Flat battery every feckin time :evil: Culprit found!

[Riley 0]

Every time i come to start the car,battery is non existent. :mad:

 

The alternater (with a newish volt reg) is putting out 14 volts.

The boot light isn't stuck on,no bulb in it.

 

The battery is fifty feckin quids worth of new bosch :mad:

 

Whats going on? :( ive been having to use a booster pack every friggin time,but i tried it earlier and nothing.So i threw the fecker to the other end of the street,came inside and had a fag for the first time in four days...

 

When connecting/disconnecting the posi lead on the battery theres a lot of sparking/power (when its not dead)

 

Ive had every fuse out,and it still sparks like mad,ive disconnected the alternater and it still sparks like mad.

 

WTF? :(

[Goldie 2]

Are you getting 0 volts out the battery or does it no have enough life in it to start the car??

[Riley 0]

iTS TOTALLY DEAD EVERY TIME I COME TO USE IT.nORMALLY THE BOOSTER PACK (WHICH IM SICK OF FECKING CARRYING ABOUT) WORKS,BUT IT SOUNDED AS THOUGH IT JUST WASN'T CHARGED UP ENOUGH...

 

feckin caps lock

[Goldie 2]

Id be swaying towards saying that maybe the battery is dodgy as its not holding its charge.

 

May be worth trying another one or exchanging yours.

 

When ive heard of things like this before its because the elctrolyte in the battery had had it.

[Riley 0]

Aye,id have thought that...but it was doing it before the new bosch battery. :(

 

Its as though something somewhere is really pulling the power...with the sparks at the battery terminal.But what?

My test/amp meter has stopped working and only reads upto 10 amp anyway :roll:

 

Neil.

[Goldie 2]

Ooo, cant be that then.

 

There must be something consuming the power then somewhere.

 

Sorry, im a bit stuck with where you can start.

[Riley 0]

Aye,no worries m8,any input is appreciated... :)

 

Has anyone actually ever gone 6 months with no problems at all with one of these things?

Friggin old mk1 was 110% more reliable in every single way.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

How long between engine starts? If you use the car once a week, then it's quite normal for the charge to drop a little. If you use the car every day and it's dead every morning, then you've got a problem - no schitt sherlock, LOL!

 

Boot light we can outrule, but that is an old Rado favourite.

 

What about the alarm? It could be drawing too much juice.

 

Stereo? Some still hog current to maintain settings when switched off, but not enough to drain a battery!

 

Engine harness - something frayed and shorting to ground?

 

Alternator - 14v output, but is it DC? AC will feck the battery in no time. I'd get that checked professionally.

 

other than that, no idea, sorry! I hate car electrics with a passion!!

[dr_mat 0]

What voltage are you reading across the battery, immediately after a run, with the ignition off?

(A new multi-meter is a fiver in maplin, in case your voltmeter is screwed, and a clamp meter will safely tell you what current is flowing through the wires without you having to disconnect them..)

Best bet is to put a clamp meter on the big battery lead and pull fuses out till the current drops to below 0.5 amps. (Ideally below 0.1 amps, but I don't think Corrados are capable of getting that low .. )

[Riley 0]

Cheers guys.

 

No alarm on there,just the immobiliser...

Alternator puts out 14v dc as far as i can tell,well my meter was on dc anyway :!:

 

After the car has been run,the voltage across the battery is 13 volts or there abouts...ive stood there for a while with the meter on :lol: and no drop that i could see.Cant test much now though as the test meter has died.

 

Tried my dads amp meter (where you stick the prongs over the wiring) and no amps were showing at all :?

Tried the chaps next door which can read up to 200 amps i think...again,nothing showing.

 

I have had every fuse out,including the uprated headlight loom.And when connecting the battery,its still sparking v strongly.

 

I dunno... :roll:

[Riley 0]

Oh,i use the car about 4 times a day.

 

And when i come to it...sometimes its dead...sometmes it just about starts.

[steveo29 0]

do the test what dr mat says on mine it was a dodgy headunit causing too much loss

 

another thing, if its almost flat and you just catch it and go for a 10 min drive its not going to charge it up again

 

best bet is to take it off and charge it for 12hrs or so and take it from there

 

i hated my car when it did that, i wouldnt stand for more than 4-5 days , now it will still start after 3 weeks, but after the 3 weeks it either needs a recharge or a bloody good run to brng it back to 100%

[Kevin Bacon 5]

What I do is plug my batt into an intelligent trickle charger every night after work. C-Tek make a good one.

 

I do that cause I've got a tiny battery but it helps keep it topped up without overcharging and can be left that way permanently, such as holidays, "can't be arsed to drive car" days, etc etc.....

 

You've definitely either got an ineffective charge or something is consuming a lot of current when the car is off.

[dr_mat 0]

The battery is reading a good voltage, 13v, suggesting it's well charged, but it takes some time after a charge cycle before the battery "relaxes" to it's natural output voltage, so come back after 30 minutes or so and measure it again.

 

Also, could be the run-on fans? They'd only run for a short while, but if they were shorting somewhere you'd pull 20 amps without blowing the fuse - easily enough to empty the battery in a couple of hours. This circuit wouldn't necessarily be active when you're testing it, see..

[NickVR6 0]

Don't take this as me patronising you, but are you sure the battery is flat, or are you just going by the fact its very slow to start or does'nt start?

 

Only reason i ask is just in case your reading that to mean the battery is flat it may just be the cable to the start coroded up. Mine did that, you'll see lots of green where it bolts on to the starter.

 

If it is dont do what i did and brake the bolt out of the starter trying to undo the nut, its set in plastic (nice one VW) :roll:

 

Ignoring the above, we had a whole batch of bad Bosch batteries recently. Very rare though i have to say.

[Reggit 0]

Judging by your symptoms, it looks as though something is permanantly drawing current, hence the sparking at the battery terminals. I'd expect a little sparking as some stuff will draw current whilst in the quiescent state (turned off).

 

By the fact it is going dead within a day or less points to several Amps being drawn. eg a 65Ah battery should be able to provide 65 Amps for 1 hour, or 1 Amp for 65 hours, therefore a 5 Amp constant draw would kill it in around 13 hours (if my brain is working ok). Dunno what you've got fitted, but this is a commonish size for the example.

 

To have much chance of finding the source, you'll need an ammeter hooked up in series with the battery, or a clamp on one as someone suggested, then disconnect everything until the reading drops.

 

I'd guess that you've probably got a short to ground somewhere, given the short time the battery holds charge for.

 

If you get no where with it give me a shout (via PM) as I may be able to help/hinder you. I'm not far away assuming you are where your profile says!

[awigman 0]

i have this exact same problem at the mo. Battery goes from fully charged to dead in 1 day. Iv come to the conclusion that is is to do with my central locking. My passenger door dosnt open anymore(not to do with handle as thats quite new). When i connect the positive terminal to the battery,like you said there are a few sparks, and also a quiet clicking noice coming from passenger door. My cars booked in on wednesday at LUCAS so will hopefully know whats going on then. Do all your doors work proberly?

[GIXXERUK 0]

have you tried just disconnecting your battery for the amount of time it usually takes to go flat ? just to be sure the problem isnt the battery

[mattkh 0]

have you tried just disconnecting your battery for the amount of time it usually takes to go flat ? just to be sure the problem isnt the battery

 

Hi

 

What an excellent idea.

[Jim 2]

Was gonna say.. this time of year is incredibly taxing on bad batteries. Lights/heaters on most of the time and the cold weather really punishes the batteries....

[Riley 0]

Thanks for the input guys :) and yep,the battery was definately going flat...whenever i came to the car,the immobiliser light wasn't lit and neither was any of the dash...

 

Yesterday i threw a mates alternater on for the crack (seeing as ive taken the head off his G :shock: ) and this morning it started straight away...although a little un enthusiastic. :roll:

 

So ill see how it goes...really didnt think it was the alt,but?

 

If it dosn't sort it for a few days ill give some of the suggestions a go :D cheers.

 

Ps:whats the best thing to do to sort a new alternater,new? refurbed? where from etc...very skint at the minute after buying new wheels but will have to sort it!

 

Neil. :)

[dr_mat 0]

GSF do genuine Bosch refurbed alternators on an exchange basis, though it sounds more like you might just need the output regulator.

[steveo29 0]

new voltage regulator and bursh pack is about £10 at gsf.....usualy restores em

 

is your batt light working? it should have warned of the low output

[Riley 0]

Cheers guys,

 

Thats what i cant understand...it was a new volt regulater not so long ago :?

And yep,battery light working steveo. :)

 

Wonder if its just the gsf regulater causing probs though,as they use a diffarent voltage to the genuine ones.They are rated at 14.5 volt instead of 14 volt which means you have to blip the throttle to put the battery light out.

 

Not sure really...at the moment its starting,and my rear spoiler is working :? it used to jump up and down as though there wasn't enough power...

 

Neil.

[waynos 0]

i have exactly the same problem mate, been through 3 batteries in the last year. have changed the starter, all wires goin to alternator and recently changed my reconditioned 65 amp alternator for a reconditioned 90 amp and i still have the problem.

 

i also have the same issue with the charging light not going out until you rev it so i might change the regulator. are these available from vw? does anyone know how much they are likely to cost?