Q: Gauges lose power sometime, battery being drained.
My guages lose power & my new battery is sometimes drained. This problem happens sometimes. Not every day. All the guages go out at the same time. My key gets stuck in the ign. when the battery is low. All the guages go out regularly. I've cleaned the battery connections. & the battery has been checked. This has been an ongoing problem for 3 months. I have a 2nd car for backup. This is my main car. Sometimes the guages come on when I'm driving. If I let the car sit for a few days. The battery gets drained.
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Hello - quite likely, the inconsistency with your gauge operation and the occasional dead battery are related, with a short in the wiring perhaps. This problem can be diagnosed by connecting an ammeter to the positive (red) battery cable, observe the current drain (likely less than 1 amp), then, one at a time, remove each fuse, check to see if the current drain has dropped to near 0, then reinsert the fuse. This process will identify the faulty circuit in most cases. The specific components on that circuit can then be checked for current drain problems. A professional mechanic, like YourMechanic, can come to your location, and perform this procedure for you, and replace/repair the failing component.
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