cabby3i

hi guy's,

the mrs escort 1.3 mk6 battery keep's being drained! ive put a new battery on it, a new alternator,cleaned all earth point's! removed boot light and glove box light! its a bog standard 1.3 duratec,encore, it dont have an alarm,centeral locking,elec window's or mirror's, and yet come the morning it wont start!
all i get is tick tick from the starter, yet it will jump fine off a pair of jump lead's and a slave battery! or a minor push and it bump's straight off......
but it's getting bloody annoying now,

i got a cheap battery / alternator tester, the 1 with a row of l.e.d's, with the engine off it show's the battery as "good" 12v.... engine running "strong output" 14v...

it's had 2 replacement battery's, 1 the recommended for the car, and the second i had a heavy duty 600 CCA.. the first 1 was also a heavy duty exide! and yet with in an hour it's dead!!

come on guy's some one must have some idea's for me!
i really cant afford to hav an auto elec to look at it this side of the new year! with the xmas commitment's and all that! and with the mrs being pregnant she cant do with out a motor! LOL....

some body?? anybody??

thanx in advance, and here's to a happy & safe christmas and a happy new year to all!

cabby.

cossiejsy

sounds like something draining the battery somewhere have you changed the head unit

cabby3i

yes the head unit has been changed, if i have the stereo on for 5 min the car wont start either, that's with a fully charged battery!!!!
the stereo is a sony mp3 player, it's got the ford adaptor for the plug's, no cut and joined wire's.... the unit goes off with ignition but still has power for the mem, and the eject still work's when it's off! i disconnected the "illumination wire" because it kept dimming the head unit when lights were turned on and the mrs didnt like it!

Rick Astley

Why not get rid of the headunit completely then see how you get on... If the problem still occurs then it can't be the head unit.

cabby3i

the head unit has ben in the car for 6 month's, this problem has only started now it's getting cold......when it was slightly warmer the car started in the morning fine, i thought the battery was dead and the cold werent helping, but 3 batt's later and still same thing lol..... altho i will disconnect the head untit and see if it make's a differance!

D7AKE

This is a common problem on the MK6 escort, I have this on my escort, I leave it on trickle charge all the time now.

From the research I have done it's something to do with the fusebox.

Sime

cabby3i

hi, thanx for the reply, so do you know anything of the problem with the fuse board? bad circuit/joint's? can it be home fixed or is it a new fuse box needed?


thanx.

cabby3i

hey guy's, again it would ot start this am, brand new battery yesterday!
not even ignition light's today no jump start or bump worked either!
could a dodgy solenoid on the starter cause this problem? or dodgy main power wire's from the battery?

nilrem

have you tested the alternator? the diodes in there might have gone, so in essence it is running back through it and attemping to turn the alternator like a motor but with your engine stopping it, so will be draining your car all the time, but will still charge when the engine is running, like normal...

cabby3i

its a new alternator!! but how would i go about testing it? i have disconnected the lead from it to the battery and checked the out put for a signal witch was strong!

BigChuck

it may be an idea for the moment, until you get it fixed anyway, just disconnect the battery when your not using the car, that should stop it from going flat.

cabby3i

should there be power at the alternator when the engine is off?? i got a 12 volt signal on the main wire off the alternator engine on or off ?

nilrem

That would show the diodes are fekked... if its showing 12 volts regardless of the engine turning. Was it brand new, or a recon?

cabby3i

it was brand new about 3 months ago! , can i repair this myself? or should i take it back to were i bought it from?

but being connected straight to the battery should it not show power there?

edit:if i remove the wire from the the alternator the connection on the alternator die's too, but the wire remain's live, looks like it's attached to the starter motor? and then the battery? ..
will disconnect the loom tomoz and see were it goe's to before the battery!

cabrio zo

My mk6 cabrio had the same problem, once jump started in the morning was ok for the day, had new batteries (can't remember if did alternator) IIRC the last thing to change was starter

Z

cabby3i

did changing the starter sort out the problem?

cabby3i

it show's the same power a t the alternator as the battery when engine is off and 14v when engine is running! sorry about that!

Gazzonator

iTrader: (9)

What I would do is disconnect the negative battery terminal and connect in an ammeter in series (between the battery terminal and cable). This will enable you to see how much current is being drained.

Once you've established there is a drain there, start pulling fuses one by one, checking the reading on the ammeter after each one to see if it's dropped (make sure you put them back each time or you will end up with a big pile!! Lol!).

The reading on the ammeter you ideally want is anything under 0.1 amps. If you pull a fuse and the drain goes, bingo, you've found the faulty circuit so should be miles easier to trace the cause.

If no luck pulling fuses, then it's time to start disconnected other components like the main live to the alternator, starter motor etc.....

If it's such a drain that would discharge a fully charge battery in such a short space of time, it should be pretty easy to find.

Hope that helps mate!

cabby3i

so let me get this straight.... disconnect the negative term from the battery, connect the ammeter between the earth lead and earth terminal on the battery? between the earth lead and the battery positive terminal?
the ammeter should show no more than 0.1 amps on the ammeter? if it's higher than 0.1 then there's deffo a drain somewere and will do as you said and pull the fuses 1 by 1 and see if the current drops on the ammeter!

thanx for your help m8!

cabrio zo

I sold it before changed it, sorry

Try posting on www.escortevolution.co.uk chances are someone had the same problem there

Z

Gazzonator

iTrader: (9)

You put the ammeter between the earth terminal on the battery and the earth lead (easiest way to think of the ammeter is as a fuse, you fit a fuse inline, same principle ) and make sure all the little earth wires are connected also.

The figure you should aim to get is 0.1 amps although anything up to 0.3 amps would be unlikely to drain it overnight but is far from ideal. Just as an example, an interior light system can draw anything from 0.5 to 2.0 amps depending on how many there are).

Like I said mate, see how you go with the fuses, if no joy, move onto other things!

Whereabouts you located?

cabby3i

cheer's m8! will get on it tomoz! will let you know how it goe's
am located in brum

Gazzonator

iTrader: (9)

No worries mate, good luck!

if you were closer I'd try and help you but hey ho!