Updated battery drain...RESULT!

[SchnellNicky 0]

Hi all,

 

just bought a lovely Corrado, after 3 days of getting her home in the garage the battery went totally flat, I mean it wouldn't even open the doors on the central locking.

 

The car hasn't been used much so I recharged the old one and put it back in, and the same happened. The car has been stored for quite some time in a garage and left on trickle charge so I treated her to a new battery (heavy duty) thinking that was the end of the problem but the same has happened again within a week of non regular use.

 

I have checked all interior lights are off and taken the head unit off the stereo (?) in case I had inadvertently left it on and the only thing I can think of is that the alarm is draining all the power but this seems excessive after just a few days in a garage.

 

Just wondered if this is a common fault, any ideas would be gratefully received as the car is going in for a service tomorrow and I can get them to check the fault then but any suggestions would be really helpful. :lol:

 

Many thanks,

 

Nicky.

[dr_mat 0]

Most Corrados will drain the battery in two weeks, and you also don't know for sure that the brand new battery was fully charged.

 

Here's the lowdown, anyway. Get a multimeter, check the voltage across the battery terminals:

 

- when the car is NOT running, it should be 12.6 V for a full charge.

- when the engine is turning, it should be 13.5 - 14.5 V

 

If the voltage is low with the engine running, you have an alternator problem.

 

Oh, and by the way, check the light inside the glovebox, and the light inside the boot are both going off properly ...

[SchnellNicky 0]

Thanks for your reply, very helpful, didn't realise they ran down that quick! The new battery came from a reliable source and we checked it was fully charged before putting it in, we charged up the old one and it has held charge since and that was over week ago so we'll see how well that holds up overnight.

 

I've checked all interior lights and they were all switched off so maybe the alarm is draining it, have had this problem before with another car if it wasn't used at least twice a week. The alarm is a Scorpion 5000 btw and worryingly (although only doing it's job) was trying to close all the windows and roof even when they were shut because I tried to activate the central locking not knowing that the battery was flat, is this likely to mess up the sunroof/central locking/electric windows motors over a period of time?

 

many thanks,

 

Nicky

 

Many thanks,

[TomB 0]

Do you have an uprated headlight loom? I only ask because that was once the cause of a repeated flat battery, as the relay in it was faulty and would randomly turn on the headlights and flatten the battery. It was only when I caught it happening once that I worked it out...

Good luck,

Tom

[dr_mat 0]

I guess the single best approach to this, is to turn everything off manually, then pull fuses one by one and stick an amp-meter across the terminals to see how much current is being drained by each circuit.

Even with a hefty 70Ah battery, you're only going to need to find 500 mA of current drain it in 5 days from fully charged. 250mA takes 10 days.

Many many many Corrado owners who don't use the car every day find problems with batteries..

[SchnellNicky 0]

Thanks for the thought Tom but the car is very standard, nothing has been modified at all on the lights front I did check before I bought it, but a useful suggestion all the same.

 

Dr_mat, getting the car serviced/checked out today (hopefully it will start?) the info you have provided is very helpful thanks. I will have to make sure I use the car more than once a week in future, will let you know how it goes and what they find today.

[dr_mat 0]

I think a multimeter should really be considered an important part of the Corrado toolkit, particularly on a little-used car. Buy one. They cost £5 from maplins. Saves buying batteries, eh .. ?

[davidwort 0]

I think a multimeter should really be considered an important part of the Corrado toolkit, particularly on a little-used car. Buy one. They cost £5 from maplins. Saves buying batteries, eh .. ?

 

Definitely.

 

also, if it's the 16v/G60 style bosch alternator they are prone to diode failure (there's a plate of several inside the alternator), if one fails you'll only get partial charging which won't be enough to keep a battery going long. They can also end up draining power from the battery when you turn off the ignition. Checking that voltage across the battery when running is quick, easy and a good indicator of alternator health!

[craigowl 0]

I never owned a multimeter until I found the Corrado needed watched, and I am 61.

 

Rest assured - battery drain is one well discussed topic here, but once you understand it a bit, living with the Corrado has less surprises.

 

I didnt know anything about multimeters either until I bought mine from Maplins for the Corrado.

It only cost about £3 when our local store opened, but I am sure the readings from it are nearly spot on as I have taken dozens of readings with it during periods of studying the battery drain.

You wont need to spend all that time on it, but I am mostly retired and have the time to do a few geeky/nerdy things like that!

[herisites 0]

Sorry for butting into this post but my parents Audi is doing the same thing, the battery dies quite often even over night some times, they have had it in the garage a few times and had new battery, new alternator even and none has helped. Does anyone kow anything about Audi's and why it could be doing this?

 

Rob.

[dr_mat 0]

Sorry for butting into this post but my parents Audi is doing the same thing, the battery dies quite often even over night some times, they have had it in the garage a few times and had new battery, new alternator even and none has helped. Does anyone kow anything about Audi's and why it could be doing this?

I think you should read my post above... Look for current drains when everything is turned off... There's no simple answers.

[davidwort 0]

...You wont need to spend all that time on it, but I am mostly retired and have the time to do a few geeky/nerdy things like that!

 

Ah, the old 'battery diary' - I don't really have the time but I've still done it!

[craigowl 0]

davidwort wrote

Ah, the old 'battery diary' - I don't really have the time but I've still done it!

 

Hmm. Maybe it is the Corrado ownership syndrome that drives young(ish), originally sane and rational, men to do this, rather than retirement!

[SchnellNicky 0]

Hi all,

 

many thanks for all the advice on my battery drain problem. After much testing and scratching of heads, we got a car electrician to have a look at it, a barnd new and fully charged battery was completely flat within 2 days and getting beyond a joke!

 

After a few checks the culprit was the 'Tracker!', seems they need new batteries every few years and as this one was dead it was draining all the chrage from the car battery thus setting the alarm off and flattening it. The wiring to the tracker was red hot as a result?!

 

This has now been disconnected and problem solved. Wouldn't have thought of that one!

 

Just thought it might be of interest, these cars seem to have a mind of their own!!!!

 

Having now got my baby set up and 110% looks like she's going to be looking for a new home due to house move and no garage to keep her in, not to mention stamp duty :x Gutted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!