Mark, old battery was totally on its last legs I got every last bit of power from it before changing. But I understand your point. bbott man you also have a good point although I have checked all fuse boxes and there is no water present. What exactly is the water ingress ? & how did you resolve the short problem. ?One other way to check if your battery is dead, short or other flat is via the hazards these are dead so means the battery is also dead or there is a short. Hazards are designed to work off the battery alone regardless of other faults.