Hi All,
Need some advice again please.
A few weeks ago, I went to start the VX, and the battery was completely dead, not even lighting the dash or interior light. I had not driven it for a few weeks and the battery is 2 years old, so I thought fair enough, charged it up. But it went flat again in a couple of days. It had a 3 year guarantee so I got it tested and they agreed it was duff and swapped it. job done.
Again not driven the car for a week, and it's gone completely flat again, so there must be something on the car that's draining it. The car is parked up with the alarm not set. Anybody found anything draining the battery, before I start checking with an ammeter and pulling fuses.
Assuming the second battery is knackered as it went totally flat, modern batteries don't seem to recover from a complete drain, what's the chances of getting a third on the guarantee if it's my car's fault
Thanks
Tony
Battery Problems
Started by
Tony
, Jul 20 2012 10:04 AM
9 replies to this topic
#1
Tony
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Posted 20 July 2012 - 10:04 AM
#2
techieboy
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Posted 20 July 2012 - 10:07 AM
Only thing you can do is stick a multimeter across the terminals of the battery (when it's charged up again) and pull each fuse, one by one, to see which circuit it is that's draining the power. That will at least give you a starting point to try and find exactly what the problem is.
#3
christhegasman
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Posted 20 July 2012 - 11:31 AM
I have the same problem after a few weeks dead flat I tried the multimeter and found nothing but if I found that the drain appears to be the back up battery in the alarm siren keeps recharging so I guess it's knackered. Bought a cetek leave it on charge all the time when not in use great if you have a garage if not try a solar trickle Charger
#4
Mangham54
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Posted 20 July 2012 - 11:36 AM
Remember the failure rate of batteries is highest in their first few uses. Get another and then find the cause.
My bet would be either a duff stereo connection (ie permanent live and switched wrong way round) - though strange that sounds like this is a new problem), or possibly something like the wiper motor holding on.
#5
krambulle
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Posted 20 July 2012 - 11:43 AM
...I found that the drain appears to be the back up battery in the alarm siren keeps recharging so I guess it's knackered.
I think this might be my problem. Can this battery be changed?
OR even better. Is it possible to get rid of it completely?
//Johan
#6
techieboy
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Posted 20 July 2012 - 11:46 AM
There's a guide in the useful threads forum. Think there might also be a fuse in the boot that you can pull to break that circuit.
#7
siztenboots
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Posted 20 July 2012 - 11:56 AM
reminds me, must unplug the siren. never use the alarm , and the bloody thing went off when I was working underneath.
#8
krambulle
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Posted 20 July 2012 - 12:03 PM
reminds me, must unplug the siren. never use the alarm , and the bloody thing went off when I was working underneath.
ËXACTLY! Twice nontheless. This was a week ago.
I'm like this now: 'Whaaaaaat?!'
That's why I worked on the car with my
on yesterday.True story.
//Johan
Edited by krambulle, 20 July 2012 - 12:04 PM.
#9
christhegasman
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Posted 20 July 2012 - 12:30 PM
I think one of the fuses is specific to the siren so I guess pulling that will sort it or remove r/h headlamp(as looking from the front at the car) and un plug the siren it is just behind there
...I found that the drain appears to be the back up battery in the alarm siren keeps recharging so I guess it's knackered.
I think this might be my problem. Can this battery be changed?
OR even better. Is it possible to get rid of it completely?
//Johan
#10
Tony
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Posted 21 July 2012 - 06:36 PM
Hi,
borrowed a battery from another car, and connected it with an ammeter, it's showing no draining, and about 5 amp charge when the engine is running, so no problem there. Whilst I was fiddling, I disconnected the siren as said above, Thanks, But even with fuse 2 removed, the alarm light still lights and the indicators flash when you press the button, is this to be expected.
If I put the VX battery on charge, after about 30 secs on my charger it say's it's fully charged.
Took the dead battery back to the shop, and this is where I need advice, The guy says that the battery is not deffective, just totally flat, and therefore not under guarantee. My charger is 8 amps,, and he says this is too high to start the charging process. If I was to start at lower ampage, say 1 for a period, then step it up to say 2 for a while, and so on. This he recons will bring the battery back to life, Is this correct, or am I being taken for a mug....
is he just trying to sell me a trickle charger
Thanks
Tony
Edited by Tony, 21 July 2012 - 06:37 PM.
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