Help With Battery Drain

[bilko0795]

As per title since ripping the alarm out of the car the battery is being drained overnight
i can't pin it down to where the drain is coming from is there a simple way to check if there is power being taken from the battery. All the interior lights are switched off . What in the car could drain the battery overnight the battery is new and i checked the battery with a voltage gauge and it showed 10 amps and the needle held without dropping. Need to sort out as it's my daily.

[UrS4boy]

After-run Auxiliary Coolant Pump and Fan Switch and Relay Info

Are you sure that the after-run pump and fan aren't stuck on?

http://forums.quattroworld.com/s4s6/msgs/21503.phtml

[bilko0795]

No both are off , however i have noticed there is are two wires coming from the n/s door in to the foot well and one is perm live i think they might be from the alarm i took out and i missed them would they draw enough power to drain the battery i have just put insulating tape on the live one for now.

[martinws]

Just bare wires wouldn't cause a drain as long as they don't short against anything.
Put an ammeter on the battery to measure the current being drawn with the key out(DO NOT START CAR WITH METER ON)
Then pull fuses individually until the current drops away then check what the fuse is feeding.

[bilko0795]

Just bare wires wouldn't cause a drain as long as they don't short against anything.
Put an ammeter on the battery to measure the current being drawn with the key out(DO NOT START CAR WITH METER ON)
Then pull fuses individually until the current drops away then check what the fuse is feeding.

Thanks just ordered a meter from flea bay. It must be a big power drain i put the battery on charge using two chargers so total input is 14 amps on booster and after 4 hours went to turn the car over and nothing so i removed the pos cable left another 3 hours tried again and bingo engine turned over bags of power in the battery so i went to work disconnected the pos cable done my shift car started again bags of power

[Acidburn]

what brand of battery is it? i've had quite a few halfrauds battery's before which are pretty much knackered before you buy them and don't last.

when I had my 3b I had an issue like this, in the end swapping out the alternator and cleaning the earth points sorted it on that.

[bilko0795]

It's a Bosch S3 bought from fleabay from a place i bought my bosch S5 from and that is going fine it's been on the car 16mths when i tested it on friday it held its charge on the 10amp mark and there was no drop it's only since i took the alarm out that it has started playing up. Don't want to fork out another £80 quid unless i have to. I will see what the meter readings come up with first.

[State'd RS2 Coupe]

Try pulling the rear seat & hatch light bulbs, not just switching them off.

I also had what I thought was a drain, but really turned out to be the alt not charging the battery. Does your voltage meter (dash) dip with lights, A/C, or rise with higher RPM? If so you may want to pull the alt and check both the voltage regulator (age, carbon brushes, contacts) and alt copper contact pole. Mine had enough of a groove where the poles weren't getting solid contact and while everything on the surface looked OK, the battery just wasn't getting anything more than a surface charge which would drain off over time.

[bilko0795]

I also had what I thought was a drain, but really turned out to be the alt not charging the battery. Does your voltage meter (dash) dip with lights, A/C, or rise with higher RPM? If so you may want to pull the alt and check both the voltage regulator (age, carbon brushes, contacts) and alt copper contact pole. Mine had enough of a groove where the poles weren't getting solid contact and while everything on the surface looked OK, the battery just wasn't getting anything more than a surface charge which would drain off over time.[/QUOTE]

NO the meter in the car is showing 14amps and holds steady when lights are on ,the battery is good when i disconnect it and then reconnect it 12 hours later to drive home the car turns over like it should so i assume the alt is charging ok but it won't harm to have it refurbed as a mate of mine will do it cheap. But as i have said in the first post it has only started since i removed the alarm. My ammeter should arrive today so i will start looking.

[Pat D]

The check with a clamp/ammeter will help you narrow down the circuit.

Did you remove the siren as well? Or disconnect the supply if it was a battery back up type?

A quick check to rule out the alternator without a meter would be to remove the positive cable off the back of it and tap it back on to see if you get a small arc/sparking, while the engine is off and keys out of the ignition.

[bilko0795]

The check with a clamp/ammeter will help you narrow down the circuit.

Did you remove the siren as well? Or disconnect the supply if it was a battery back up type?

A quick check to rule out the alternator without a meter would be to remove the positive cable off the back of it and tap it back on to see if you get a small arc/sparking, while the engine is off and keys out of the ignition.

No the siren is still on the car but all the cable from it has been removed. My new meter has just arrived never used one before, trying to understand all the jargon in the instructions at the mo

[Pat D]

What kind of meter did you get?

[bilko0795]

What kind of meter did you get?

I bought a sealey MM 2.0 7 function multimeter with thermocouple.

[ChrisAudi80]

This might sound silly, but have you checked if your battery has enough fluid in it? I recently had similar problems like you.
I had way high fuel consumption, battery would not hold a charge. My alt was rebuilt early this year. You know what a hassle it is to charge the battery on an UrS?

I opened the plugs on the battery. Dry as fvck. Filled it with 1L of dist water.
No probs now. Fuel consumption went from 4.5km p/l to 7.5.
Hold the charge just fine.

Fix cost: 50 cents.

[Pat D]

No the siren is still on the car but all the cable from it has been removed. My new meter has just arrived never used one before, trying to understand all the jargon in the instructions at the mo

This should help if your meter looks like this.