I've been having a problem with a parasitic drain on my bonny for a couple weeks now. I took it to two mechanics and neither found anything wrong. Well, one mechanic replaced the bolt on the negative lead and cleaned up the terminals. But, 3-4 days later my battery was drained again. So, I started searching this forum to find out what to test and such.

I checked all the lights (trunk, dome, glove compartment, etc.) all looks good

Today, I went to check the relay on the Antenna motor and I noticed that the motor was real warm even though the car had been off for a couple hours. So, I figured that might be the culprit.

My question is, is the antenna motor being real warm a sign of a bad relay and therefore the cause of my drain problem?

If I use a ammeter to troubleshoot the drain problem what kind of readings should I be looking for?

The motor should shut off after it goes down. Raise the antenna and then lower it and go back and make sure that the motor shuts off. If it'* not the problem after a couples tries.....I'd put money on your twilight sentinel system being F'd, and or your air ride compressor is kicking on way to often.

There are micro-switches integrated into the antenna motor to cut power on raise & lower. Maybe a malfunctioning switch? As far as what to expect for ammeter readings, you shouldn't see anything significant there. It should be in the milliamp range. Locate and remove the fuse for the power antenna as a starting point.

I forgot to mention I removed the relay for the antenna. I figured the motor shouldn't be so warm after the car was turned off for 1-2 hours.

I have twilight sentinal switched off. Would this take it out of the equation?

So, if the car is off and I put an ammeter in serial with the negative lead on the battery I should only see a few milliamps? How many amps it too many?

Also, how do I determine if the air ride compressor is running excessively?

Oh and thanks for your help so far

have you checked your ELC....that is a common battery drain

Well it looks like removing the relay for the antenna motor did the trick. It'* been a little over a week and the battery still hasn't gone flat. Thank you all for your help.

It'* funny how two mechanics couldn't troubleshoot the problem correctly but I was able to fix it after just searching this board for a few minutes. Thanks again.

THE BONNEVILLE CLUB ROCKS!

Ok...now you need a new antenna. Then you are all set.