electrical short
 

My 560SL has a short in the electrical system. It draws power from the battery with everything turned off until the battery is dead. Is there a design flaw with a common answer that will help or somewhere to start?

scnelson57, Remove all the fuses. Then replace one at a time. You may see a small spark. Or if it is a very small cerrent you will have to use an amp meter between the fuse connections. Norm

Electrical short
 

I have pulled every fuse with the same results...I still have an electrical draw from the battery. I have pulled the console and dash and unplugged everything I could get my hands on...it still draws power. I haven't looked under the hood yet but want to start at the + battery cable from the battery and work my way forward. Any other suggestions?

If none of the fuses carries the load, there isn't much left. I would suspect the alternator. Try carefully disconnecting the output wire.

How are you checking load? The power goes from the battery (check for hang on phones/audio components) to the starter (but not a likely draw) to the alternator, into the dash to the light switch, and then to the fuse box and ignition switch. There is at least one full time powered fuse in the box, most come on with the ignition. The light switch has power before the fuses but sends it through fuses to the outputs.

Remove the battery cable and measure draw, trunk lights, power antennas. MY 89 SL did the same thing, it turned out to be chafed wires. The always hot trunk light wire somehow fed into the high mounted brake light and drained the battery. The break was near the hinge on the passenger side. There are three wires in the plastic tubing, always hot, stop light and ground, tough to get to. I saw a faint glow from the high mount in a dark garage.
MY2cents it might not help

electrical short
 

Thanks for the tip. I'll going to try that right now and let you know if I have the same problem that you had.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my request.

87 560SL electrical short
 

I am measuring the draw on the battery with an amp meter...it measures in DCMA. At the lowest setting, 2 ma, I get 1 amp of draw. Would this give me a clue where to look?