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Battery drain - Updated - cause determined!


Wookiee22

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Having just replaced the battery I'm now confident that something is draining it when the engine is off!

 

Essentially, if the car is left for around 3 days it is completely dead when I come to try and start it. I've checked that everything is switched off/unplugged and still the same problem continues. Having done a couple of searches I can see the same problem has ocurred to others (loose wires behind dash, blown bulbs) but I'm kind of hoping there's a way to determine where the fault is before I set about tearing out pieces of interior trim...

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not sure if this is just Zed related but this was a problem if you have the Birdview satnav installed - when I had my Pathfinder there was a recall for them - the ones with the satnav and other electrical toys - they found that some of the electrical toys fitted to them including the stereo did'nt go into standby (shutdown mode) properly and stayed with full power mode.

 

I would say in your case its more likely the alarm or yes a duff bulb connection somewhere? Presume you have checked that no water ingress has occured in any of your lights for example and its shorting wiring to earth maybe on a trickle???

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Thanks for the quick response!

 

I don't have in-built sat-nav and the radio is the stock non-Bose. I've checked for water ingress and there certainly isn't any as far as I can see, nor are there any blown bulbs. Is there a way to check if current is being drawn after the ignition is turned off? Is it as simple as putting a mulitmeter between the battery and its cable (any idea what 'normal' current would be?)?

 

Lots of questions, I'm just reluctant to pull the car apart (nor indeed have to remove the negative lead every time I park) without an idea of what to look for!

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Good question!! The siren is in the boot, the sensor is behind the mirror and I seem to remember the brains beign behind the dash in the passange footwell..

 

BTW, you got BOSE? You tried disconecting the amp in the boot? Even though its tiny does this have direct draw off the battery? May be worth removing the stereo to see if you have a disconnetion that may be causing a short... its a bit tight behind there!

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Having just replaced the battery I'm now confident that something is draining it when the engine is off!

 

Essentially, if the car is left for around 3 days it is completely dead when I come to try and start it. I've checked that everything is switched off/unplugged and still the same problem continues. Having done a couple of searches I can see the same problem has ocurred to others (loose wires behind dash, blown bulbs) but I'm kind of hoping there's a way to determine where the fault is before I set about tearing out pieces of interior trim...

Back to basics Wookie. How old is the battery in your Zed, possibly it was sitting on the shelf at the shop for ages and ages?

 

The stock battery in my Zed lasted a smidge under 4.5 years, changed to another as couldn't get a Nissan dealer when the first one died. With the 2nd battery I had numerous issues in that time with a flat battery when the car has been left for 1 day not started/driven. Changed back to a Nissan battery a month ago and all back to normal. Can leave the car for 2-3 days untouched no flat battery. Hehe, hope I haven't jinxed it.

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Back to basics Wookie. How old is the battery in your Zed, possibly it was sitting on the shelf at the shop for ages and ages?

 

The stock battery in my Zed lasted a smidge under 4.5 years, changed to another as couldn't get a Nissan dealer when the first one died. With the 2nd battery I had numerous issues in that time with a flat battery when the car has been left for 1 day not started/driven. Changed back to a Nissan battery a month ago and all back to normal. Can leave the car for 2-3 days untouched no flat battery. Hehe, hope I haven't jinxed it.

 

That certainly is a possibility, although this is the reason I got the battery changed in the first place - seems like pretty bad luck to me!

 

What's the easiest way to establish if this is the cause? I'm away this weekend so if I disconnect the battery and it still goes flat would that prove things one way or the other?

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Left the car over the weekend with the battery disconnected. Started this morning without any dramas at all. I'm guessing then that I do have something causing a drain. What sort of current is normal with the engine off? If I get the multimeter out and start pulling fuses will that most likely hint as to the source of the problem?

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What sort of current is normal with the engine off? If I get the multimeter out and start pulling fuses will that most likely hint as to the source of the problem?

 

 

I would expect to see around 0.05 of an amp. If you get a multimeter and see what the current draw is then you can start pulling fuses to see if you get any significant drop. :)

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Update!

 

Right, had an entertaining afternoon pulling out fuses and have determined that the cause of the drain is the radio. It's an oem non-bose unit, and having pulled the dash out to get at the back of it I couldn't see anything untoward - loose wires etc. Has anyone heard of this being an issue before? I'd rather not have to pull the fuse out every time I leave the car!

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