Having trouble with the 106.

When i came back from a 4 day trip to dublin the battery was dead, so charged it up and it was fine. Drove it round for a few days, then just been away snowboarding for a week. Came back and it was dead again. As long as im driving the car its fine and ive checked the voltage when its running and its around 13.5v - 14v.

Is there an easy way of finding where the fault is, i reckon its something earthing somewhere. Can i test it without having to pull each fuse individually and waiting to see if it discharges?

Any help is appreciated

Cheers!

sounds like a new battery is in order how olds the current one

For a vague test you could connect a multimeter in series with the main battery leads and the battery to see what the whole car is drawing whils stood still.

Should prove how much the alarm, radio memory etc are drawing.

I'd guess if there drawing less than 1A(quite high I would have thought) then thers no major problem

And if its excessive split individual circuits to track it down.

Is the glove box or boot light on?

Forgot to say, i charged the battery a just after Christmas as it happened then but thought it may be the alternator. The battery stood for a few days and was fine when i put it in the car.

No interior lights left on, but i will check to see what current is being drawn.

Had a similar problem with my misses's Granada, just kept going flat if not used for two or three day's. Turned out to be the boot light, the "flum grummet" that opperates it had stuck in the on possition. Found it with metter in series, and pulling fuses till the load went down.

If pulling fuses when using multimeter doesn't show up fault try disconnecting the alternator . Before doing any of the above get the battery tested ? it's probably OK but easier to eliminate

More than possible it is the alternator diodes -- some alternator types (Lucas-Magnetti Marrelli) are very prone to this type of fault than other. The alternator will show a voltage over the minimum for charging but will drain the battery through the alternator when the engine is off.

This usually made worse because on most recent cars if a battery drain is sensed the cars ECUs won't power down into sleep mode.

[Edited on 17/1/06 by britishtrident]