Battery Drain

[spawnhdi]

Hi guys,

 

I've had my HDi VTR since April this year and it's been fine up until a few weeks ago. I noticed that starting was a little lazy and after a few days of this of ignoring the problem, the battery was totally flat.

 

I assumed the issue was an old battery and the constant use of the demist and short journeys had taken its toll on the old battery. I purchased a new battery two weeks ago and this morning it was lazy once again.

 

I drive every day, but no more than 10 miles. The only other issue I've had, between the old battery going flat and today, the heater blower resistor has packed up (no heater). Could this be related?

 

I'm dreading it being the alternator, are there any common faults with the C5 HDis?

 

I've fitted nothing new to the vehicle and it doesn't have a tow bar.

[spawnhdi]

I have just read the alarm has its own battery and these can go flat, which means a drain on the actual battery. Has anyone come across this?

[ESL57]

Apart from getting your heater fixed, put a multimeter across the battery terminals when running.

 You should be reading 14v.  Do these things first.

[spawnhdi]

Thanks, Resistor is on order.

 

I'll pop into the local garage on the way home from work to get the battery tested.

 

I've also read there are sometimes issues with the suspension going up and down whilst parked. To try and eliminate this, I have put the suspension in the lowest position whilst parked at work.

[MikeLane]

What year is your car?

The suspension (on my 2005 and later - not sure about Mk 1s) is driven by an electric pump so I'd leave it in "normal" if you think there are problems with keeping the battery charged. When you unlock and get into the car it automatically tries to level itself when left in "normal". If you leave it in low you will have to use battery power if the charging system isn't working correctly to raise the car to "normal" before driving off.

As ESL57 says, check the voltage across the battery terminals with the engine running. It should be just over 14 volts if the alternator is charging properly (or able to charge properly!).

[Randombloke]

Buy one of these and run with it in the cigarette lighter as a first option.

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ZnPwzT-DL.jpg

 

As  second option look at the earth lead from the battery to the car body and gearbox, just had to replace mine as it was corroded with copper sulphate residue in some areas.

 

 

 

[paul.h]

If you think the suspension is going up/down whilst parked, leave the front wheels pointing forward.

 

Do you have anything none standard on the car such as a phone charger, sat nav, not the original radio, is the glovebox light going off (should work any way only when the ignition is on), if the radio is on or a door open without the engine on does it go into eco mode quickly ?