Battery Drain

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Hi folks, has anyone with an S3 ever checked the drain on the battery when the car is not running? What value is acceptable?

Of course with the S3 having an after run pump I am talking about the drain after this stops :)

Any help appreciated!
 
I have had a drain issue... 3 days without driving the car and its flat... it was the stereo in my case, left the amps and headunit disconnected and after a week the car started with no issue at all so I rewired it and will be checking the car tomorrow to see if its cured...

They will always drain a little... alarm etc... not sure how long they normally last though as I normally disconnect the battery if I know the cars not being driven for a long time...

My Mk2 Golf however has been sat for 6 months before and still starts first time :)

<tuffty/>
 
Disconnect the earth from the battery put your multi meter on 10amp scale place red lead on battery neg and black lead on earth lead anything more that 0.5 amps is excessive remove fuses 1 at a time and watch the reading when the current draw drops to below .5 amps the draw is on that circuit hope this helps if you need a hand just pm

Lee
 
Is it wired to go off with the key? I wired mine to be permanently on originally (something I have done for years) but also had a 4gb USB stick permanently connected... have now rewired to the ignition and removed the USB stick... will see if this cures my issue tomorrow when I move the car...

<tuffty/>
 
A3-Lee said:
Disconnect the earth from the battery put your multi meter on 10amp scale place red lead on battery neg and black lead on earth lead anything more that 0.5 amps is excessive remove fuses 1 at a time and watch the reading when the current draw drops to below .5 amps the draw is on that circuit hope this helps if you need a hand just pm

Lee
Click to expand...

Cheers Lee. This is what I read somewhere, that in general you shouldn't see more than 0.5amps. Just wondering if anyone has any figures from testing this on an S3 themselves.
 
<tuffty/> said:
Is it wired to go off with the key? I wired mine to be permanently on originally (something I have done for years) but also had a 4gb USB stick permanently connected... have now rewired to the ignition and removed the USB stick... will see if this cures my issue tomorrow when I move the car...

<tuffty/>
Click to expand...
No it stops on with the key removed,, Hmmmm i have one of them tiny flat usb sticks in too, watching with interest..

It Also does not unlock the doors unless you remove the facia for some bizarre reason...
 
I wouldn't accept 0.5A as a healthy drain. That's quite a bit.

100-250ish milliamps is about right on these motors.
 
Little update... since rewiring the head unit to turn off using s-contact (fuse 37) accessory feed AND removing the USB drive I can say that this has improved things no end... too soon to be definitive of course but the car was unused for 4 days and started first turn... typically 3 days and there isn't even enough juice to open the locks...

Happy bunny again... phew :)

<tuffty/>
 
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