Dead Battery Following Electirc Window Fix

[A3Tomlin]

And the problems keep coming...

I fixed my two broken electric windows last night. It was a simple case of disassembly, swapping the broken plastic clips for some new ones and reassembly. Everything worked fine last night; windows up, windows down, and I drove home (22 miles) without a problem. This morning I find it won't turn over but dash lights are still there. Drove the other car and when I got back an hour later, the battery didn't even have enough juice to unlock on the central locking. Used the key and dash lights won't even come on with the key in the ignition.

Now I guess I've done something wrong when I unclipped all the cables behind the door panel, but I can't figure out what I could have done that would drain the battery. All the connectors only fit in one way and everything seemed to work after it was reconnected. I'll obviously have to strip it down again, but I need to know what I'm looking for at least!

Any thoughts?!

 

[jojo]

Shouldn't effect battery at all, I've done it a few times with no problems at all.

 

[fingermouse]

Id try charging the battery first and see how it goes, could be possible that you almost flattened the battery operating the windows up/down and poss having the interior/door lights on whilst working on the car. A quick 22 mile run won`t have put much back into the battery and then with the run on water pump and interior lights its possible to kill the battery so it wont start.

I do very few miles in my S3 and a few in/outs of the garage to get to stuff and it knocks the stuffing out of the battery

 

[A3Tomlin]

So there is currently a 4amp drain on my battery which explains why it went dead over night. I can only think that it's something to do with the electric windows so I want to remove the fuse and check the drain again... Problem is I can't find the electric window fuse! It's not in the main fuse box panel, but my Haynes manual doesn't state where it's hidden. Any ideas?

 

[fran-s3]

When the AA man tested my Battery and which he replaced Wed, with the Water pump off and ignition off their was a constant 3amp drain which in his opinion was normal.

 

[eddieantifreeze]

sorry to jump into your thread but what was the problem with your windows? one of mine jams on the way up as if the rear isnt lifting the same as the front, it jams in the runner then the safety mechanism kicks in and it goes back down - is this common?

 

[A3Tomlin]

When the AA man tested my Battery and which he replaced Wed, with the Water pump off and ignition off their was a constant 3amp drain which in his opinion was normal.

Errr...! Regular car batteries are around 45 amp hours. If your car was drawing 3 amps, then the battery would be flat in 15 hours. Either the AA man is retarded and your car won't start when you go back to it today, or he was wrong about the 3amp bit. It should be under 0.03amps (giving over ~60 days life).

Also, "Yes" it is a common problem. Do a search of this forum for "Broken Electric Windows".