battery losing charge

[nobbybonez]

hi all and thanks for any help in advance...

i have a 2000 a3 1.8 NA, which last week didn't start, just about turned over, but lacked power to fire up. had made no changes to the vehicle.
i can charge battery and it will start fine. after sitting till the morning, charge is gone. i've had a good check around, no lights left on etc.
when running, the battery shows 14.4v
when not running after a charge, it will show 12.6, which then falls on the meter as i watch.
testing again in the morning, it reads 10.3
testing the following day, it reads 10.2
not sure of age of battery, i will replace it, but don't want to damage the new one by smacking it flat in a car with a battery drain...

any ideas please?

 

[rupe]

If your meter will read current/amps instead of voltage, switch to that and put it in series with the battery.See what the cars drawing from the battery and then pull fuses one by one too see which circuits causing the drain.

 

[nobbybonez]

thankyou rupe.

 

[Perplexer]

If you haven't already got one you can pick up a decent multimeter for about £25.

 

[nobbybonez]

had a looky at the works one, does amps. will take a proper butchers at the w/e...

any ideas why the drain would stop at 10.2V?

 

[rupe]

It might not be a drain, it could well be the battery giving up, they tend to show themselves once the temperature drops a bit.
Halfords if you have one local, will check the battery for you for free.

 

[nobbybonez]

right, bought a battery, popped it in, all good. kept charge overnight.
i did notice yesterday that the boot open indicator on dash panel was flashing. gave it a good slam to turn it off. i had some crap in the boot to go to the dump, not sure if this had kept the boot light on or not, but its a possibility. not sure which was the culprit, but new batt for winter never hurts anyways.
thanks for your assistance, much appreciated.