Dear Roland,
One other thing that could conceivably be related to the battery rundown.
It most likely is part of the evident failure of the switch. If your
ignition switch has a position marked "Accessory" and is connected to the
wiring harness correctly, it should not drain the battery if all
electrical stuff is off, as you assumed.
However, some early switches don't have a true dedicated accessory
position. They have three positions: (1) OFF, (2) ON or RUN, and (3) a
spring-loaded START. Generally, the cycle is turn to START, release when
the engine starts, and the spring returns the switch to ON. In the ON or
RUN position, the radio and other accessories are energized. With this
type of switch, the only way to play the radio with the engine off is by
turning the switch to ON without twisting it to START. This is not an
accessory position, though, because there is power to the coil in this
position. If the points happen to be closed, current flows through the
points to ground and the battery runs down even if all accessories are
off. So if your switch has only three positions, one mystery may be
solved. Switch still sounds like toast, though.
Ray Gibbons
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