battery trbl or worse ?

Hello all, new to the forum, but looks very helpful. My trouble is this, the battery on my 96 went dead. Probably due to age, as I think it was the original unit. No sweat on replacements, locally available. When I put the battery on a charger, trying to get enough to start, there are certain components and displays that are active and lighted. The fan was running, and I could not turn it off until the battery took more of a charge. The CD changer in the trunk was cycling and I could not stop it. The last item, the outside temp gauge is constantly on.

Anyone have a experience with this? I am hoping things are just wacked because the battery really is toast and I have not put a fresh unit in yet. Worried that there is a short somewhere, which would just kill the new battery. Thanks for any help.

You should NEVER connect a charger to the battery while it's still in the car and hooked up. That can fry all kinds of stuff. That's why they provided the fused jump connector under the hood.

Would it be fair to assume that you did not have any suggestions Mr. Indy8 ?

Could you provide us with more details. eg:

Did you disconnect the battery to charge it? If not, did you connect the charger directly to the battery?

Is the key turned to On or Acc in the ignition while testing these components?

With more details, perhaps someone with more experience with cars than I could assist you further.

HL


(BTW, your choice of words in your response to Indy was perhaps not the best. He is one of the most helpful members of this forum, and it would be in your best interests to treat him with a little more respect.)

Would it be fair to assume that you did not have any suggestions Mr. Indy8 ?

Would it be fair to assume that you were charging the battery in, and connected, to the car?!!!

Did these malfunctions occur while charging in this manner? If so then there is your answer.

And thats what Indy is telling you!!! hopfully you haven't damaged anything!

The battery was connected during charging. After the battery had a charge, the heater fan motor was running, and the dash light for the heater was lighted, and will not go out. The courtesy outside temp gauge was operating also. After running the car, the temp gauge will stay active for about 5 seconds, then turn off. The "volts " light on the lower left dash is on during this temp reading period. The ignition is off and keys are removed.

I think bustedratchet called it the body control module or something like that. It controls or relays almost all electrical funtions outside of the engine compartment. You might want to go in that direction.