Drove wife's '89 244 (B230/AW71), three weeks ago. Cold winter here but it was fine. Today opened door, no domelight, dead battery. Bat. is one-year old Interstate in Volvo spec. Just for kicks, since voltage across bat terminals was less than 2 volts, I pulled both connections off, cleaned them, then checked with analog voltmeter (resistance scale). Neg. cable showed continunity to ground, of course. Positive cable also showed same continunity to ground. So I am seeing a direct short to ground on positive cable should I hook it back up. My first thought is to begin pulling fuses and hope one will kill the short. OTH, I thought I'd ask here first in case there is some strange electrical/electronic device in this car that would present a false or temporary short condition??? I can't see why it would; a short is a short.

Thoughts? Tips before I dig in? I don't want to blow the top off the battery here (I did once when I was young).

I'm thinking something died during or after my last drive in the car. Would a shorted diode in the alternator present this reading?

Thanks,
Dennis in E. WA state
'89 244
'81 245'
'77 242
and a few others....