Evening peeps,

 

Am finally getting my camber woes under control, and now my beloved Zed is eating my battery.

 

I originally thought it was a knackered battery, as it was fine left on her own for up to 10 days - 2weeks to which she would be pretty flat.

 

bought a new battery, and seemed fine - but the same problem is now reoccuring.

 

 

thing is, the battery life is getting worse - its now dropped from 10 days to around 5 - darn thing couldnt even start today.

 

 

Im guessing a bad earth - but any ideas what could eat the battery like this?

Could be the alternator shorting, or not charging correctly, have you checked the charge voltage?? Check the obvious like boot or glove box light staying on, Amps staying on, etc.

Failing that, what have you added that maybe incorrectly wired that may be pulling voltage when it shouldn't? Process of elimination im afraid!

thats the thing - put a fresh battery in - 5 days later, no life left in the battery. nothing has been changed - and is getting worse over time - hence the thought of an earth?

Anything else been added?

 

If not, then its a hunting mission im afraid.

nothing has been added - but suspecting a powercap drain - as those things never go off... so could draw continuous power.

 

also, the warning light for the door glows when all doors are shut - so could be an earth - god, this is going to be fun :(

the warning light for the door glows when all doors are shut

 

Thats your power drain. Check the rear hatch switch - causes most problems

Get an ammeter and connect it in line with your battery and it will show the current being drawn.

Then you can unplug stuff until you see the amps drop to near zero.

Clock, alarm etc will use some power though so it won't go back to zero.

I have a 20 squid 12V solar panel from maplins to trickle charge the battery. No more dead battery if i leave the car idle for a week :)

I have a 20 squid 12V solar panel from maplins to trickle charge the battery. No more dead battery if i leave the car idle for a week :)

 

That's a great idea!!

seconded! any pics? seems a brill idea!

had the same problem (3 days lol)

 

I swapped the engine and the ecu but I kept all the module from the original engine,

also swapped the harness that goes on the battery,

now its fine.

 

buy a new battery harness and try it...

thanks mcc will take it on board... right, i have removed the boot light and door light (to kill the circuit) and removed the fuses for my stupid audio setup ;)

 

fingers crossed for friday!

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=98358&C=Maplin&U=SearchTop&T=SOLAR%20PANEL&doy=4m6

 

I want one, now only £9.99!!!

You shouldn't need to be trickle charging your battery :confused:

If it's going flat in a week either the battery is knackered or there's something else wrong and it's draining it.

But for those with an unknown drain that they can't source it's invaluable!

exactley - ive disconnected the boot and door bulbs and my stereo - will see what happens. if its one of those probs i will repair, otherwise tricklecharge it is!

altenator.

 

Mine failed without the normal red warning light. It managed to charge the battery a little but eventually gave up. You can check it with a volt-meter? ..when it's running, it should be delivering, from memory, about 14 volt? ...if it's below 12 then you need a new altenator.

 

Someone with the actual figures will correct me.

 

good luck

 

Jack

jack, as stated earlier - if i use it daily, its ok - the altenator is fine - and i havea new battery. so something is draining it.

Ok - try disconnecting the batter when the car is not in use (assuming it dosn't get used daily) and see if the battery retains it's charge... a simple check.

 

And I do sympathise with you, my wife's Saab is excatly the same...

 

Good luck

 

Jack

again - that isnt the problem as i have a new battery in there - so I know its not an issue.

 

I have removed the door and boot bulbs, and my stereo.... will leave it till friday and try again - it it works, then i know to install a switch for my rear car audio, and clean up the contacts on my door and boot - if not, ill recharge the battery - remove something else and try again