Major battery drain???

[cbv8]

Hi All,
I have a major battery drain on my 02 D4-d Collie i have tried the multimeter job ie removing all the fuses one by one but cannot see any voltage drop what am i doing wrong? I have fully charged the batteries again one is brand new purchased two days ago so can't be the batteries can it? Please any help or advice very much appreciated as i really want to start using my Collie it seems i fix one thing and another fault appears

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

Hi Chas, you don't have much luck with Collies do you?

 

[Towpack]

Have you checked any circuits that don't go through the fuse box(s) but connect direct to the batteries with large fusable links?
This would be things like glow plug/air intake heater, winch connections etc. I had a fault on the intake heater relay on my 80 draining the batteries.

 

[Shayne]

Disconnect rear bumper lights overnight and test the battery in the morning .

 

[cbv8]

Hi Chas, you don't have much luck with Collies do you?

It seems that way

 

[cbv8]

I will try all that you suggested thank you

 

[cbv8]

Like i said one battery is only two days old from Tayna a Bosch s4 027 70ah i did have to return one exactly the same as was faulty which is making wonder if they actually have a faulty batch. I am a complete thicko on anything electrical so please be kind i have a multimeter and a battery voltage tester the tester is simple enough but the meter does confuse my minuscule brain In simple terms how can i actually tell if the battery i bought is yet another dud i charged it back up from dead to 13.54 volts which steadily dropped is this right as i said i now very little about such things so an idiot guide would be brilliant

 

[cbv8]

Ok an update i have checked the batteries after leaving them connected overnight and voltage in both is 12.30 started the car briefly then re checked volts both batteries reading 12.5. All i did yesterday was take the face of the radio/cd player and unplug the alarm switch under the bonnet i am really hoping i have found the source of the drain any thoughts please?

 

[Towpack]

I would expect the drain with the vehicle parked up and locked with alarm set to be less than 50ma. I get around 35ma but the drain fault I had was getting up towards 400ma which was enough to flatten the batteries over several days to give starting problems.

 

[cbv8]

I am hoping i have found the cause i have reconnected the alarm switch under the bonnet with but left the radio face off i will check later if there has been a major drain?

 

[karl2000]

In simple terms how can i actually tell if the battery i bought is yet another dud i charged it back up from dead to 13.54 volts which steadily dropped is this right as i said i now very little about such things so an idiot guide would be brilliant

I think that to test the battery is actually OK, you need a proper battery load tester rather than just checking the voltage with a multimeter.

I use this one, but theres cheaper ones around:

Foxwell BT705 Automotive Battery tester Car Battery Analyzer For Batteries and 12V/24V Starting/Charging System - Black/Orange : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

Buy Foxwell BT705 Automotive Battery tester Car Battery Analyzer For Batteries and 12V/24V Starting/Charging System - Black/Orange at Amazon UK. Free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

13.54 sounds high, but was that straight off the charger? Immediately after they've charged they have a 'surface charge' which means the voltage reads higher for a while, or until the battery has a load on it (eg headlights). Once the surface charge has gone I'd expect it to be somewhere between 12.6-13.2.

The surface charge disappearing would account for the voltage 'steadily' dropping!

I think the battery is fine, and sommat is just using the juice!

 

[cbv8]

Right i have just ordered and identical battery make and spec to the one i just bought replace the old one on my Collie so it will have two brand new batteries fitted tomorrow then i can rule those out

 

[Allan M]

I hope you ordered the opposite hand battery to the new one you fitted. The terminals are reversed.

 

[cbv8]

I hope you ordered the opposite hand battery to the new one you fitted. The terminals are reversed.

Of course

 

[cbv8]

Ok still waiting for new battery to arrive i checked the battery voltages this morning and they are both 12.3volts should they have dropped this much overnight?

 

[karl2000]

No!

 

[goodoldboy]

I had a similar phantom load that cost me a new battery on our Civic & my mechanic just fitted a battery isolator switch in the passenger footwell.Not elegant but effective & it wasn't until a few years later we found that the alarm was going off for some unknown reason , maybe because one of the interior light door switches was faulty.

 

[cbv8]

Sounds a quick fix but i would if possible like to find the fault when you say the alarm was going off do you mean actually sounding or had the siren been removed etc?

 

[goodoldboy]

something was tripping the alarm but because the car is parked on the edge of our property we couldn't hear it going off. The dogs barking might have been a clue !

 

[cbv8]

If only it were that simple my Collie is right in front of my bedroom window so if the same scenario i would know in a minute