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Battery draining when left connected...
Danozeman - 3/4/07 at 07:55 PM

Help please.

If i leave my battery connected overnight it drains the battery.

Iv checked everything out and cant find anything draining it.

Anyone had the same with Vicky green loom??

westf27 - 3/4/07 at 08:14 PM

assuming your battery is ok,something is draining it.Connect an ammeter in series with the battery and observe the current flow,then systematically disconnect items till current flow ceases.It may help to isolate large parts of the whole car by initially pulling fuses one by one.

westf27 - 3/4/07 at 08:21 PM

in fact had that problem with an Esprit,it was the alternator,diodes i think.

stevec - 3/4/07 at 08:25 PM

After you have checked the other circuits as suggested. If it has a Ford original alternator on it I have seen these try to be an electric motor when the engine is off and drain the battery,
Does the alternator get warm even after the engine has been off for a while?
Steve.

Danozeman - 3/4/07 at 08:30 PM

Im thinking alt myself. Its a charade one.

I have checked everything else.

Thanks ill have aplay tomorrow. Iv got another alt somewhere. Ill try that.

stevec - 3/4/07 at 08:34 PM

If its the alternator I am sure it will get warm when it shouldn't if you know what I meen.
Steve.

owelly - 3/4/07 at 08:39 PM

Does the battery lose charge if it's disconnected? Could be a knackered battery?
Another way to check is to take one lead off the battery and tap it on the battery post. If there is a spark, no matter how small, there is something still pulling current. Then try taking the fuses out one by one and try the tapping method to see if you can pin point which circuit os faulty. If it still sparks with all the fuses out, it must be a fault before the fuse box or an unfused component. Unplug the alternator to see if it's that?

[Edited on 3/4/07 by owelly]

stevebubs - 3/4/07 at 09:45 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Danozeman
Im thinking alt myself. Its a charade one.

I have checked everything else.

Thanks ill have aplay tomorrow. Iv got another alt somewhere. Ill try that.


Unplug the alternator overnight. If it doesn't go flat then you've found the problem...

BenB - 3/4/07 at 10:03 PM

I'd unplug the battery to check the self-discharge rate....
If there's a slow discharge you've got two options- try and find the source of the discharge or just fit a battery isolator

flange nut - 3/4/07 at 10:28 PM

I have a Vicky Green Loom and a Nippon Denso alternator. The problem is that the field coils of the alt are permenantly connected to the battery (thin brown wire). I had to modify my loom to use a switched live feed.

Geoff

Danozeman - 4/4/07 at 05:41 AM

quote:

I have a Vicky Green Loom and a Nippon Denso alternator. The problem is that the field coils of the alt are permenantly connected to the battery (thin brown wire). I had to modify my loom to use a switched live feed.


Ill have a look at that. Thats the sort of thing i was wondering because my alt is suposidly a recon. Although i thought my thin brown is switched.

Its deffo not the battery. I always disconnect it when im not working on it and its fine. Only the other day i forgot to disconnect it, now it flat and it does it every time i forget to disconnect it.

Convinced its alt.

Agriv8 - 4/4/07 at 08:09 AM

If your alt is not the issue

I would run a test light across my fuse box and find the fusses that are live with ign off pull them all and leave and see if it still has a drain.

Then repace one by one, depending how big the drain is a spark may jump when you re-atach the curcuite with the item causing the drain.

regards

Agriv8

flange nut - 4/4/07 at 01:06 PM

The Vicky Green loom uses Brown as the unswitched live and Green as the switched live. White is the ignition live.

Geoff