2.4 PUMA FLATTENS BATTERY WHEN NOT USED FOR A WEEK

[Chenz]

I have an issue with my PUMA where if I don't start the vehicle for a week the crank battery is flat. It is not the battery which is brand new and has been tested by the dealer. All electricals in the car have been turned off and I have tested the fuses to see if any power is being drawn and have come up a blank.

The only way I can stop this is to disconnect the battery and then reconnect it which seems to work with the battery holding charge. I would appreciate if someone could tell me where the voltage leak could be coming from. So far I have been told it could be the alternator, the starter motor and the ECU. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

CHENZ

[drivesafe]

Hi Chenz, how often do you drive your Puma and when you drive, how long is each trip?

[rovers4]

Hi,
I had a similar problem. The cause was a crook VSR box that allowed current through to the run circuit even when the vehicle was switched off.
The vsr was an add-on, with the draining ocurring via the sensing circuits, but there was no current showing at the vehicle fuses.
If you have a second battery.... Just a thought.

[Chenz]

Hi Chenz, how often do you drive your Puma and when you drive, how long is each trip?

Not very often but I do a trip of about 350 klms return about once a month

[Chenz]

Hi,
I had a similar problem. The cause was a crook VSR box that allowed current through to the run circuit even when the vehicle was switched off.
The vsr was an add-on, with the draining ocurring via the sensing circuits, but there was no current showing at the vehicle fuses.
If you have a second battery.... Just a thought.

I do have a second battery (which I had as an auxiliary to run fridges radios compressor etc) and when the crank battery is low I can link them and use the two to get it started.

[MLD]

your battery losing charge and my wallet losing money has alot in common.

my suggestion was install a shunt on the negative cable but that will only tell you how much, not where. The only thing the how much could inform you is the possible sources that need that amount of draw.

[drivesafe]

Not very often but I do a trip of about 350 klms return about once a month
Hi again Chenz and unfortunately you are your own worst enemy.

Because you do such little amount of driving, my guess is your battery (S) is probably badly sulphated.

Because your cranking battery is new, the problem is reversible.

Have a read of the two links below and this should sort your problem out.

Scroll down the page till you get to “LOAD TEST”
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/the-verandah/246755-line-auto-electrical-info-10.html


Scroll down the page till you get to “Battery Maintenance”
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/the-verandah/246755-line-auto-electrical-info-8.html

[scarry]

Sounds like you need to charge the batteries regularly with a good charger.
I have to do this with ours as sometimes it will sit around for a good few weeks.
With two batteries you need a much longer drive to keep them both charged properly,350Km once a month won't do it.
I find doing one run of 700Km a month,then shorter runs in between, won't keep ours at 100% charged.

Both our batteries,start and aux are almost 5yrs old,and still fine.

[muddy]

Try connecting the battery up to a solar ( on roof of shed) when not in use. I have had success doing this with aux battery fridge connected and running all the time in back of 110

[Chenz]

Hi again Chenz and unfortunately you are your own worst enemy.

Because you do such little amount of driving, my guess is your battery (S) is probably badly sulphated.

Because your cranking battery is new, the problem is reversible.

Have a read of the two links below and this should sort your problem out.

Scroll down the page till you get to “LOAD TEST”
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/the-verandah/246755-line-auto-electrical-info-10.html


Scroll down the page till you get to “Battery Maintenance”
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/the-verandah/246755-line-auto-electrical-info-8.html

Ill check that out. I have bought and am using the C-Tek charger shown below.

https://www.edisons.com.au/media/catalog/product/c/t/ctek-40-462_2.jpg?optimize=medium&fit=bounds&height=&width=&canvas=:

[Chenz]

Sounds like you need to charge the batteries regularly with a good charger.
I have to do this with ours as sometimes it will sit around for a good few weeks.
With two batteries you need a much longer drive to keep them both charged properly,350Km once a month won't do it.
I find doing one run of 700Km a month,then shorter runs in between, won't keep ours at 100% charged.

Both our batteries,start and aux are almost 5yrs old,and still fine.

I am using this C-Tek charger to keep me out of trouble but it still doesn't explain how it goes from fully charged to flat in a matter of days.

https://www.edisons.com.au/media/catalog/product/c/t/ctek-40-462_2.jpg?optimize=medium&fit=bounds&height=&width=&canvas=:

[Chenz]

Sounds like you need to charge the batteries regularly with a good charger.
I have to do this with ours as sometimes it will sit around for a good few weeks.
With two batteries you need a much longer drive to keep them both charged properly,350Km once a month won't do it.
I find doing one run of 700Km a month,then shorter runs in between, won't keep ours at 100% charged.

Both our batteries,start and aux are almost 5yrs old,and still fine.

I have just bought the whiz bang C-Tek charger and will leave it on when not in use. This senses when fully charged and then just does a trickle top up as and when required.

[drivesafe]

I am using this C-Tek charger to keep me out of trouble but it still doesn't explain how it goes from fully charged to flat in a matter of days.
If a battery is sulphated, then you may have a 100Ah battery that is actually only 30Ah ( or less ) of useable battery capacity.

A battery will loose capacity while it is not in use, regardless of whether it has full capacity available or has a limited capacity because of sulphation.

With a full battery, a small discharge will take a long time to effect the battery's level of charge, but that same small discharge will rapidly drop the level of charge in a battery that is badly discharged.

Those two links I posted will show you how to carryout a simple but effective load test and then after doing the battery maintenance cycles, you use the same load test to see if you have improved the CONDITION of the batteries.

[POD]

Worth checking for residual current with an inline ammeter, take the neg terminal off the battery and insert the ammeter between the battery neg post and the neg cable with everything switched off. Somewhere there will be specs available for what the maximum residual current should be. If you then find that you have a parasitic drain somewhere, tracking it down (or at least isolating it to a particular circuit) is pretty much a matter of pulling fuses one by one whilst doing the ammeter test.

[CapeLandy]

Do you maybe have a satellite anti theft tracking device ?

Out here when they go bad they can drain a battery.

Not sure if your insurance require these item's but they have a constant power feed.

Just a thought.