just bought a 74 beetle. The car started up and I drove it home just fine. The next morning it was dead. Autozone charged the battery, said it was a good battery, and once again it ran fine for the rest of the day. Next morning it was dead again. Is there something draining my battery that i’m unaware of?
Have Autozone test the alternator the next time you get the bug going. If it’s charging fine then there is a parasitic drain on the battery. Someone will have to start troubleshooting with a multi-meter.
You probably have a generator and a regulator, which should be under the back seat with the battery. When you say it ran fine for the rest of the day, how long did you drive it?
Make certain that the back seat cushion doesn’t have a spring that is touching both terminals of the battery. This has caused VW fires in the past.
Assuming the battery is really being dragged down by something on the car what I would suspect would be the voltage regulator cut-out points. These are designed to pass current from the generator to the battery when the engine is running and are supposed to pop apart when the engine is shut off.
If they’re sticking closed a battery can be run down pretty quickly.
Disconnect the heavy main lead at the regulator and then lightly touch the wire end to the terminal on the regulator. If you see a spark then the battery is being drained through the regulator.
And the suggestion about the back seat cushion is a good one.
Generator, regulator, shazaamm! Sometimes I know stuff.