battery drain 320 grrr

[pirate952]

right, over the last week or two now the 320 is draining its battery. its only when left for more then 1 day.
is there any common problems with this? anything easy to check?
the battery light goes out when im driving im sure the alternator is charging.

[rattler]

Have you checked to see what the drain on the battery is with all the doors closed, and no key in the ignition?

You can check the drain on the battery with an amps clamp, or disconnect the battery earth and connect a meter between the earth post on the battery and the earth lead.

IIRC anything above 30ma is considered too much.

If you have a drain >30ma, keep your meter connected and start removing fuses from the fuse box. (One at a time)

Do this until you remove a fuse that returns the drain <30ma.

This way you can narrow down which circuit is causing the drain.

hth

Craig.

[law]

Got a multimeter?

[pirate952]

erm no i dont have a multimetre which is the problem, that and the fact its my only working car here and i live in the middle of bloody nowhere, so i have to wait for the battery to charge every time.

[rattler]

Until you get a multimeter, you could always disconnect the battery earth lead when you park up for the night.

It is a PITA having to reconnect it each morning, but at least that way it'll still hold a charge?

[law]

Get it drop tested at a garage then dude!

[pirate952]

well once my antique charger decides its fully charged which will be about xmas, i'l go and buy a multimeter from halfrauds or is maplin better?
whats a amps clamp?
cheeeeeeeeeeeers
one bored pirate that wanted a maccy d's.

[rattler]

An amps clamp is a device that fits around a cable and will tell you what current is flowing through it.

I'm not sure how much an amps clamp is, but a multimeter will be cheaper.

Personally I would visit Maplins before Halfrauds.

[law]

If you got a multi meter, its easy to check if its battery or alternator.

Stick the meter on the batteries terminals when the engine is off.
Get someone to start the car. if it drops below 10.5v on start up, but rises to 13-14v on normal run, the battery is fucked.
If its below 12v while running, then chances are the alternator is gone.

[pirate952]

ah sorry forget to say, ive used a differant battery too, and the same thing happend, so im guessing its not the battery, also if it was the alternator not charging wouldnt the light be on on the dash?
i put a fully charged battery on, drove 30 miles, then didnt start the car for a day, then its flat. i did turn the alarm off to see if it was that.

[pirate952]

oh yeh, if when its charged, i connect the battery start the car, then remove the terminals an the car still runs is that a good enough test for the alternator?