Technical Hand Brake Light - Battery Drain

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Technical Hand Brake Light - Battery Drain

michagrech

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Hi
I just bought a 2016 second hand 500X 1.6 Multijet which worked well for a few months. Recently it drained the battery and with everything switched off, key out of the ignition there is still an outage of 1.6 amps from the battery. From initial investigations by my mechanic to looks like the outage is connected to the brake system. The red handbrake light flashes even when ignition is off and handbrake is on. Any ideas what this could be? Being a new car for me I am rather worried.
Thanks
Michelle
 
I did and it's fine.

I would have a look at the handbrake switch and/or any relays that power it.

Some functions (electric windows and sunroofs usually) stay "armed" for 40 seconds to a couple of minutes after the ignition is turned off, in case the driver turns off the ignition and then realises that they left the windows/roof etc. open.

The handbrake could have a similar operation... it may be supposed to stay "live" following ignition off, but is then powered down. This would be controlled by a timer relay... and if the relay is knacked, then it could be staying "live" and drawing the current.

If the switch is always (by design) "live" (i.e the handbrake always operates, even with the ignition turned off) then there's probably just a normal relay involved (or none at all). That could still be jammed open, or the switch itself could be sticking "on", which could be causing the draw. The relay (whichever type it is) is more likely than the switch.. since a dodgy switch would likely not operate correctly...

Hopefully easy to diagnose, once you work out which relay you have and which one it is..


Ralf S.
 
Last edited:
Dear Ralf, I have passed on this info to the people trying to solve my problem and will let you know if this was the case. Thank you for your time and help. Regards
 
Are the front
Hi
I just bought a 2016 second hand 500X 1.6 Multijet which worked well for a few months. Recently it drained the battery and with everything switched off, key out of the ignition there is still an outage of 1.6 amps from the battery. From initial investigations by my mechanic to looks like the outage is connected to the brake system. The red handbrake light flashes even when ignition is off and handbrake is on. Any ideas what this could be? Being a new car for me I am rather worried.
Thanks
Michelle
Are the front brake pads very worn? Wear wires could light the same warning light. We had an issue with warning lights caused by a fluid level sensor in the bottom of the master cylinder brake fluid reservoir. This did not flatten the battery though. All these warnings and any spurious warning lights also suggest a possible battery probelm. Can bus electrical systems misbehave if the battery voltage is not up to par. A diagnostic with MES will usually reveal any issues.
 
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