Battery holds charge for about 2 days. Whats wrong????
Discussion
Hi guys.
I have a problem with my chim holding battery charge.
I have only had the Chim a couple of weeks. I noticed the battery went flat within a couple of days of ownership. I charged it and it went flat again.
I then bought a new battery assuming this was the problem. This was fitted and I ensured it was fully charged / optimised.
I have left the car another couple of days and its flat again. When I say flat, its so flat, the engine won't even crank over.
I have checked what I think are the obvious things - door pin switches & interior lights. The car was not locked or alarmed on any of the occaisions of the battery has gone flat over the past couple of weeks. I don't know if this would make a difference?
Any obvious pointers please?
Car is a 1997 series one and a half Chim 500.
How would I go about checking what is draining the battery?
Cheers,
Lee.
I have a problem with my chim holding battery charge.
I have only had the Chim a couple of weeks. I noticed the battery went flat within a couple of days of ownership. I charged it and it went flat again.
I then bought a new battery assuming this was the problem. This was fitted and I ensured it was fully charged / optimised.
I have left the car another couple of days and its flat again. When I say flat, its so flat, the engine won't even crank over.
I have checked what I think are the obvious things - door pin switches & interior lights. The car was not locked or alarmed on any of the occaisions of the battery has gone flat over the past couple of weeks. I don't know if this would make a difference?
Any obvious pointers please?
Car is a 1997 series one and a half Chim 500.
How would I go about checking what is draining the battery?
Cheers,
Lee.
It depends on your capability and your access to a test meter. One simple test is to take a multimeter and systematically check for current across the fuse terminals. Charge the battery then remove one fuse at a time from the fuse board. Set the multimeter to a setting above that of the fuse you have removed and put the meter probes across the fuse terminals. Once you see a reading you can progressively reduce the meter setting to read lower values. Some systems do remain live so you should anticipate small current readings, a few milliamps at most. You can check each test against the duty of that fuse and decide whether the meter reading is reasonable. My guess is that you have a significant loss, something in excess of 0.5 amps would drain a battery in a couple of days.
The first thing I would check is that your battery is actually charging. You should have ~14volts at the battery terminals with the engine running.
If you only have 11 ish volts then the most likely culprit is your 100A fuse. It's mounted on the underside of the engine, has dubious worth and a life expectancy of about ten years
A new one costs about a quid but I wouldn't discourage bypassing it by just bolting the two cable together. IMHO.
If you only have 11 ish volts then the most likely culprit is your 100A fuse. It's mounted on the underside of the engine, has dubious worth and a life expectancy of about ten years
A new one costs about a quid but I wouldn't discourage bypassing it by just bolting the two cable together. IMHO.
Lee,
Any lights stay on (ie battery light) when you remove the keys?
Got this in the Griff and have tracked it down to a likely earth fault behind the fuel tank which I'm not going to tackle myself. It drains in about a week or so.
Always worth cleaning up, copperslipping and vaselining the earth points you can relatively easily access, ie one at the front and one under the o/s front wheel arch. The instruments are earthed under the centre console which isn't easy to remove on the Griff and suspect not on the Chimp either but that's worth cleaning too if you get time. See the bible for exact locations.
FFG
Any lights stay on (ie battery light) when you remove the keys?
Got this in the Griff and have tracked it down to a likely earth fault behind the fuel tank which I'm not going to tackle myself. It drains in about a week or so.
Always worth cleaning up, copperslipping and vaselining the earth points you can relatively easily access, ie one at the front and one under the o/s front wheel arch. The instruments are earthed under the centre console which isn't easy to remove on the Griff and suspect not on the Chimp either but that's worth cleaning too if you get time. See the bible for exact locations.
FFG
L33 said:
Cheers for replies so far.
I'll do some digging tomorrow.
If anyone has any other bright ideas, please feel free to post them
If it's not loose cables/earths etc., the only definitive way to track it down is as tvrbob outlined.I'll do some digging tomorrow.
If anyone has any other bright ideas, please feel free to post them
Once you get a current reading across the fuse connectors (with fuse removed!) which is excessive, then check the components protected by that fuse for faults.
I diagnosed a problem on a Rover once in precisely that way. It ended up being a the CD autochanger. Even with the ignition off, it was draining the battery in a couple of days, so must have had a live feed.
Good luck,
Mick
No you really need to see what current is being drawn
The otherway is to disconnect the battery live lead and put the Multimeter set to amps between the battery terminal and the disconnected lead with every thing turned off and see what the reading is/ It should only be a few milliamps. If Higher you can then take out each fuse in turn to see which fuse takes the reading down . This will tell you what circuit is the problem.
Trev
The otherway is to disconnect the battery live lead and put the Multimeter set to amps between the battery terminal and the disconnected lead with every thing turned off and see what the reading is/ It should only be a few milliamps. If Higher you can then take out each fuse in turn to see which fuse takes the reading down . This will tell you what circuit is the problem.
Trev
Lee,
You can only measure current in series with an ammeter or DVM. A voltage reading does not tell you what is drawing current and hence draining your battery. You do have to remove the fuse one at a time and measure current as already stated.
The immobiliser is quite fiere on the TVR and will drain your battery if you dont use the car for a few weeks. A smart charger like an optimate will allow you to keep a charger connected to the car when not in use and keep the battery in top condition. It shouldnt kill your battery after a few days though.
As already been mentioned I would check that your alternator and charging circuit is working correctly before probing for a current drain.
You can only measure current in series with an ammeter or DVM. A voltage reading does not tell you what is drawing current and hence draining your battery. You do have to remove the fuse one at a time and measure current as already stated.
The immobiliser is quite fiere on the TVR and will drain your battery if you dont use the car for a few weeks. A smart charger like an optimate will allow you to keep a charger connected to the car when not in use and keep the battery in top condition. It shouldnt kill your battery after a few days though.
As already been mentioned I would check that your alternator and charging circuit is working correctly before probing for a current drain.
If you're measuring the leakage current by disconnecting the battery and putting the ammeter in series with it, you need to be aware that some systems will have an inrush current when they're first switched on that may overwhelm the ammeter. What you need to do is hold the battery terminal against the battery post while you connect the ammeter leads (one to the battery post, the other to the terminal) then once it is all connected move the terminal away from the post so that the current has to go via the ammeter. Also as others have suggested, put the ammeter on a high range at first and then reduce the range until you get a reading.
I had a strange problem where the battery warning light stayed on after leaving the car. Subsequently the battery drained overnight.
Oddly, pressing the brake pedal after taking the key out made the light go off and the battery work as normal.
Most odd and it only happens rarely. Some sort of short somewhere I expect.
Oddly, pressing the brake pedal after taking the key out made the light go off and the battery work as normal.
Most odd and it only happens rarely. Some sort of short somewhere I expect.
AlexanderV8 said:
L33 said:
Cheers for replies so far.
I'll do some digging tomorrow.
If anyone has any other bright ideas, please feel free to post them
If it's not loose cables/earths etc., the only definitive way to track it down is as tvrbob outlined.I'll do some digging tomorrow.
If anyone has any other bright ideas, please feel free to post them
Once you get a current reading across the fuse connectors (with fuse removed!) which is excessive, then check the components protected by that fuse for faults.
I diagnosed a problem on a Rover once in precisely that way. It ended up being a the CD autochanger. Even with the ignition off, it was draining the battery in a couple of days, so must have had a live feed.
Good luck,
Mick
Rather than faff around I would carefully disconnect the big brown wires from the alternator (dont let them touch ground) to rule out the common alt failure first. If there are 2 wires they may be left 'floating' bit if you have 4 wires they will need to all be joined together with a nut/bolt - do insulate them carefully, best to do this with battery disconnected.
If that is the problem your alt can be repaired, quite easily - they are replaceable components that cause this problem.
Dave
If that is the problem your alt can be repaired, quite easily - they are replaceable components that cause this problem.
Dave
rev-erend said:
AlexanderV8 said:
rev-erend said:
I left the landing lights on last week and nearly had a Boeing 777 landing in the garden..
I suppose you left the Porch light on & got a 911 turn up in your driveway then!
that would have been a Chorpse 191!
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