Steve&Steve
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| posted on 1/12/04 at 04:34 AM |
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Help for my house mate
He has helped me lift dohc sierra and zetac mondeo engines about among other things and he's mate so i want to help him.
Sooo... Ok... his 'n' reg mk3 1.1 fiesta has died with a flat battery!
First thought was a duff battery finnished off by the cold, but have swapped the battery with the donor sierra one which started it 1st time after
3mth storage, so not that?
I then checked the terminal voltage when running (after jump start) , 12.5V on idle and 13.5V+ on fast idle so not the altanator i guess?
so it must be somethin draining the battery while its sat over night ? any ideas what i should check and how?
Im learning as i go so dont assume the obviouse i might have missed it.
Any help most apreciated,
Cheers - Steve
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 1/12/04 at 08:04 AM |
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get an ammeter, and put it in series with the battery. DONT try and start the engine or draw any big loads with it in circuit - you will cook it or
the wiring!
The current should be next to nothing - just a bit for digital clocks on standby, whatever.
If its a big reading - im guessing its gotta be at least 100's of ma to flatten the battery that fast..... start removing and replacing fuses
one by one, and see what has an effect.
Also try disconnecting the alternator - something may be 'leaky' in it and causing it to discharge the battery.
no boot illumination lights, etc, still on?
Just a 5w bulb left on will flatten a typical batery in about 100 hrs
atb
steve
[Edited on 1/12/04 by stephen_gusterson]
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James
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| posted on 1/12/04 at 09:56 AM |
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As Steve says, look for a faulty switch- like the boot open switch or something.
Took a mate of mine three weeks before realising that a busted switch was the cause of a flat battery if the car wasn't driven for two days but
was ok after one day! 
James
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Peteff
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| posted on 1/12/04 at 10:10 AM |
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Next door had this problem and it was his alternator. When we charged the battery and put it back on the alternator got hot to the touch. The charge
light and everything worked as normal but the battery went flat in 3 hours.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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Steve&Steve
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| posted on 1/12/04 at 10:49 AM |
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Thanks guys (Steve, James & Paddy) , Lots of good ideas to try there.
Now iv got an idea what to check I'll get diagnosing with the ammeter on friday when i have a day off work.
ps. All those beers last night dont feel like such a great idea now this morning.
[Edited on 1/12/04 by Steve&Steve]
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jack trolley
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| posted on 1/12/04 at 08:14 PM |
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Remove the fuses one at time and put an ammeter across the terminals until
you find a significant current flow - that's the faulty circuit. 
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