Ok I have a 1998 Plymouth Neon DOHC and the battery was going dead over night, I replaced the battery with a Optima yellow top and It took 2 days to die. I still cant seem to find the problem but i did notice that when the car is off and the keys are out of the Ignition that the car still makes the dinging noice as if the keys were in the ignition. I changed the gauge cluster, Ignition switch, head light switch, and turn signal switch. If anyone has any idea of what could be wrong it would be a huge help Thank you.

 

I am just shooting hot air here, but let me ask this question. You replaced the ignition switch , and when you remove the key now after replacing the switch it still dings at you like you have the key in it?

Let me also ask, do you jiggle the switch and the dinging stops?

If the starter were sticking, it shouldn't take two days to kill the battery, but I would have it checked out anyway because a sticking selenoid was what killed my battery on my old Ford.

If you replaced the switch in the column, did you also check to see if the wires and/or clockspring in the column had any wear spots or loose connectors? You could have a short there causing the entire car to think it is still on. When the key is removed and the chime is dinging, can you turn on the fan motor, radio, etc. etc. to see if power is still flowing to those items - like you put the switch into accessory mode instead of off?

Also, check one other little thing. If you have a trunk light, sometimes the "switch" wire on the inside lock plate either gets disconnected and/or loose and can cause your trunk light to stay on and slowly drain the battery. You don't see it, so out of sight out of mind. If you have a split folding rear seat, you can pull it down and check it easily.

Hope this helps.

 

It does still ding after I replaced the ignition switch. I juggle the switch and still dings. I also checked to see if the trunk light was still on and it was not, the radio did not work and no other lights. Thank you for the info im going to check the starter later today.

 

The dinging should only happen if the keys are out and the lights are on. So you may have a short or something going on there. You say you replaced the headlight switch but it may be faulty as well.

 

I was trying to find out what this was gain this morning and I was checking the relays under the hood and found that when i pulled the fuse for the power windows and ignition that the dinging noise stopped, fuse was still good. cleaned it off and put it in stopped for a few mins then started again.

 

Might have to dig in there and check the ignition wiring.