ShockVR6 0 Posted September 9, 2004 Hi All, Im having electrical problems with my VR6 and I had to call in an auto electrician. The problems are 1) The battery goes flat after 2-3 days of car being sat. 2) The head unit turns itself off on its own alot 3) The amp turns itself off on its own alot. 4) The car will barely ide and cuts out alot when the revs drop. I called an auto electrician in to take a look and after about 2 hours he came to the conclusion that its all down to a large battery drain being caused by the dash MFA displays being constantly on even when the ignition is off. Are they suppossed to go off ? He says I should replace the ignition switch and it will be ok. Hes taken the fuse(21) out and tells me it will not drain until i get the new ignition switch fitted which is when i should put the fuse back in. I went to test the car when he left and the battery was flat, lol. so i havnt had a chance to see if its solved the problems. Does this sound like the ignition switch needs replacing or do you think hes full of shite ? Thnx in Advance, looking forward to having my C smoothly on the road again, too many things going wrong :( Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mark28G60 0 Posted September 9, 2004 ShockVR6 1. Mine does the same thing but i put it down to the battery life only being 55hours standby and its often ok after ive run the car out and charged the battery up. 2. My alternator was not charging when i bought the car and this was the first problem. Get this checked it should charge at around 14Volts. 3. Do you have an alarm with any extras like total close or extra LED's. Not sure were you are but you might want to get a second opinon as ive often found different advice from different garages. Mark :evil: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted September 9, 2004 Did he test the alternator and battery? The MFA synopsis is bollocks.. they draw a tiny amount of current. Could be a dodgy alarm drawing too much current though. Could be the ignition switch as they a bad weak point in all Corrados. Worth changing that anyway as they're about a tenner. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShockVR6 0 Posted September 9, 2004 Hi Mark I have full closure alarm. I forgot to mention he said it might have something to do with the alarm aswell and hes disconnected it temporarily. Im on the isle of wight and i dont know who to trust with my car really. Are the dash mfa screens suppossed to go off when the ignition is off coz im sure i read somewhere that they wernt ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 1 Posted September 9, 2004 No - the MFA screen should stay on with the time and the mileage on the display IIRC - that bit I am CERTAIN of :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShockVR6 0 Posted September 9, 2004 Thnx for reply kev, he said he tested the battery and its fine. Not sure about alternator, il phone him first thing tomorrow. Il have to look into the alarm, not sure wheres hes disconnected it as i wanted to put it back on to lock the boot as this is the only way i can. Il have to see what happens when my batterys charged as if the alarm is the problem it should run ok. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShockVR6 0 Posted September 9, 2004 unless its nothing to do with the screens and something else to do with that fuse because he said there was dramaticly less voltage being drained when he took that fuse out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted September 9, 2004 Thnx for reply kev, he said he tested the battery and its fine. Not sure about alternator, il phone him first thing tomorrow. Yeah that's quite a big player in the old electrical stakes. It should be delivering anywhere between 13.8 and 14.4V and the output should be a DC current. If it shows up as a sine wave output, the diode pack is dead and needs to be changed ASAP to avoid permanent damage to sensitive electrical devices, such as the engine and ABS ECUs. If it's gone, you'll be needing one of these babies.... I'll be doing a VR alternator replacement guide soon, watch this space.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShockVR6 0 Posted September 9, 2004 Thnks Kev Il do some tests tommorow, guess i need a voltmeter. Thats after i phone the bloke in the morning Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henny 0 Posted September 10, 2004 open the boot, take out the boot lamp bulb, close the boot... betcha the current draw which is flattening your battery is gone... ;) This is another common fault on the Corrado... the switch for the lamp is in the lock mechanism and often allows a small current to leak through it as it ages... not quite enough to light the bulb, but enough to just warm it enough to flatten the battery over a few days... :roll: Replace the ignition switch and I'll bet that the head and amp problems go too... ;) The LCD displays on the dash should always be on, but when the key is not in the ignition you should not be able to change the display using the button on the stalk... if you can then your car is permanently on one of the ignition stages, probably due to a dead switch or a dodgy bit of wiring... The LCDs themselves draw next to sod all current... if you disconnect the battery, they keep working for upto 60 seconds or so just on the residual charge in some of the capacitors on the circuit board! :D IMHO, This autoelectrician sounds like he hasn't got a clue what's causing it if he's just pulled out a fuse and said that it could also be the alarm and so disconnected that too... he should have tested the current draw across the fuse with everything switched off (and from the alarm for that matter) to identify exactly where the draw is coming from... it's basic fault finding at it's most basic... you don't just unplug everything in one hit and leave 'em unplugged... that's on a par with dis-connecting the battery every time you leave the car so nothing can flatten it... :roll: :lol: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimborae 0 Posted September 10, 2004 My 2lt 16v does exactly the same thing. 3 day & 1 dead battery, auto electrician said it was the baterry, it wasn't, I've also replaced the alternator. The boot light doesn't work so I doubt its that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henny 0 Posted September 10, 2004 jimborae, take the bulb out anyway... it could well still be that if the bulb's in there and this would show that the reason it doesn't work is 'cos the switch is borked... ;) :lol: 8) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimborae 0 Posted September 10, 2004 Cheers Henny, I'll try that tonite. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShockVR6 0 Posted September 13, 2004 Thnx for your help henny, Il take your advice Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShockVR6 0 Posted September 13, 2004 Ok, the car has been left for 5 days now with the alarm disconnected and the fuse that runs the boot lamp, mirror lamps and central locking disconnected. and it has not gone flat. Looks like the boot lamp is now a strong suspect for the battery drain. Guess Il have to replace the ignition switch and see what happens. Without the fuse in, the car wont start, is this normal ?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShockVR6 0 Posted September 13, 2004 Maybe the stalling problem is a seperate issue :? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
