Battery Drain

[PapaRoe]

I have a new battery, so I know that’s not the problem. There must be another reason why it’s losing its charge. At first I thought it was that the trunk is ajar sometimes, but I’ve been checking that often and that’s not it. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I should look? Is this a problem that anyone else have incurred?

 

[colb]

Good range of how to find parasitic battery draws on Youtube here

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=parasitic+battery+drain+test

If you are sure your new battery is good then work through the circuits testing by pulling individual fuses whilst monitoring at the battery with a voltmeter. Something is staying awake when you switch off and depleting the battery by the sound of things, is it a stock radio in the car or have you upgraded it?
Interior boot light is a prime suspect, put your phone in the boot and set it to record video and close the boot, open it up again after a pause and view the video to see if the light turned off when the lid was closed. If it didn't then check the plunger switch by the boot latch for operation. If its duff just take the bulb out of the lamp.

 

[Stevo7682]

Also aftermarket radio units have been known to cause drain issues if not wired correctly.
Stephen.

 

[Pingu]

Test with an ammeter and pull the fuses one at a time.

 

[PapaRoe]

I don’t have an aftermarket radio.
‘I watch the YouTube video on chasing down the parasitic drain. GREAT INFORMATION, thanks colb! I plan on doing that tomorrow.

 

[colb]

First thing to check is what your alternator is putting out with the engine running putting a voltmeter on the battery connections you should see a voltage between 13.5 and 14.5 volts. Anything less than that would indicate the built in regulator on the alternator is faulty and not charging the battery. If you put a charger on it that will recharge it and allow you to start but when driving the car it won't be getting charged and deplete the voltage again. The regulator and brush pack is available as a separate part if its the regulator you might get away with just replacing that as long as the main body wiring is ok and the bearings are still smooth in operation. Given our cars age and often high mileage when mine failed I fitted a replacement obtained from Carparts4less on the web as they were the best price.

 

[PapaRoe]

I really did have time to work on it today, nor will I be able to dive into it tomorrow. I’ll post a follow up when I discover what is wrong.

 

[PapaRoe]

I charged up the battery and then perform a complete parasitic check, and found nothing. Today, I went into 2 different auto parts store for a check on the battery, and sure enough both test came up with the same results—-bad batter, even though the p.o. Told me that it was new. I Installed a new battery. Now, just waiting to see if that really did take care of the problem.