Dodge Dakota Lightning strike

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going on purely second-hand info here:

My brother rarely drives his Dakota.
few weeks back, the tree he parks it under was struck by lightning. nothing struck him as wrong with the truck right away, so he just let it sit.
couple weeks later mom& dad were in town, so they drove around that weekend in the truck. there was something... "off" about the dash lights, but everything seemed to work correctly.

now, the other day, he goes out tries to unlock the truck, and the battery is completely Flat. (just replaced battery in early June)
it does sit, and it was sitting, but it shouldn't have gone fully Flat sitting for 3 weeks.

any "prime suspects" to look for after a nearby lighting strike, when something that SHOULDN'T be drawing power when the truck is parked, that suddenly is?
 
Get one of these and test each fuse position until you find the phantom load.

Also consider the alternator, its diodes could have issues.

Remember the "semi" in semi-conductor.
laugh.gif
 
With that much juice close to the Dakota, you might experience several issues that appear; with electronics you just don't know.

Keep track of repairs and get ready to file an insurance claim if you need to...
 
Usually that isn't an issue. The car technically a large Faraday cage.

I've seen a localized problem when some huge transformers blow, but never just a lightning strike.

Given the nature of the alternator I suppose it could have taken a hit and in turn fried the battery.
 
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