VERY important!

I replaced all mine in the W123 and added heavier grounds, even though diesels rely on fewer ones than the gassers, especially the older vehicles!!

I have enough #2 cable in those cars to cross the Atlantic!
And they never fail me.

The only problem comes when I forget to turn off lights. Overnight!

__________________
Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

Bad grounds can result in weird electrical gremlins, however, odd batter drain is not one of them.

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Joe ;

Please let us know what you find as I'm always curious to learn .

I get lots and lots of oddball electrical problems because so few seem to grasp how it works in Vehicles .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I will say this particular W123 I own has been the most problematic and gremlin filled car. If my wife didn't love it so much I would have sold it months ago.

I'm a first time Mercedes owner, with an '83 240D. I've always loved the classic Mercedes and finally found a friend selling one that I could actually afford.
I'm having the battery draw on fuse 2, 9.4 Amps, and have been tracing it down. I didn't even realize there was a trunk bulb until I read your post. That wasn't the draw but at least I've found out what it wasn't. (I teach Auto Shop at a local High School and have always used the Edison quote about multiple failures in making light bulbs, " I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
Thanks again!
Bert

9.4A is a pretty big draw.

First things first you need to know what fuse 2 feeds, and also review the fuse 2 wiring diagrams.

When you open the fuse box underhood, what is the set of loads listed in there for fuse 2? Then start checking them.

__________________
Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)

any weird activity from either your blinkers or flashers?

That module controls both flashing activities and if a contact
was broke / misaligned etc might cause a draw since the
emergency flashers have to work without the key.

If that were the case I assume it would manifest itself in unusual
blinking / flashing activity.

just a thought...

Indeed , 9 amperes is significant .

@ The Don : I looked at your pictures and didn't see any under the hood or interior shots .

My beloved '82 240D has had some issues over the years, it wasn't until I removed the center console and took the dashboard part way apart to replace the broken fresh air cable and replace the recirculating flapper's vacuum element that I discovered someone long ago (I'd owned this car close to thirty years now) had been inside the dashboard and had damaged, mis connected or left loose so many things .

I now have the fantastic heat and ventilation I noticed a buddy's 240D has and I hope to soon address the leaky A/C .

My point here is : always look at anything non stock or changed when chasing odd problems .

I know every previous owner and my self LOVED the Kenwood CD player (it's so old it wasn't made in China) so I never really looked beyond it when looking at other things .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better