Thread: Post-recovery rapid battery drain

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

the glow plugs earth through the block, which uses the same earth (negative) connection as the startermotor which is the single biggest amps draw on the system unless you have a winch.

if you try to measure the voltage on the rail with the glow plugs you wont see full battery voltage but you should see something, with a good battery I would expect maybe 8-10v.

stick the negative lead of the meter on the battery -ve terminal then contact the +ve to a good bit of metal on the block ( I usually use the alternator housing to start with) if you get ANY voltage reading there then you have a bad earth connection and will need to sort that out.

once you have a good earth reading clip onto the glow plugs rail and put the fuse in, if you get voltage there with the ignition off then your problem is in the glowplug control circuit.

I just attached the +ve to the back of the glowplug where the wire joins it, and the -ve to the engine block right beside it. Chucked in the fuse, and bob's your uncle. Removed the fuse and got a -0.00 reading from the same spot.

Good onya Tim. Well make an honorary sparky out of you yet!

Sorry I can't help with theglowplug timer circuit. Don't have a defer or workshop manual.

Ps remember to get a new fuse for your multimeter so you can measure current again. Jaycar should have them Or prime electronics at Bowen hills (take the meter with you)

So I traced the glowplug circuit to a mass of taped up wires and conduit that runs along the top of the firewall, so physically tracing it is out of the question.

Originally Posted by mattyg

Good onya Tim. Well make an honorary sparky out of you yet!

Sorry I can't help with theglowplug timer circuit. Don't have a defer or workshop manual.

Ps remember to get a new fuse for your multimeter so you can measure current again. Jaycar should have them Or prime electronics at Bowen hills (take the meter with you)

Cheers!

I checked the fuse when I changed the battery, and it seemed to be intact. Had to strain the eyes a bit to see it though!

The Haynes manual is woefully unhelpful regarding the location of the relay.

Apparently it's "located on the engine compartment bulkhead".

Well, duh. A good guess could have told me that!

I see something which I suspect, over near the passenger side?

Just double check it. Take it out. And put the multimeter on ohms and put the leads on both sides of the fuse. You should get no resistance or a very low resistance of something like 0.01

here ya go...

I quote from the scripture

Originally Posted by The good book

DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION
Glow Plugs
Glowplugs are fitted to the TDi engine to assist starting. A constant battery feed
is supplied by fusible link 3 (C907-3) to the glow plug timer (C189-5) on a
brown wire. When the ignition switch is turned to position "II", a second feed is
supplied to the glow plug timer (C189-3). This triggers a feed (C189-6) to the
glow plugs.
With the ignition switch in position "II", the glow plug warning lamp (C230-4) is
provided a feed via fuse 17 (C580-33) of the passenger compartment fuse box
on a white wire. The warning lamp (C233-10) is connected to the glow plug
timer (C189-2) by a yellow/black wire.
When the glow plug timer provides a feed for the glow plugs (C189-6), it
simultaneously provides an earth path (C189-4) for the warning lamp. After a
set period, feed to the glow plugs, and the earth path for the warning lamp are
cut; extinguishing the warning lamp.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

here ya go...

I quote from the scripture

Ok... this is where the puzzle gets interesting.

C189 in that image (the timer) was the source of my new rattle after I rolled the vehicle. The screw holding it to the bulkhead was very loose, and the timer was sitting away from the bulkhead, near the end of the screw. Would the fact it was loose be the cause of its failure, or my attempts to stop the rattle by tightening the screw?

P.S. What is this scripture and where can I get one??