Do you mean that if you were to replace the battery in your car, it
wouldn't run? Or do you mean you'd loose error codes?

If I take my car in for service and they do certain kinds of work, it
comes back with the radio stations lost, but the engine runs fine. Do
they put the engine settings back?

If the alternative was a dead battery, then what's the difference?


Another point about what causes batteries to discharge when not in use:
I have heard that some cars have "cathodic protection systems" to, I
guess, minimize rusting. That must take a fair amount of current, too.

Pete Stanaitis
-------------------

cavelamb wrote:
Pete,

Reconsider the battery shut-off switch on any vehicle that has a computer
to run the engine.

Disconnecting the battery will cause the computer to lose engine settings.

And THAT can cause all kinds of wild problems when you hook it back up.