Electircal Problem

[landmizzle]

Hi all,

This is my first post. However, I've been lurking for some time and have recieved alot of valuble information from this site.

I have a 71' 240Z that has an electrical problem that has me perplexed ( which is quite easy to do btw :cheeky: ). Frequently, when I turn off the ignition, current is still running through the system. I know this by the fact that the red brake light in the speedometer stays on and my battery will go dead if I just remove the key and leave. It doesn't do this everytime I turn the car off but it does it quite often. Jiggling the key, turning the car off and on (including restarting it) usually doesn't help. My only way of getting around this is to leave the key in the "off" poisition rather than "locked". Off course I could disconnect the battery but that's a bit of a hassle.

I've replaced the ignition switch (whole unit, not just the module behind the key lock), starter, and voltage regulater with no change in the symptom. I'm guessing there's an intermentent short somewhere but, I'm not really adept at electrical issues.I'm running out of ideas. Any suggestions?

Best Regards,

Landmizzle

[Rob]

How long does it take the battery to go dead? An hour? A day? A week?

There is a check function on the ignition switch that fires the brake warning light on startup to let you know that it is still working, so I would have thought that it was a dodgy ignition switch that was triggering this light when it wasn't meant to, but you've already replaced this so I guess that counts this out, unless the new one is dodgy too.

What does the ignition switch wiring under the dash look like? Still nice and original or all hacked up?

Does the car have an alarm / immobiliser fitted? Quite normal to get current leakage from these through either the unit or an installation problem.

Sounds like a bugger of a problem. Good luck!