Dead battery and clatter between seats?

Went to start the ol' SL2 and it barely cranked and gave up. Another
battery so soon? It's one year old and new alternator is around 6 months
old. Battery was not replaced when the alternator died so that may be the
answer. I know the heat has been bad this year (heat gauge hit the 3/4 and
touched the red more than a few times), but the strange thing was some
relay-like clatter between the seats even continuing when the key was off.

Anyone ever hear this relay clatter before when the battery went - or is it
something new to worry about?

BP~

 

I just recently replaced my batt on a 97SL2 and a couple of weird electrical
issues magically cured themselves. This car seems really sensitive to
voltage changes.

The first electrical oddity was the left, rear power widow. It was
pausing/stopping when I raised it from the front seat console switch (the
control on the rear window worked perfectly) - I assumed it was a failing
switch, however with the new batt it works perfectly.

The other one (and maybe just coincidental) was my cooling fan remained
running after I switched the car off and got out of the car. I got back in
the car put the key back in, switched to on, then off and then the fan went
off.

 

I just replaced the battery and all seems well. The guy at the parts store
said batteries seem to be failing a lot due to the high heat. A year seems
pretty short but he says some are coming back shorter than that. Comment
was "The don't build them like they used too."

BP~