Parasitic drain??

[mikal83]

Left the car standing all winter then charged the battery , was fine but went dead after 2 weeks. Tested battery and was just over 12v, dead. bought a new battery installed it and with not starting it, dead after a week? Charged battery and did a parasitic drain test and its drawing 0.73 amps. Frunk light disconnected, key out, doors shut, no lights on. One funny thing, the remote central locking decided not to work, the fob flashes, the dashtop light flashes but nada else??? I haven't put the code back into radio, should I? its sunny, its 16.5 degrees c.....I wanna go out.....

edit. I should add the ignition switch is quite stiff and you have to make sure its fully anti clockwise b4 it can be removed...!

Edited by mikal83 on Wednesday 20th April 13:15

[davidlaurel]

Hook your meter up to check for current drain (which is high at 0.73) should be about 0.02 or so.
Then pull each fuse out in turn till you find the faulty circuit .... Like central locking etc. etc.
This should narrow down as to where to look.
Dave

[mikal83]

Cheers Dave.

[medieval]

This probably sounds like nonsense but my radio seems to drain. The battery at an accelerated rate so if I flip down the front , the battery life seems to last longer

Probably utter cobblers but might be an issue I guess...

[mikal83]

have disconnected everything, locked the frunk, doors etc but still a .073amp drain !

[davidlaurel]

Disconnect all the connections to the alternator, not an easy task!
Alternators can go faulty and cause a battery drain.
Not common though.

As you mention the ignition switch been stiff pull the plug off the back of it, probably easier than getting the alternator connections off so start with that.

Report back.
Dave

[thebraketester]

And you have pulled all the fuses as mentioned above?

[Lemon yella RS]

I have heard that the alternator can be warm to the touch if the diodes go faulty. It can also show up with a pyrometer as a few degrees hotter than it's surroundings. Make sure you have disconnected every fuse(do a few at a time to avoid confusion) in the fuse array (just by the pedals / wheel well.
I had an aftermarket radio (Becker traffic pro) cause a 0.3 A drain, enough to flat the battery in a few days. Fuse D8 if memory serves. Also note that the initial current drain before things start going into standby is higher and then drops to almost nothing after a couple of minutes. It's not immediate.It's best to test with the ammeter in a visible place with everything shut and the doors locked / alarm on.

[mikal83]

Thnx Guys. 9 am nowish and still reading 730 ma, so after a cuppa its start pulling fuses etc. car has regular radio, nothing new, alternator sounds difficult just knowing where it isn't!

[cd1957]

Hi make sure you lock the car and wait at least 30 mins, i leave drivers door open, but latched so i can pull fuses out without hassle.

730Ma sounds a lot on fuse, but start pulling relays out, above fuses and a few behind rear seat, under carpet.

Chris

[mikal83]

Al fuses pulled 1 by 1 in the footwell, nothing. BUT the remote CL isn't working. Keyfob light flashes, dashtop light flashes but that's it............? Car doors lock from the center dash switch fine, led on. Locking the car manually I get 1 beep.

Follow up. Lock the car manually, BUT fuel cap stays unlocked as does passenger door?

Edited by mikal83 on Thursday 21st April 14:32

Edited by mikal83 on Thursday 21st April 14:54

[Lemon yella RS]

you have possibly put a fuse back in the wrong slot ? i'd check that the fuse for the central locking is where it's supposed to be?

[mikal83]

Lemon yella RS said:

you have possibly put a fuse back in the wrong slot ? i'd check that the fuse for the central locking is where it's supposed to be?

they were

[Bennachie]

Tracker.....

[mikal83]

Bennachie said:

Tracker.....

There is one, apparently but where and what fuses it runs off I have no idea.

[mikal83]

Fixed, bad ign S/W and sticking micro S/W in the tunnel compartment.