[T3] Cold Battery

[Dave Hall]

My battery ran down when the interior lamp was faulty - bulb had a high
resistance - and I had left it with the switch turned on, thinking it was
off as the bulb wasn't giving out light.  You can check for a constant short
circuit by removing the + terminal and measuring the resistance from the
DETACHED clamp to the chassis (battery negative).  It should be near
infinity if all current users are off.  Transistorised clocks may give a
reading, while impulse driven clocks a little more, as they will be waiting
for a pulse of power to wind them. If in doubt, remove the clock fuse.
Alarm circuits may also still be connected, but again that will be quite a
high resistance.

It's funny how things can catch you out in the most bizarre ways!

The horn sounding when turning or braking can mean the gap between the
steering wheel and the housing round the steering column is too little,
causing the horn mechanism to earth as the steering wheel is moved.  Mine
sounds if I brake really hard and turn the wheel - as when rounding a blind
bend on a single track road and meeting an oncoming car.

Dave
UK VW Type 3&4 Club
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-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org [mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org]
On Behalf Of J. Jonik
Sent: 28 January 2016 22:39
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] Cold Battery

After a night on low charge, the battery worked fine.  Car started on first
try...but with a cloud of exhaust smoke for a few moments...and then all was
well.  What would that smoke mean?  Anything related to starting problems?

Questions remain: 
 Why did battery test ok in all 6 cells before charging, yet not work?Does
that indicate something wrong with the battery even though it's not that
old?
Or....could it just have been the connections?...which weren't crudded up or
anything. Pretty clean, actually.
Another thing: horn beeps when hitting little bumps while turning left.
Ground wire in steering wheel is disconnected pending replacement of 
plastic cover (which won't stay attached to the wheel).  Don't (yet) have a
clue where a faulty wire may be.   Could the horn be trying to work when
car's turned off and parked thus draining battery?  How to know that nothing
is secretly ON when car is off, parked, and left for days?  No, it wasn't
radio.  

The old story---something got "fixed", but I don't know how or what.
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