| Author | Message | ||
     Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 967 Registered: 5-2012 |
Hi Folks I had a failure to start yesterday morning. The battery was flat. Since the battery is only 18 months old I hooked up an ammeter to the main earth connector (winged bolt) at the battery. With all the doors closed, all lights off, including the glovebox, I got a reading of 660 mAmps. Way too high. Does anyone know the reading I should be getting? Bob_uk mentioned 30 mAmps in another thread, but he said he runs his car clock off two AA batteries. What figure should I get when the car clock is included, as on my car. The only other device that runs continuously is the central locking module. This should only be pulling a few milliamps. My approach will be to remove the fuses one by one to try and isolate the leaking circuit. I plan also to replace all the diodes. Are there any other things I could do at this stage in trying to isolate this fault? Geoff | ||
| Mark Aldridge Prolific User Username: mark_aldridge Post Number: 260 Registered: 10-2008 |
Geoff, Try bonnet, boot, cubby lights, also cigar lighters. Mark | ||
| Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 968 Registered: 5-2012 |
Mark Cigar lighters. That's a great suggestion. I used them for the first time a few days ago to plug in a SatNav power cord. The front one didn't work so I had to use a rear door lighter. Could I have disturbed something in one of them. Thanks for the suggestion. Geoff | ||
| Martin Taylor Experienced User Username: martin_taylor Post Number: 12 Registered: 7-2013 |
The sockets are permanently live, if you left the sat charger plugged in that could be your cause, other common culprits on the shadow cars are the door switches, the Bakelite cracks in the early switches and absorbs moisture. | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Grand Master Username: bob_uk Post Number: 527 Registered: 5-2015 |
Bob UK said he has seen car clocks with internal dry batteries. Bob UK car clock is running from car battery as normal. Bob UK is Robert Reddington | ||
| Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 1063 Registered: 5-2012 |
I finally found the cause of the 640 mAmp leak. I thought I'd publish this to wrap up this thread and also to include an area to check for any other owners, if they ever get the same fault. It was caused by a small, barely visible break in the wire that runs from the starter motor to the starter relay. This is the main supply wire for the car electrics. It is attached to the crankcase by a bracket. The arrow in the picture below shows a small break in the brittle insulation through which the leak was taking place.  My car now pulls just 40 mAmp when everything is switched off. This for the clock and remote central locking controller. Geoff |
