Something is draining my battery

[coetzeeh]

It started a week ago when I tried to start the Griff - fuel pump primed, but not enough current to turn the engine. Afther this attempt, the fuel pump would not prime again.

I jump started the car, then drove home (the Griff lives in a rented garage) and connected the Accumate. 12 hours later the green light on the Accumate showed the battery was fully charged - a bit soon I thought. I drove the Griff to the garage and left the car unlocked (just in case I had to jump start), interior light switched off.

7 days later and the battery is very flat, pump not priming and dash lights glimmered...

RAC man connects his amm meter and reads 0.23a with no load - with interior light on the reading jumps to 0.64.

I don't have an amm meter - any pointers what could be the cause or is this a case of elimination..

heeeeelllllpppppp please

[RichB]

Most Griffs, indeed most TVRs, will drain a battery in 2 x weeks approx, been on the club forums and chat groups for 15 years and no one's ever come up with a reason why!

[odyssey2200]

Disconnect the + batt cable
Connect an amp meter between that + battery terminal and the lead.

How many amps is it drawing with the Ign OFF and the car locked?

If you have an alarm/Immobiser you might find thatthe reading is high for the first min or 4 and then drops back.

Once you have a steady reading you can pull fuses to see what circuit is causing any drain and go from there.

[AntonyJ]

Isnt the interior light delay timer a common cause of excessive battery drain?

As suggested ,connect a DC ammeter in line and start pulling fuses till the drain goes down.At least you will know what circuit is causing it.

[The AJP Griff]

coetzeeh said:

It started a week ago when I tried to start the Griff - fuel pump primed, but not enough current to turn the engine. Afther this attempt, the fuel pump would not prime again.

I jump started the car, then drove home (the Griff lives in a rented garage) and connected the Accumate. 12 hours later the green light on the Accumate showed the battery was fully charged - a bit soon I thought. I drove the Griff to the garage and left the car unlocked (just in case I had to jump start), interior light switched off.

7 days later and the battery is very flat, pump not priming and dash lights glimmered...

RAC man connects his amm meter and reads 0.23a with no load - with interior light on the reading jumps to 0.64.

I don't have an amm meter - any pointers what could be the cause or is this a case of elimination..

heeeeelllllpppppp please

To be fair,0.23a doesnt sound like too excessive a current drain,not if you consider things like clock,stereo and alarm/immobiliser(Meta system takes quite a bit,apparently) are being used.It would be right for the ammeter to go up by 0.4A when the interior light is on.
How long your battery will last will depend on its capacity and condition,and even a high capacity battery will lose some of this capacity with age.

Edited by The AJP Griff on Wednesday 24th December 15:30

[coetzeeh]

Thanks all,

The reading of 0.23 was achieved with stereo face off (that made a diff of 0.03), interior light off, alarm off, immob armed (it arms automatically after +- 10secs).

Thinking back, what I have noticed recently is when I unlock the car and open the door it appears as if the locks cycle once more - almost as if I pressed the fob.

[mrcosmos]

Hi,a simple test for battery drain is to disconnect the neg off the battery and connect a 12v bulb between the neg and the battery post.If the bulb illuminates it indicates something is consuming electricity,but make sure the door pin switch is pressed in.Then its just a case of pulling a fuse at a time until the bulb goes out.On cars i've worked on its normally faulty ECU or relay or switch.Hope this helps.Dave. Forgot to mention on Griffs and Chims the small rubber pad which presses the door pin switch in only just touches the pin switch giving intermittant CDL faults.

Edited by mrcosmos on Wednesday 24th December 21:57

[The AJP Griff]

coetzeeh said:

Thanks all,

The reading of 0.23 was achieved with stereo face off (that made a diff of 0.03), interior light off, alarm off, immob armed (it arms automatically after +- 10secs).

Thinking back, what I have noticed recently is when I unlock the car and open the door it appears as if the locks cycle once more - almost as if I pressed the fob.

Might be worth checking individual circuits as previously suggested.If you find an abnormality then it might be worth checking the earth connection for that circuit,as a poor earth will also increase the current drain.

[eng622]

My Clifford alarm takes 0.15 A, which drains the battery in 2/3 weeks. Not sure what the OEM alarm takes but informed that alarms are the main culprit regarding battery discharge

[Moto]

If you have a tracker fitted, that might be drawing power.

Moto

[steve-V8s]

First of all once a modern car battery has been completely discharged it will have a reduced capacity due to cell sulphation. This means it will reach full charge more quickly (because there is less capacity to charge) and have less reserve available for the next time it is left to power something. This issue often becomes evident in cold weather because even a good condition battery will only provide around 60% performance at 1c compared to 20c. If the battery has been completely flat a couple of times it may have only 50% of original capacity and if it is cold only 60% of that may be available.

In terms of what is discharging the battery, favourites on the Griff are the passenger foot well lamp (if you have one) is switched on and glowing to itself. Or pin switches at the door base not correctly turning off internal lights (even if the lights are all switched off the relay still draws current if the pin switch is not working correctly) Not fully closing the door has the same effect.

[coetzeeh]

steve-V8s said:

Or pin switches at the door base not correctly turning off internal lights (even if the lights are all switched off the relay still draws current if the pin switch is not working correctly).

I am going to look into this today (brother in law is coming over with his van/workshop).

Do I just clean/wd40 the door pins to fix this potential problem?

[Hoover.]

steve-V8s said:

Not fully closing the door has the same effect.

Just done that .......... car dead as a Dodo... drivers door left a jar.

[mrcosmos]

The intermittant CDL problem i had was on passenger door.I fixed it by aralditing plastic caps over the rubber pads to push the pin switches a bit further in.Regards,Dave.

[steve-V8s]

The normal problem is the little rubber pad that sticks onto the door falls off. The door then doesn’t push the pin in far enough. Not quite sure what you would use the WD40 for with this problem. If the switch contact is not making squirting oil in it (which insulates) may not be the best thing unless the pin has become tight and you feel some oil may help free it up. If it is not the door pad missing and you think the switch(s) are at fault, best to replace them, they are very cheap.

[coetzeeh]

Great thanks Steve,

I did not get to use the Multimeter yet, but I did check the pins on the door sills.

I tested the passenger side and could hear a clicking noise every time I pressed the pin in by hand. It was a bit sticky and I squirted a bit of wd40.

Drivers side the clicking noise was intermittend ie, I could hear the switch click once in three attempts. wd40 squirted and worked the pin a couple of times and now I hear the switch every time I press the pin on the sill.

I am going will check current tomorrow.

btw, I think my battery is fubar - fully charged (according to the accumate) the engine cranked slowly - then again, it could be the cold weather I suppose.

Cheers for now
Henk

[mack]

I recently spent ages chasing a battery drain problem on mine
Checked the door switches, interior light relay, etc, before eventually tracing it to the n/s window switch which was sticking in (you couldn't tell just by looking at it though)
Might be worth a try

[coetzeeh]

Thanks Mac,

I have pulled the fuse (no 4) that enables windows and interior light as a precuation (it's to friggin cold to work on the car at the mo..)

[roy e6]

Get a battery isolator and turn it off when your not using the car.I did i can leave my car for ages and it starts first turn. Stupid alarms drain your battery, had the same problem on my old bike,so when i bought my new one i didnt bother having an alarm fitted.No more flat batterys for me.

[BIG DUNC]

Another thing to check is the CD multi changer (if fitted). I noticed that sometimes my battery would last 3 weeks, sometimes, 3 days. I spent ages pulling fuses, and traced it to the radio. Taking the face off made a difference, but only a small one. Then someone said to eject the CD's out of the multi changer, and that made a huge difference.
Apperently, on some systems, it keeps the position of the CD (track & time etc) and sometimes this causes quite a current drain. The answer is to turn the stero off before turning the engine off, and ejecting (and replacing) the CD cartridge before leaving the car. No position to remember then.

I was a bit sceptical when told as many cars have auto changers that remember CD position without killing the battery, but when I tried it, it did make a difference.

And please don't start about listening to the V8 engine note and not music.....