Strange things are happening to my '83 240D.

Symptoms.
- battery voltage 12.7v engine cold, at idle.
- battery voltage 13.5v engine cold, at idle, glow plugs disconnected at preglow relay timer. (I haven't tested the voltage with the engine warm to see if the glow plugs 'switch off'. Are they supposed to switch off after a certain time or when the engine is warm?)
- dash clock doesn't work when the engine is running, but does work when the engine isn't running. (strange!)
- preglow dash light comes on only every now and then. Doesn't seem to affect whether the preglow works or not. The engine starts just the same.
- glow plugs draw about 20 amps each when connected one at a time from the preglow relay timer clip.
- glow plug resistance 0.6 ohms each. (they're wired in parallel)
- preglow relay timer is hot after driving for a while. The 80 fuse gets hot very quickly when the ignition is switched on. I only have a 10 amp multimeter so I couldn't check how much current was being drawn.

- dash seatbelt warning light flickers on every now and again. (this has been happening since I've had the car. I've just ignored it)


History:
The battery and alternator were replaced last week. At that time the preglow timer relay would buzz for a while whenever it felt like it. The buzzing seems to have stopped since the new battery and alternator. However, the symptoms above, especially the clock and preglow light both started a few days before the battery died.

ALready checked:
- grounding wires at battery and from engine to chassis have been repaired and checked. 0.9ohms resistance from chassis to engine. IS that OK?
- Checked and corrected all the fuses in the fuse box. Some of them were the wrong fuses, so I corrected them.

questions:
IS the preglow relay timer testable? How do I know it is good, and if's not good, is it repairable?

Does this sound like an electrical short? HOw do I diagnose it and find the problem?

What I really want to be sure of is that the glow plugs aren't drawing massive current all the time the car is running and damaging my alternator and battery.

Thanks for any help, I 'm at a loss here.

I fixed this. Interestingly enough, it seems the reason my alternator blew, my battery went bad and I spent a weekend under the hood, was a bad ground....from the instrument pane frame.

Fixed this and all my other problems went away.

Wonder why no-one responded to my earlier post.....

A couple of reasons. We are people with lives. Sometimes we don't' have time to answer. That's just the way the forum is. Second, electrical problems can be finiky (SP). so it may be difficult to determine. I know your post was detailed but sometimes it takes some brain racking to figure out. I was going to post that it sounds like a grounding problem. But you discovered it already. Glad you did.
Give us another try if you have problems. Sometimes were all very busy and living our lives.

Dave

__________________
1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car

Thanks for the reply Dave.

Wow, you've had a few Mercs!

where was the bad ground connection located??

I don't remember exactly where the bad ground was, but basicallI ran another ground to the instrucment panel frame to make sure it was groudned (all the lights in it just bring in a hot wire and use the generic frame ground.

Makes sense?

If you have any questions, elt m eknow.