[xeres]

Not sure where to post this but here goes:

The FrankenVan has been draining the battery - and we can't figure out why. Electrical we have had done: both door wiring harnesses have been replaced. The driver door harness in June 2015 and the passenger door in September 2015. In April, I installed a new radio. Everything was fine. This summer we were in the NW -- no problem with the van on the way up. Stayed with a friend, parked the van on Sunday night, tried to leave on Tuesday morning -- dead battery. Made it back to California with the friend's battery charger just in case. (side note: battery is 2 years old, according to previous owner's paperwork).

A few more instances of charge the battery and have it drain over night -- after some electrical sleuthing, DH thinks it's the new radio and/or the door locks causing a parasitic drain. Disconnect the battery while parked and reconnect to drive works.  Of course, I'm not so thrilled with this "solution".

After a couple of weeks, we do replace the battery. Drain still occurs. Next solution is to pull the radio out and pull the fuse for the locks (which means each door must be manually opened by the key). I went to start the van today and of course, the battery is drained. Any clues where to look for the culprit?

Honestly, we were thinking of selling the van later this year but my car, a NB TDI probably will be totaled this week (DH was side-gouged and the rear axle damage will cost more than it's worth) and I need a reliable vehicle until we can replace the Beetle.

(If anyone wants a perfectly maintained 1.9L TDi engine with 101k miles, check the Sacramento salvage yards later this week).

[albertr]

I had a problem with my aftermarket radio draining the battery too. Ended up installing a two pole switch under the dashboard. One pole turns off power to the radio to prevent the drain, the other pole blocks the starter (as a security feature). You can easily verify if it's the radio by disconnecting it to see if the drain is gone.

-albertr

[xeres]

Ooh, I do like the idea of the switch but I literally pulled the radio out (it's sitting on the back seat) and he pulled the door lock fuse -- so this leads me to believe it is something else. Back to the drawing board (or mechanic).