How long for the battery to go flat ?
Discussion
I seem to be having endless battery issues. It was going flat every couple of days a while ago, tehn it had a new battery fitted by the dealer, who also checked the drain and said it was fine. It's been okay for teh last couple of months, being driven only once a week ( or less ) but now the thing is flat again after only 6 days.
So, my question is: How long do you think it should take to go flat ? I would have said aroud 3 weeks.
So, my question is: How long do you think it should take to go flat ? I would have said aroud 3 weeks.
It's got the standard CD head unit with a multichanger. It has a Trackstar fitted. The odd thing is, it can be fine, has been checked out and now it's doing it again. I did think of the interior light and maybe a dodgy switch but the inside light is in the always off position. Very odd.
snuffy said:
It's got the standard CD head unit with a multichanger. It has a Trackstar fitted. The odd thing is, it can be fine, has been checked out and now it's doing it again. I did think of the interior light and maybe a dodgy switch but the inside light is in the always off position. Very odd.
How about disconnecting the Trackstar if possible and see what happens.Yes, that's an idea. It's a NavTrak but I don'y know how you disconnect it. I assume it's not a simple job otherwise there would be little point in having it !!
On thing does spring to mind: When you start the car you have to disarm it, otherwise it's starts bleeping at you. I always do this when driving but at the weekend I only drove out of the garage, and back in again so I did not bother to disarm it. Maybe it's starts transmitting even after the keys have been removed ?
On thing does spring to mind: When you start the car you have to disarm it, otherwise it's starts bleeping at you. I always do this when driving but at the weekend I only drove out of the garage, and back in again so I did not bother to disarm it. Maybe it's starts transmitting even after the keys have been removed ?
snuffy said:
Yes, that's an idea. It's a NavTrak but I don'y know how you disconnect it. I assume it's not a simple job otherwise there would be little point in having it !!
On thing does spring to mind: When you start the car you have to disarm it, otherwise it's starts bleeping at you. I always do this when driving but at the weekend I only drove out of the garage, and back in again so I did not bother to disarm it. Maybe it's starts transmitting even after the keys have been removed ?
Difficult to locate tracker boxes as you're not supposed to know where they live (Noble should be able to help though - on proof of ownership)!On thing does spring to mind: When you start the car you have to disarm it, otherwise it's starts bleeping at you. I always do this when driving but at the weekend I only drove out of the garage, and back in again so I did not bother to disarm it. Maybe it's starts transmitting even after the keys have been removed ?
Sugest you do two (seperate) tests - alarm disconnected and then tracker disconnected and see if it still drains - a pain, I know!
Check for voltage discharge first before you go disconnecting the Nav Trak.
Put a meter across the battery and see what current is being drawn. The other thing to do is 'drop test' the battery. This puts a big load on it and any decent garage can do this for you. This will determine if the battery is FUBAR'd.
My guess is that it is.
Put a meter across the battery and see what current is being drawn. The other thing to do is 'drop test' the battery. This puts a big load on it and any decent garage can do this for you. This will determine if the battery is FUBAR'd.
My guess is that it is.
AMG Merc said:
snuffy said:
Yes, that's an idea. It's a NavTrak but I don'y know how you disconnect it. I assume it's not a simple job otherwise there would be little point in having it !!
On thing does spring to mind: When you start the car you have to disarm it, otherwise it's starts bleeping at you. I always do this when driving but at the weekend I only drove out of the garage, and back in again so I did not bother to disarm it. Maybe it's starts transmitting even after the keys have been removed ?
Difficult to locate tracker boxes as you're not supposed to know where they live (Noble should be able to help though - on proof of ownership)!On thing does spring to mind: When you start the car you have to disarm it, otherwise it's starts bleeping at you. I always do this when driving but at the weekend I only drove out of the garage, and back in again so I did not bother to disarm it. Maybe it's starts transmitting even after the keys have been removed ?
Sugest you do two (seperate) tests - alarm disconnected and then tracker disconnected and see if it still drains - a pain, I know!
Biggriff said:
Check for voltage discharge first before you go disconnecting the Nav Trak.
Put a meter across the battery and see what current is being drawn. The other thing to do is 'drop test' the battery. This puts a big load on it and any decent garage can do this for you. This will determine if the battery is FUBAR'd.
My guess is that it is.
The battery is only 2 months old and the garage has tested for current drain and found no problems. I'm thinking it might be this : Drive out of my garage, did not disarm the NavTrak, then after a couple of hours drove it back in ( again, no disarming of NavTrak). Then what does it do if it thinks it's been moved without being disarmed ? It might try and locate a satellite to say "oi - I'm being nicked" which will be hard in a garage, so it ups it's transmitter power and flattens the battery. Of course, that could be total cobblers on my part, but it's an idea.Put a meter across the battery and see what current is being drawn. The other thing to do is 'drop test' the battery. This puts a big load on it and any decent garage can do this for you. This will determine if the battery is FUBAR'd.
My guess is that it is.
snuffy said:
It's got the standard CD head unit with a multichanger. It has a Trackstar fitted. The odd thing is, it can be fine, has been checked out and now it's doing it again. I did think of the interior light and maybe a dodgy switch but the inside light is in the always off position. Very odd.
If you had a prob with interior lights check the courtesy delay relay isn't playing up.While you're there feel all of the relays in the "fuse box" to see if any are getting hot.
Do this after charging the battery but before it goes flat.
I found my courtesy light relay was faulty and it was getting V hot even with the car switched off and not running for a few days.
My battery is original and has never let me down yet!
F.C.
Try pulling each fuse in turn, and put an ammeter across the contacts with the fuse out.
A 60 Ah battery (average?) would be flattened in two and a half days by an amp of current, so the current you're looking for should be reasonably significant.
This might at least let you know which circuit is causing problems.
Cheers,
FT.
A 60 Ah battery (average?) would be flattened in two and a half days by an amp of current, so the current you're looking for should be reasonably significant.
This might at least let you know which circuit is causing problems.
Cheers,
FT.
F.C. said:
snuffy said:
It's got the standard CD head unit with a multichanger. It has a Trackstar fitted. The odd thing is, it can be fine, has been checked out and now it's doing it again. I did think of the interior light and maybe a dodgy switch but the inside light is in the always off position. Very odd.
If you had a prob with interior lights check the courtesy delay relay isn't playing up.While you're there feel all of the relays in the "fuse box" to see if any are getting hot.
Do this after charging the battery but before it goes flat.
I found my courtesy light relay was faulty and it was getting V hot even with the car switched off and not running for a few days.
My battery is original and has never let me down yet!
F.C.
so a 55Ah battery will supply in a perfect world 0.25 amp for 220 hours or in other words 9.16 days.
found that pulling out the yellow courtesy delay relay drops the current down to 0.04A which would be about 57.29 days which is a bit better.
off to ford tomorrow to get a new one.
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