hmm my batery is going flat for no apparent reason poped an meter on there no drain bought a sealy batery/alternator just to double check alternater is charging ok changed battry fine for a week come out in morning dead battery down to 6.7v no lights on in car climbed in boot to check lights in the got hubby to let me out 1 hour later wondering where i got too as i locked myself in and boy is i dark in there glove box lights go out when i close lid and no i did no climb in the to check what else can i check or change including hubby
please help a damsel in disstress you may need my tights when your fanbelt goes
samantha
it aint broke till i try to fix it!!!! xm vsx 2.0ltr turbo 289k yep you read that right<font color="purple"></font id="purple"><font size="2"></font id="size2"><font face="Arial"></font id="Arial">
xm 2ltr turbo battery going flat
Moderator: RichardW
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sammycitroenzx
- Posts: 11
- Joined: 18 May 2005, 17:57
- Location: United Kingdom
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he he fanbelts thats funny, not that i can remember seeing one for a long time!
Sticking a meter accross wont tell you if there is a current draw, you need to have an ammeter inline which is pretty difficult to do with a DMM. I'd suggest you try pulling the fuses out one by one and as you put them in see if they spark. remember there are lots of things with a permanant feed so qutie a lot WILL spark but only a little bit. If you find a big spark then you could have a culprit, in which case leave the fuse out and see if it drains the battery over night. Otherwise try leaving the battery totally disconnected and see if ti still drains (just because it charges doesn't needs be mean the battery is actually okay!).
If you've checked the alternator then have you had any problems starting the car when the battery is charged? a sticking starter motor can cause problems with drain. Check the opperation of any 'extra' equiptment (tape decks/cd players, auto changers, power converters etc) and if needs be pull the fuses to issolate them. If you've managed 300k miles then its possibly a weak or dirty connection so suspect connectors in the engine bay and see if there is anything obvioulsy gunged up. Starters and alternators can equally get gunged up, and electric fans can fail and draw current so make sure they are working (sounds like you know a little enough about cars to get the fans connected to a live feed and check they spin up), as a rough check if you try to spin them by hand they should have some resistance!
Sticking a meter accross wont tell you if there is a current draw, you need to have an ammeter inline which is pretty difficult to do with a DMM. I'd suggest you try pulling the fuses out one by one and as you put them in see if they spark. remember there are lots of things with a permanant feed so qutie a lot WILL spark but only a little bit. If you find a big spark then you could have a culprit, in which case leave the fuse out and see if it drains the battery over night. Otherwise try leaving the battery totally disconnected and see if ti still drains (just because it charges doesn't needs be mean the battery is actually okay!).
If you've checked the alternator then have you had any problems starting the car when the battery is charged? a sticking starter motor can cause problems with drain. Check the opperation of any 'extra' equiptment (tape decks/cd players, auto changers, power converters etc) and if needs be pull the fuses to issolate them. If you've managed 300k miles then its possibly a weak or dirty connection so suspect connectors in the engine bay and see if there is anything obvioulsy gunged up. Starters and alternators can equally get gunged up, and electric fans can fail and draw current so make sure they are working (sounds like you know a little enough about cars to get the fans connected to a live feed and check they spin up), as a rough check if you try to spin them by hand they should have some resistance!
I had a similar problem with my father's Range Rover and went looking for the leakage with an indicator bulb soldered to 2 wires.
Basically put the bulb in series with the battery earth lead (positive if you prefer - it makes no difference) and if it lights you know you've got real trouble. It probably won't but now you know that you are looking for a current of less than 1 amp - so connect your meter across the bulb - ie use it as a shunt - and you will be able to detect the current on a VOLTAGE scale - as you are measuring the voltage DROP across the bulb.
You can now start looking and as Vanny says pulling fuses is about the best way to do it.
Alternators can pass a back current if the regulators have become faulty. The are not fused and tend to confuse.
Enjoy!
Jeremy
Basically put the bulb in series with the battery earth lead (positive if you prefer - it makes no difference) and if it lights you know you've got real trouble. It probably won't but now you know that you are looking for a current of less than 1 amp - so connect your meter across the bulb - ie use it as a shunt - and you will be able to detect the current on a VOLTAGE scale - as you are measuring the voltage DROP across the bulb.
You can now start looking and as Vanny says pulling fuses is about the best way to do it.
Alternators can pass a back current if the regulators have become faulty. The are not fused and tend to confuse.
Enjoy!
Jeremy
Sam,
check that there's no buzzing from under the car when you've left it parked - could be the HA valve is being kept alive after it should have timed out, that'd kill the battery pretty well overnight. One of the door/boot contacts could be the culprit, as that'd tell the ecu a door is open.
regards
Dave
check that there's no buzzing from under the car when you've left it parked - could be the HA valve is being kept alive after it should have timed out, that'd kill the battery pretty well overnight. One of the door/boot contacts could be the culprit, as that'd tell the ecu a door is open.
regards
Dave