At 08:43 AM 6/7/95 CDT, Derek Drew wrote:
>There is an electrical leak somewhere in my van that drains my battery dead
>over about a 12 to 24 hour period. Short of feeling every thing in the van
>to see what parts are getting hot, I am not sure the best way to trace this
>and I need the help of my VanaNetziens.

Go buy a real cheap voltmeter, needs to read current in milliamps, these are 
<$15 at RadioShack. Do the ground strap thing again, with the meter in 
between, not the LED. note what it reads, ie. 80-200+ mA. Then pull the fuse 
for your radio if it has a clock/LCD and preset stations, check the reading. 
Put back the fuse and then pull the one for the dash clock, get reading. If 
your alarm draws current repeat for its fuse. You can figure out what these 
are drawing, then figure out what current is leaking out somewhere else.
         I can't think of anything else that runs with the key out of the 
ignition, assuming the fridge is off. If the remaining amount of leakage is 
significant, (I dunno, >100 mA??) then go through the entire fuse panel, one 
fuse at a time. Pull the fuse, insert the ammeter ends across the fuse 
terminals and look for a non-zero reading. If you get current reading, then 
that circuit is draining out current to something. Finding the 'something' 
isn't too bad since VW usually put only one device on each fuse, ie; left 
tail light. 
        Did you ever drill into the body while installing things? as a 
nicked wire may be grounding out slightly. I had similar trouble with the 
interior light circuits in the '85, bad connection at one rear light was the 
culprit. 
        BTW: The cheapo volt-ohm-ammeter is the only thing you need to do a 
really decent fuel injection checkup a la Bentley, highly worth the $15.00.

tim s.