CELEBRATING 20 YEARS!

My mechanic is trying to tell me that the clock is supposed to stay on all the time, after engine turned off, and doors are closed.

My battery is being drained. Is it true that the clock is always on in an 1988 Monte?

No it should turn off or the battery will drain. Had it happen with my grand national years ago replaced it with a different one no problems when

Two things in an 88 Monte are powered up all the time and drawing minis-cal power. One is the memory for the clock and presets in the radio, the other is power to the ECM for it's memory. both have a separate hot wire to them for these functions. Both will also have another supply for power when the key is ON.

Should the digital display for the clock in the radio stay lite when the key is removed, no.
Is the radio original or aftermarket?
Bob

The clock is original.

Thanks for the info. I thought it was odd for them to suggest the clock should stay on.

somehow I was thinking of this clock. It obviously stays on all the time. Might have been called a "tic-toc-tach"

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=7iI6LIsC&id=A1DF3149CEDC696C98AC0FEB48C9EFB8F87E8DFF&thid=OIP.7iI6LIsCg-BYQIBzF8UaEwHaFj&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2facimg.auctivacommerce.com%2fimgdata%2f0%2f0%2f8%2f1%2f4%2f3%2fwebimg%2f6920222.jpg&exph=375&expw=500&q=81+gm+monte+carlo+dash+clock&simid=608006348837228473&selectedIndex=23&ajaxhist=0

In-dash clocks stay on-radio display should not.

Yes my clock is on all the time but it isn’t a daily driver so draining the battery and I can hear the mechanical ticking of it when the ignition is off. Does anybody have any clues how to just disable the clock? 1985 Monte SS
I have a cel phone and a watch if I want to know he time

I think the easiest way to do it is remove the clock and install electrical tape over the connectors on the back of the clock gauge. But while you're in there it might be better to convert it to tach. Been a good 8 years since i've done that, but I think you just add a wire for the tach and run it to the distributor.

My advise is to get a trickle charger for your battery. I have one from Schumaker Electric, which I got from Eastwood. I use it to charge the battery once a week or prior to starting the engine. This is better than taking off the positive cable during storage and dumping memory or going into the dash and cutting wires. The plastic in our instrument panels are brittle. I went into my 10 years ago and had to be extra careful.