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        General >> Problems >> Battery drain - any ideas?
        
(Message started by: Chris_Young on Nov 24^th, 2007, 8:32pm)

Title: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Chris_Young on Nov 24^th, 2007, 8:32pm

Hi I have a 1995 Scorpio 2.9 12v Ultima estate and it has a battery drain - basically goes flat after a few hours parked. It has a new battery and alternator and these I'm told are working fine.

An auto electician hasworked out that if we remove the fuse related to the stereo and internal lighting the drain stops. He reckons he's tested everything related to this fuse - even removed the dashboard to test the separate ford amplifier and nothing is faulty/causing the drain. According to the ford diagrams the only equipment attached to this circuit is interior lighting and hi fi. So now I can use the car but with no interior lights or stereo. Any ideas?

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Dave on Nov 24^th, 2007, 8:39pm

Hi Chris,

welcome to the site :)

Does the car have the original stereo?

Do the interior lights all go off when the doors are shut and locked? Have you checked the glovebox and boot lights go off?

Cheers

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Chris_Young on Nov 24^th, 2007, 9:08pm

Thanks Dave

Yes the car has the original stereo with the cd changer in the back. The interior lights all go off when the doors are shut and yes the boot lights/ glovebox lights go off.

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Kjetil S on Nov 24^th, 2007, 9:17pm

Power saver relay faulty? (Just guessing)

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Chris_Young on Nov 24^th, 2007, 9:26pm

Thanks - I'm no electrician (and far from it!) but if the power saver relay was faulty would removing the fuse for the interior lighting / stereo stop the drain, because this is what happens..?

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Jim on Nov 24^th, 2007, 9:38pm

I had exactly the same. I replaced the battery and alternator with no success. I also replaced the timer module and finally the starter motor. I cannot be certain which of the last two were at fault, logic said timer module but the starter motor died at the same time so gut feeling is on that. Battery drain ceased immediately.

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Havinga on Nov 24^th, 2007, 9:48pm

Hi, Had a very similar fault on my old 2.0L,
Turned out it was the fuse box its self and nothing to with anything connected to it.

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Chris_Young on Nov 24^th, 2007, 10:51pm

Thanks for that - will see if the fuse box is the problem.

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Chris_Young on Nov 24^th, 2007, 10:55pm

And thanks Jim I'll also check the timer module and starter motor too. My feeling is won't be the starter motor as the car is fine when the fuse relating to the stereo and inner lighting is removed...

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Kjetil S on Nov 25^th, 2007, 2:50am

on 11/24/07 at 21:26:04, Chris_Young wrote:

Thanks - I'm no electrician (and far from it!) but if the power saver relay was faulty would removing the fuse for the interior lighting / stereo stop the drain, because this is what happens..?

I'm no auto electrician either. (So what I'm writing is almost pure speculation.) However I do seem to recall that the interior light circuit was somehow linked to the power saver circuit. I also seem to recall that the power saver relay will go open circuit (cut the power) when you pull the interior light fuse. I may be wrong though.

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Chris_Young on Nov 25^th, 2007, 10:46pm

Thanks Kjetil - I'll check this out, reckon you're more of an electrician than me! Will be v pleased if any of these suggestions solve it.

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by nice_1 on Nov 26^th, 2007, 9:10am

Don't know if this is relevant to your problem. I had a problem with the wiring under the fuse on the passenger side. Made worst when it rained. It used to turn the lights on !!!
The wiring which runs from the f/box had some how chaffed. Eventually one day after the battery going flat for the hundredth time. I jump started the car, which must have been the last straw. As it started to melt the wiring together under said fuse box.
So It might be worth just checking that out.

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Chris_Young on Dec 4^th, 2007, 9:15pm

Thanks to all for advice. My auto electrician lost his patience - the latest is that to avoid spending loads more cash the stereo is now wired up to another circuit thereby allowing me to use the stereo without battery drain. Now with the fuse removed I just have no interior lights. Latest suggestion is to wire the interior lights to the ignition live so that I can have interior lights provided the ignition is on thereby avoiding a drain as they only time they're live is when the car has ignition and is mostly charging (if the fault is related to lighting which I'mm told it's probably not). Not ideal but seeing as fusebox has already been replaced this seems an option without spending yet more on diagnostics - apparently power saver / interior lighting timer ok. Any thoughts?

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Simmo on Dec 4^th, 2007, 11:00pm

Have you checked out the interior light unit?. This sits under the radio aerial mounting and can be affected by water getting in through the mount.

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by harry.m1byt on Dec 4^th, 2007, 11:19pm

The power saver feature is designed to turn off the interior lighting around 20 minutes after the car has been stood untouched. I've not checked it, but I think the idea is...

Should you leave a door, glove box, or boot open, the power saver relay shuts down the entire circuit if there is no change in the cars status for 20 minutes.

I had a small (common) problem with my glove box switch, allowing the light to stay on with the lid closed. I would go in the cold car, touch the lamp and find it was cold -yet it burn out two lamps due to it staying on. The reason it was cold was that the power saver feature had turned off the interior lights.

Rather than wire the lights via the ignition, could you as a temporary test - solder a couple of wires to a blown fuse, then lead these into the cabin and put a switch on the end of the wires? Switch off = lights isolated = no drain.

Further thought - When I open a door, I hear the click of a relay. Might this be the power saver relay and can you hear the click? No click might mean the contacts welded up and perhaps the glove box or boot light on all the time. Check for warmth from the lights being on permanently.

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by Chris_Young on Dec 12^th, 2007, 10:10pm

Thanks for the advice on 4 December, laptop been at the repair shop - thankfully that is ok now unlike the car!

The electrican claims to have checked the interior light unit yes.

I checked the glove box and that light isn't staying on.

the idea of wiring to a blown fuse I'm confused by that but that's probably me being thick - can you please explain your idea?

Title: Re: Battery drain - any ideas?
Post by harry.m1byt on Dec 13^th, 2007, 5:09pm

I was just suggesting that it might be easier to install (wire) a switch across an already blown fuse, then you can just switch it off without having to pull the fuse everytime you park it. Just a temporary fix, until the problem can be found.

A low wattage 12v lamp wired across a blown fuse might make the source of the discharge easier to find - lamp will light whilst the discharge is there and go out when the discharge is removed.