seems to quiet down again.

Back to look at the charger. This time the needle is jumping back and forth between 30% of the charging scale and about 85%, spending about 10 seconds at each place. For lack of a better idea, I leave it that way for the rest of the day and overnight. Checked it just now, and it'* settled down to a trickle charge rate and the battery has its green eye back, so I think the crisis is over. Haven't started the car yet, though; I'm gonna have a big breakfast first so I have the energy to tear my hair later in case something is still wrong. Wish me luck...

Sounds like our Gearhead has some work ahead of him....

Good luck, maybe your partner in crime has some electrical advice and wisdom to share. let us know how it goes

good luck...cant wait to hear the result.

Sometimes all a battery takes is one decent discharge and then it is toast. Hope that is not the case for you.

I be watching for an update!

If anyone can do it, it'* him!!

Good luck, that'* really freaky though..

Sounds like your battery may have also developed a little attitude. I think you're AFRAID to start it. You'll probably use your remote from a safe distance while cowering in the bathroom.

That'* really odd, though. The security light, chimes, and interior lights all cycling in unison? What'* the common factor? I wouldn't think there would be one between those 3 circuits.

I believe the common factor is the RAC module... Possibly upset because it did not have the correct voltage inside of it. Hopefully it'* not toast.

Did the older models have some form of rundown protection?
I know when I'm working on my car and have a doors open or the trunk open the lights will turn off after a little while.

Ditto. Andy'* car has that too, but it'* only interior lights and headlights. The trunk light will stay on whenever you have a good battery and the trunk is open.

I've got a fascinating update. Details below, after I reply to a couple of other followups here...

They're all covered by the Retained Accessory circuit, as someone else mentioned, and I'm thinking that some controller got its brain scrambled. More below...