In February I put a new battery in my 1997 850 wagon. About 2 weeks ago the car wouldn't start after sitting for about a week. I took it to the auto parts store to have the alternator checked and it was fine. However, the car was pulling about 1.5 amps while turned off. He said somewhere around 0.5 is normal. I'm convinced this is the reason for the drain on the battery, since I hadn't started the car in a week.

I'm wondering how to find the source of the short or whatever is causing the drain on the battery. I've tried the normal turning off the radio, heater, seat heaters, etc. but that didn't make a differnce.

I was thinking about hooking up an amp meter and begin pulling fuses until it dropped. At least that way I'd know which system to look at first.

Any other suggestions?

My glove box SWITCH was bad, pulling the bulb did not make the problem go away.

A couple of years ago a poster suggested that you pull each fuse and put the ammeter across its terminals to read leakage on each circuit. A quick and easy way to do your testing.
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'96 855R,'64 PV544 driver, '67 P1800 basket case, '95 855, '95 854, the first three are mine, heh, heh, 435,000 miles put on 9 bricks

As the other two folks pointed out, the glove box light staying on frequently causes this symtom.

As Tom said, .5 is high. I think it should be more like .05 amps.

Good luck. Don '95 854T 187K

You guys were right on the money. Glovebox light was staying on.

The normal current should be much less than 0.5A. I think mine measured 0.035 A. (35ma). The glove box lamp was the cause of my dead batteries. Try it first.
Otherwise pulling fuses while monitoring the current is a good way to find the problem.
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Tom 69-1800S, 72-1800ES, 96-850T,2000-S70 GLT-SE

That sounds like the glove box light. Just take the plastic cover off and remove the bulb, if that reduces your draw then you could glue a penny on the glovebox door to make the switch turn off.
Also check the trunk light by folding one of the seatbacks forward. I found that once after putting a big box in the trunk, the box rubbed against the switch and left it on.

Klaus
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The 164 has a new home, all I am left with are a 95 854T and a 98 V70R :)