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"I've cleaned and re-cleaned the terminals with steel wool and will do it again this morning."
• That sound like you've cleaned the posts well. But what about the insides of the cable connections? Scrape them clean with the edge of a small file or something similar, even a pocket knife (age-related suggestion, I know).
I skimmed thru your longer thread and a couple of things caught my eye —
"It's now at 12.9 Volts and reaches 14 Volts with the engine running"
• That's not the battery's 14V. It's the alternator's output, which should be enough to keep the battery charged, with normal driving patterns.
"This evening I went to start the car and it wouldn't go, only 12.28 V! What the hell is draining the battery?"
• "Only 12.28V" does not indicate a battery drain problem. I think your obsessing over these meter readings (refer to my 6 AA battery analogy of today). It would be more meaningful to see what that meter reading does when you try the starter.
NOTE: Dan/pageda suggested exactly this test on Mon Jan 5 17:14 EST, but you didn't respond???
Normally, the meter should drop to ±10V as the starter cranks the engine over, then rise to something like ±13.5V when the engine starts and the Alternator then produces the voltage your meter "sees".
If the meter doesn't drop when you try cranking, that would mean the starter failed to draw any current from it. So it becomes a starter problem.
In your previous thread, I didn't see this question—
• When you first turn the key ON (to position II) , do all the usual warning lights at the bottom of the instrument cluster light up (especially the BATT light)?
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Bruce Young, '93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.
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