Hazard switch and battery drain
Thread Starter
2nd Gear
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 2
Likes: 1
Hazard switch and battery drain
I have two issues I suspect are related on my 2002 base. I know I have a bad hazard switch. (No turn signals, cycle the hazard switch, turn signals come back for a while.) I also have a battery that sometimes (but not always) goes dead overnight. I can drive it daily, leave it overnight, strong start, but every once in a while I have a completely dead battery in the morning. (I don't believe i'm leaving any lights on.) I read in a hazard switch thread somewhere (that i can't find now) that the hazard switch can be associated with a battery drain. So i figure I'll fix the hazard switch and see if it fixes the battery. My question (given what a pain in the a** it sound like to replace the switch) is whether to try the bypass mod or replace the hazard switch. In other words, if it were just the turn signals, i'd go with the bypass mod. But if that doesn't completely isolate the existing hazard switch, and would potentially leave the switch causing a battery drain, i'll go ahead with the harder fix and replace the switch. Anyone have experience with this issue?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 3,134
Likes: 802
From: Espanola New Mexico
I would start by replacing the hazard switch, then have your battery load tested at a nearby auto parts store. This is the first time I have heard about the hazard light switch causing a battery drain problem. If you are proficient with a DVM you can measure the cars current drain when shut down or measure across fuses to pinpoint what is drawing excessive current.
Thread Starter
2nd Gear
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 2
Likes: 1
Wow. Just wow. Replaced the hazard switch, thought everything was great. Then five days later, overnight, completely dead battery. Jumped it, sitting there with it running, pondering how some minor drain could take it from full to zero overnight. It just can't, right? Sitting there thinking, noticed a light on my feet. What the heck is that? Interior light. under the dash on my feet? Yep. Turns out, unbeknownst to me, the dash dimmer switch, when turned all the way to the right, turns on the interior lights, which I couldn't see through the heavily tinted windows. Problem solved. (Well, the battery drain problem. I can't fix my brain.)
