Power drain even when removing all fuses

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evlo
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Power drain even when removing all fuses

Post by evlo »

Hello,

i have 70mA-90mA (0.07 - 0.09 with multimeter on 10a range) power drain with parked and locked car. I have tried disconnecting fuses one by one [well all fuses except the huge 40 and 60 amp ones in engine bay] to check out what is causing it, but it never went down, only went UP when disconnecting one fuse.

I'm measuring drain on battery - i disconnected + wire and connected multiplier between + pole on battery and clamp on + wire.

My owner manual does have fuses marked wrong so i was not able to identify which one it was.

BTW is there any way to get drivers door opened and car to think it is locked? It would make these experiments more comfortable. :)

Also i have calculated then one bulb on in the trunk would take about 0,4A (i'm guessing bulbs are 5w), but even when i open doors and all the bulbs goes ON multimeter just shows 1,1A. So what is drain of one interior/ glovebox/ trunk bulb?
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spider
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Re: Power drain even when removing all fuses

Post by spider »

0.4A is about right for a 5w bulb yes.

Regarding tricking it, open the drivers door and use a screwdriver to push the latch so it thinks its shut then lock it. If you have a pin switch on the pillar opposed to it being in the actuator then you'll have to jam that shut as well.

Regarding drain, you've done the usual things. Unplug the radio if possible its not unknown for that to cause current drain.

You don't say what car, On some non plexed cars its not unknown for the ECU relay to stick on causing a drain around 1 to 4 amps permanently.

I'd suggest removing boot / bonnet bulbs temporarily too if possible to eliminate them if nothing else.

The only other immediate cause could be faulty alternator diodes. Way to check that is to unplug the alternator's cables although obviously don't run the engine in that state or you'll fry it.
Andy.

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exect
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Re: Power drain even when removing all fuses

Post by exect »

This leakage only equates to .84 watts which is about what you may expect from a led and I would guess may be normal.
Are your decimal points in the right place on the figures you show?
Exect
evlo
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Re: Power drain even when removing all fuses

Post by evlo »

Yes, well if i calculated it correctly it is about two week of car standing outside to not able to start with full battery.

I tried removing all fuses again and If i remove F4 then drain goes to 0.02Amps.

I also found out some wiring done using weird electrical camps and one loose wire in the trunk, most of these wires ends in grounding terminal, i undone it as it seamed way not standard to use these clamps.

Do you know what F4 is? My owner manual is clearly for different car :)

It is 3.0, automatic, S2.
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Re: Power drain even when removing all fuses

Post by Jabo »

You will have some current draw from the alarm and radio at all times. The radio has preset stations that need current to keep stored. Other things draw current at all times too, e.g. BSI units.
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evlo
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Re: Power drain even when removing all fuses

Post by evlo »

It seams to be caused by defective wires too RL doors, i replaced two GNDs with hotfix and central locking now works on all doors, tough consumption is still 0.07A, BUT when i moved these wires certain way it wen down to 0.02 so i guess i need to replace all of them. Other wires had broken insulation so i just put tape around them, but it is probably not enough to pass small currents and central locking unit is confused and will not sleep properly.
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