Footwell "kill switch"

[Mick Ord]

Just wondering if the red handled "kill switch" attached to the carpetted footwell cover for the battery etc is factory or not ?...seems a lot of unnessesary wiring - a big mess !!

thxs

[Quietlybonkers]

Not got one in my car

[estutjaweh]

I don't have one. Its definitely not factory but I was thinking of fitting one exactly there where yours is.

For some reason my Chimaera battery has an incredibly drain on it - if I don't use the car in 5 days its dead. As I live in an appartment and not a house (and my garage is almost 1Km away because I live in the town centre), its not possible to use an Accumate or similar. Locked in a garage its therefore my best option at present to unplug the battery and leave the car unlocked after a drive. This is however a faff due to the battery location, carpet removal, cables etc etc thus the kill-switch idea really is favorable in such cases.

[Goaty Bill]

estutjaweh said:

I don't have one. Its definitely not factory but I was thinking of fitting one exactly there where yours is.

For some reason my Chimaera battery has an incredibly drain on it - if I don't use the car in 5 days its dead. As I live in an appartment and not a house (and my garage is almost 1Km away because I live in the town centre), its not possible to use an Accumate or similar. Locked in a garage its therefore my best option at present to unplug the battery and leave the car unlocked after a drive. This is however a faff due to the battery location, carpet removal, cables etc etc thus the kill-switch idea really is favorable in such cases.

You should have that looked into.
I just parked mine for 4 weeks. No charger or conditioner, still cranking with full power.
It's an absolute fallacy that Chimaeras 'naturally' get a flat battery in a short time.
I would normally have no hesitation in parking it for 6-8 weeks (aside from missing driving her).
Aside from the hot start mod, all the electrics are completely original, including the alarm, and she's no garage queen, with nearly 100k miles.

OP, Agreed with above, your kill switch is very unlikely to be factory fitted.

[Quietlybonkers]

Goaty Bill said:

You should have that looked into.
I just parked mine for 4 weeks. No charger or conditioner, still cranking with full power.
It's an absolute fallacy that Chimaeras 'naturally' get a flat battery in a short time.
I would normally have no hesitation in parking it for 6-8 weeks (aside from missing driving her).
Aside from the hot start mod, all the electrics are completely original, including the alarm, and she's no garage queen, with nearly 100k miles.

OP, Agreed with above, your kill switch is very unlikely to be factory fitted.

+1. Mine sits happily for much longer than that and always turns over with all the excitement that you would expect from a Chimaera keen to get out on the road
I do however remember reading recently on here that if someone has replaced the fuel pump relay with one that is not quite the correct part, it works, but then it doesn't stop priming after a few seconds, and that constant priming is what kills the battery. It could of course be 101 other things, but that one sticks in my mind. Does the priming noise stop after a few seconds from turning the ignition on (don't start the car, and turn the heater fan off, obviously?
Finally, have you actually had the battery condition checked by someone with a proper tester, eg Kwikfit? Batteries generally last about 6 years, regardless of use/car. So its time might simply be up.....

[450Nick]

An easy way to check is to get a multimeter, switch it to a volt ammeter function, then disconnect one of the battery terminals and connect the multimeter probes between the terminal and the battery cable. From memory, normal drain with the doors shut, alarm armed, clock running etc should be around 30mA. If its much higher than this, start unplugging things until the drain drops, and gradually you will isolate the drain. Common culprits are door pins, alarm, dicky relays etc.

Edited by 450Nick on Friday 23 November 09:10

[ButtonIt]

Just to correct 450Nick's post. Don't use the multimeter on voltage, you want it on current to measure the amps. Using it like that on voltage setting won't tell you anything.

Also, it was me with the duff relay. The fuel pump relay also runs the Lambda sensor heaters. My fuel pump was working correctly, priming, switching of etc. But, the lambda heaters were still on with the ignition off. It was a 2 amp draw.

[450Nick]

ButtonIt said:

Just to correct 450Nick's post. Don't use the multimeter on voltage, you want it on current to measure the amps. Using it like that on voltage setting won't tell you anything.

Also, it was me with the duff relay. The fuel pump relay also runs the Lambda sensor heaters. My fuel pump was working correctly, priming, switching of etc. But, the lambda heaters were still on with the ignition off. It was a 2 amp draw.

Sorry - haven't quite woken up yet, you're quite right it is an ammeter you need - hence the mA bit at the end.. Doh!

[Quietlybonkers]

ButtonIt said:

Just to correct 450Nick's post. Don't use the multimeter on voltage, you want it on current to measure the amps. Using it like that on voltage setting won't tell you anything.

Also, it was me with the duff relay. The fuel pump relay also runs the Lambda sensor heaters. My fuel pump was working correctly, priming, switching of etc. But, the lambda heaters were still on with the ignition off. It was a 2 amp draw.

As usual with me = 25% correct......but at least the right person saw it and gave the correct answer.....good luck finding the drain

[pearly]

Got one in mine,complete with untidy wiring, but was fitted as mod a few years back. Very handy to have.

[Ron McC]

Hi All,

I've got one in mine that was put in as a modification by X-Works when they moved the battery to the boot. The cut out switch is in the little cubby hole behind the passengers seat. Very easy to get to although at the present time I use an accumate to keep the battery topped up.

PS, Also got one in the 3000M and it's really handy...........although it's way down in the passenger foot-well on the bulkhead. Just about where the battery is on the Chimaera.

Ron McC L627 YAY & BOF 246T