Battery discharge???

ICowie

A2OC Donor
Scotland
Hi Folks,

I'm after some advice, the problem I have is If I leave my A2 Tdi for a few days (4-5) without running it the battery's going flat and fails to start. I first noticed it when the weather started getting colder so thought it was a duff battery and replaced it with a brand new one but it's still the same.
I thought it might be the alternator at fault so checked the voltage at the battery while it's running but even just at idle it was reading 14.38v and the clamps are both tight and secure.

My question is, Is there a common fault that could be causing this or have I got a nightmare on my hands? :(

Thanks,
Iain
 
Check your courtesy lights, in case any are remaining on when the car is parked. It's best to do this on a dark night for obvious reasons. Is the radio turning off okay?

An auto electrician would probably get to the cause of the problem in a matter of minutes.
 
Cheers Steve,

I've already checked the obvious stuff, I thought it might've been the boot light as sometimes the boot doesn't close properly the first time you try to close it so I pulled the bulb but it's made no difference and the stereo seems to be working as I should. The other problem that I thought might be causing it is, while driving the DIS flickers between the normal display and showing the rear doors and boot being open hence pulling the bulb in the boot.

I was hoping there'd be a common fault that causes it but it looks like I've got a headache :rolleyes:
 
I doubt it's anything that's going to be too difficult to sort. The microswitch for the boot lid may need replacing, or the associated wiring may have a short.

If you don't want to get an electrician to check it over, you'll probably need to work your way through with a decent multimeter.
 
I've got a Fsi spares car so I'll maybe have a go at swapping some bits and pieces over and see if that makes any difference and if that fails I'll need to find a decent auto spark.

Thanks again
 

Hi Folks,

I'm after some advice, the problem I have is If I leave my A2 Tdi for a few days (4-5) without running it the battery's going flat and fails to start. I first noticed it when the weather started getting colder so thought it was a duff battery and replaced it with a brand new one but it's still the same.
I thought it might be the alternator at fault so checked the voltage at the battery while it's running but even just at idle it was reading 14.38v and the clamps are both tight and secure.

My question is, Is there a common fault that could be causing this or have I got a nightmare on my hands? :(

Thanks,
Iain
check your glovebox light, as the finger on the switch breaks the contact between the switch, if this is the case Deproman makes a repair piece.

Keith.
 


check your glovebox light, as the finger on the switch breaks the contact between the switch, if this is the case Deproman makes a repair piece.

Keith.

Ah! I hadn't even thought about the glovebox light, that'll be the next bulb to be pulled.

Cheers
 
I can see that you've recently attempted to convert to LED lighting. Might there be some connection with this issue?
 
I can see that you've recently attempted to convert to LED lighting. Might there be some connection with this issue?

No, it done it before then as well. I only do a short drive to work of around 4 miles and back and thought with the cold starts, lights and heater on it maybe wasn't getting enough of a charge. I thought the lower powered led's might've helped but in all honesty it hasn't made any difference.
 
You are killing the battery with the short trips. The car takes a good 20 minutes for the battery to recover from starting, the engine can take nearly as long to fully warm up, then the rest just drain down the battery even further and puts a huge load on the alternator. If the car is garaged or on your drive look into fitting a trickle charger to keep the battery topped up. Or you could look into a solar powered panel that tops up the battery through the 12v socket in the car. Take it for a good run as everything will benefit for getting fully warmed up.
 
Hello.

You haven’t got a tracker in there have you. I recently got a car with an insurance company black box and tracker fitted. If not used for 4 days, flat battery. Removed tracker and black box. Problem gone.

The long way to find the problem will be removing the fuses one at a time when the cars not in use and monitoring the battery with your multimeter.

Tony


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I had the same problem, battery would drain after a couple of days. For mine after locking the car, you could hear the central locking cycling constantly. In the end I replaced the ccu (central convenience unit) and hey presto central locking was no longer cycling after being locked and battery has not gone flat since (been a few months now). Was very easy to replace, got a replacement in the market place, I see them come up all the time.
 
Hello.

You haven’t got a tracker in there have you. I recently got a car with an insurance company black box and tracker fitted. If not used for 4 days, flat battery. Removed tracker and black box. Problem gone.

The long way to find the problem will be removing the fuses one at a time when the cars not in use and monitoring the battery with your multimeter.

Tony


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No there's no trackers fitted in the car, after reading the replies my gut feeling is that it's the CCU that's at fault as I also believe it could be the reason the DIS is flickering between the normal display and the rear doors/boot being open.

I have a spares car so I have a spare CCU, is this a straight swap over if I have the original key fobs to go with it?
 
No there's no trackers fitted in the car, after reading the replies my gut feeling is that it's the CCU that's at fault as I also believe it could be the reason the DIS is flickering between the normal display and the rear doors/boot being open.

I have a spares car so I have a spare CCU, is this a straight swap over if I have the original key fobs to go with it?
Yes 10 minute swap, lift carpet in front passenger footwell, unscrew a couple of twisty things, lift alu panel, unclip the cables and out it comes. For me I got a key with the replacement ccu and it worked straight away. You can split the remote part of the key from the key and make your new key from the two half's. Assuming it works...
 
Thanks for all your help guys, I've got lots of things to try. Better get to work...At least it's Friday ?
 
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