Battery drain/ Bypass Alarm ?

[ewan221]

so Battery (brand new) will go from full to flat in a day while it was in getting radiator sorted.

Went to pick it up today and the issue seems worse.

The battery will happily charge away off car but as soon as its in the car there is something draining. We did find the fuel pump relay was toast but even with that removed the battery was draining faster than it was being charged.

The garage think its the alarm system ??? Anything else to look at ???

Also to keep testing he wants to bypass alarm/imobaliser - can anyone help with the procedure or point in right direction to look. Am I right in thinking the actual alarm unit is behind dashboard ?

Ta all

[ukdj]

Set multimeter to 20Amp scale if you have it, if not 10Amp (probably have to move the meter +lead to different socket on meter too)

Ignition Off

remove -ve lead from battery connect meter in between -ve lead and -ve battery terminal

this will tell you what the standing current drain is - a healthy system would be pulling milliamps and certainly < 1amp

next work your way through the fuse box removing/replacing 1 fuse at a time until the meter reading reduces to an acceptable level

when you have found which fuse it is, you can then identify which circuits this fuse protects and start investigating poor/shorted connections etc

Regards

UKDJ

[ewan221]

Electrics are a black art so please forgive my less than technical description.

In garage atatched to the charger the battery charges fine. But when in car with nothing switched on it drops dramatically. When alarm sounded it actually dischared the battey to almost nothing in a few mins

[Pinx]

There is also a possibility that your new battery is a duffer, i had this last year where i bought 2 new batteries from a local motor factor, one for a car the other for a van and both died within weeks, even though the alternators were charging perfectly on both vehicles, had the batteries checked at a local garage and they were both duff, same make but different models, i returned both batteries and bought another pair from a different place, and this solved the problem. Definately worth getting it checked...

Pinx

[Richard 858]

Have you changed any relays recently, I made the mistake of changing my fuel pump relay for a standard cheap (non Bosch) 5 pin relay from a local motor factor and this resulted in the symptoms you describe. Put in a proper Bosch one and problem solved.

[ewan221]

the fuel pump relay was a bit of a state - will be changing that !
There was still a drain though even with the relay disconected

[marz92]

I had the same problem. If I didn't use my Griff for a week the battery would be flat. Problem was sorted by Carl Baker when he ditched the original TVR Gemini alarm for a Meta alarm. He told me it was a common problem. Two years on .... I don't have the problem! So your garage could well be right!

[marz92]

I had the same problem. If I didn't use my Griff for a week the battery would be flat. Problem was sorted by Carl Baker when he ditched the original TVR Gemini alarm for a Meta alarm. He told me it was a common problem. Two years on .... I don't have the problem! So your garage could well be right!

[K4TRV]

Pinx said:

There is also a possibility that your new battery is a duffer, i had this last year where i bought 2 new batteries from a local motor factor, one for a car the other for a van and both died within weeks, even though the alternators were charging perfectly on both vehicles, had the batteries checked at a local garage and they were both duff, same make but different models, i returned both batteries and bought another pair from a different place, and this solved the problem. Definately worth getting it checked...

Pinx

^^ +1 ^^

You need a new "quality" battery!! Modern mid-range batteries will not stand more than one or two discharges below 10.5 volts or thereabouts. They have thin cheap plates and they won't give you peace-of-mind until you get a better built battery!!

Something with a 4-year guarantee may cost more but gives a better build!!

There's Halfrauds or these guys (recommended):http://www.tayna.co.uk/Car-Batteries-C48.html

HTHs?

T

[FunkyGibbon]

Just a thought, have you recently changed the alternator?

[s p a c e m a n]

Try just unplugging the immobiliser/alarm rather than bypassing them?