j.hammond1

I think I have a potential battery drain on my 4x4 saff as the battery keeps dying and is less than 1 year old.

I don't think I have a problem with the alternator charging the battery although it does seem to take quite a long drive to charge the battery enough from flat to start the car (around 20 min drive at a guess).

This problem seemed to start quite suddenly and I went from the battery lasting around two weeks after a long drive to 8 hours.

After this problem started, I turned everything electrical in the car on and off in case something was stuck on and it seemed to improve battery life (3 days at least). It still seems to me like the battery is not lasting as long as it should but I've not gone for a long drive and tested it.

After reading some threads on battery drains I took all of the negative connections off the battery and used a multi-meter to test each one for an amp draw while the car was turned off. I found that the big black one (serves alternator and I think starter motor) was drawing 130mA, is this high enough to cause the battery to keep going flat or do I just need to charge the battery up with a long drive?

If this is too high what would be the next step, I've read that the diodes in the alternator can go bad causing a battery drain, is there any way of testing this before shelling out for a new alternator?

I haven't had a great relationship with electricity in the past so don't want to be doing anything myself which may end up costing me more money or problems. I don't mind paying for an auto-electrician if that's what I need to do but if there's anything which isn't too challenging I can do to diagnose the problem I'd appreciate any advice anyone can give.

Cheers in advance

Caddyshack

I have a bad drain on mine too. My alternator doesn't seem to charge the car at all until it has gone past 4000rpm once, then it is fine...I am going to send it away for a refurb and check.

I know old alarms and immobilisers can be bad.

Will keep an eye on this thread

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

It doesn't matter what cable you use, the heavy duty one is the ground that connects to the bell housing. That reading is way to high, you now need to isolate it to a circuit. I am assuming you are doing this correctly, you need the doors shut etc and to wait until the relay opens for the courtesy lights in the case of this car.

Is your warning light working?

Martin

Caddyshack

Yes it is and doesn't light, I have tested it too.

j.hammond1

Hi caddyshack

Yeah I did think it could be alarm / immobiliser, no idea how to test this though as my electrical skills are pretty poor will try and do a bit of research.



Hi Marty, sounds like something needs fixing then.

I had ignition off and doors all closed, not sure about relay, how long would this take and how would I know it had opened? I would guess it would have been at least 1 minute from turning engine off and shutting doors before testing.

Before testing the cables as stated in my last post, I first took each fuse out of the main fuse box under the bonnet one by one and tested the amp draw and it didn't change.

I take it after doing these steps it becomes a bit more complicated, I don't suppose you know of any likely culprits for a battery drain or could it be pretty much anything? Presumably by doing fuse test I can eliminate lights, wipers, heated screen etc...

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

That will be why then, either a bad bulb, or more likely a connection problem (i.e. blue wire, most likely)

Nope, won't be any of them as they are live on ignition. With what you have done, the next thing would be to look toward the alarm, although removing power from it can be tricky as it won't be wired into a protected circuit.

That's fine, it provides the delay on the interior lights, irrelevant as the power would have been removed in your testing anyway.

Martin

Martin

j.hammond1

That's great, thanks for your help I shall take a look at the weekend and report back.

Caddyshack

My bulb will light though at times...maybe a connection issue...will check thanks.

j.hammond1

Had an auto electrician out to look at this today, turned out to be my interior light circuit so can just pull fuse number 10 out and battery drain drops from 200mA to around 55 (30 is alarm and 25 just general old s**theap drain).


I'm guessing that when I tested this I must have done something wrong which is annoying because I could've saved myself a few quid but you live and learn I suppose.


Unfortunately he wasn't able to find the exact culprit in the time he had to look at it but for now I can live with just pulling this fuse out when I'm not using the car.


Cheers for the advice.

cossynut2

How often do you use your car? I found my battery kept going flat especially in Winter when the weather is shit and the car was left for weeks at a time. I keep my 2wd Saff in a garage that does not have 240v power in it so I recently fitted a solar powered trickle charger on the back of the roof and connect it direct to the battery and it works realy well and keeps the battery topped up all the time. They dont cost much but is worth thinking about so the car will always start ok when you want to take it out.

Caddyshack

Keep the solar panel as clean as possible.

j.hammond1

I use the car most weekends as it's my only car but sometimes it may only be a 20-30 minute drive with a stop so the battery doesn't really get a full charge every week. The battery used to last 1 full week or 2 after a long drive, hopefully it will again now.

Unfortunately I live in a 3rd floor flat and the car is in a car park under a cover so I don't have the option of trickle charging or using a solar panel but it is a good suggestion.

I just need to make sure it get's a decent run when I take it out and make sure it's got enough petrol that I don't have to worry about needing to jump start it in a petrol station which I understand is generally frowned upon....

cossynut2

Pity the solar trickle charger is not an option for you.
Before I bought a battery starter pack once when I had jump started mine and it needed petrol I went to get some and it didnt have enough oomph in the battery to start it again.I had jump leads with me but had to push it right away from the pumps and then ask someone with a lot of humble pie if I could use their cars battery to start it! Felt a right dick!!!
Glad that is a thing of the past now.

j.hammond1

I might be able to get away with the solar charger but there's a very good chance it would get nicked so not worth the risk really.

Yeah I've had to jump start in a petrol station before, luckily I had a jump starter pack so just did it quickly and drove off. Wouldn't want to go to a petrol station knowing I'd have to do it though.

I also felt a complete tit in my old mr2 which went flat at the pumps. Had someone help push me off to the side and get jump leads, opened up the bonnet, took the spare out and found out the negative terminal had come off the battery because the previous owner had put the wrong sized battery clamp on, the guy who was going to help me just laughed and walked off.