General Some electrical gremlins

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General Some electrical gremlins

Kfcfillet1

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Hi all new to this but desperately need help, son coming home so went to start his car dead as a dodo. Put charger on and its saying battery dead, rushed out bought a very overpriced battery put it on, nothing no ignition lights etc dead.
Put a multi meter on it as I have seen in other posts and it's draining fast.
Is there something really obvious I have missed. Really need to get it going any help appreciated.
Thanks
 
Hi KfCfillet,

that is very odd- what time period was there between you fitting the new battery and trying to start it..?

By 'dead' do you mean it won't actually start; but turns-over?

Or; you you mean it won't even turn over..?

If you turn the key round through the MAR position; is it possible to use the indicators or sidelights..? (you've said not)

This would suggest the battery isn't really connected to the car. Can you trace the initial (+) line..?
 
Hi guys thanks for getting back I'm a builder so if you want your house sorted then all good but cars are not my strong point its a 2000 sporting abarth don't think abarth bit matters, if I connect the new battery there is zilch no interior lights no lights anything. Checked all the big fuses behind the battery checked all connections earth's etc all seem fine as soon as the battery is connected I can get it from 12v down to 6v in under a few minutes.
 
One more I also think the battery on the car was fine and whatever has happened has killed it. I have an expensive tester and charger, if connected to the car it shows short circuit protection/or terminals round the wrong way etc. So I'm guessing it's a massive short somewhere
 
As rally says- something must be seriously trucking to deplete a cell like that, and it's very unusual that you still have all fuses intact.

There are very few things on a car that are permanently powered, or permanently receive power- but a CLASSIC thing which could have have happened is a bad stereo install.

Has your son recently fitted a different aftermarket radio?

Even if he hasn't- I'd want to pull & disconnect the radio now, to eliminate it.

Also- remove the battery from the car, and leave it for a few hours before thinking about charging it overnight.

This is a Seicento, KFC yeah?
 
Yep stereo out completely disconnected no change I tried that first after looking on here, yea it's a seicento kinda gutted as its mint been very well looked after, no crazy stereo installs etc no chopped wires.
I suppose next step take out all the fuses and go down that route?, looks like the dad taxi is back in business for the next week
 
Okay- the next course of action; for me anyway-

Is; having removed the battery; connect your multimeter test-set leads securely to the battery terminals on the car (polarity unimportant) and site the 'meter so you can see it from the fusebox position.

Switch to impedance, or the ohms position, and keep an eye on it as you pull the fuses.

(Take a photo of the fuse-position-ratings 1st)

I'm not sure what reading you will initially see- which in itself will be indicative of the problem you are facing. If you can get that initial reading and report back; it might reveal something.

As you pull the fuses; you 'should' end up 'open circuit' eventually- although the general body of wiring will still have some kind of resistance.
But one fuse- will cause an enormous change- and that is your suspect-circuit.
 
Thanks a lot I'm going to give it a bash after work tomorrow, see what I can find.
I will report back with findings.
 
Update no idea at all, took every single fuse out, connected the battery 12v straight to 3v. Cleaned all the earths back to bare metal put back together greased on top no different. Disconnected ecu no change. Disconnected the starter motor no change. Only thing left is the alternator its not that old could that cause a instant short I'm lost
 
Okay.

Disconnect the alternator.

It is indeed permanently connected to the battery, and also big enough to take a battery-flatting short-circuit without fire.

My FIAT Coupé was recently flatting it's battery due to the alternator.
The rectifier pack, on the rear, had failed, and a current was finding its way to ground through (wait for it) the oil-pressure warning light on he dashboard.

It was months before one night I spotted it lit-up, with the car off & locked.

Apparently it's a classic-fault, but there's a lot of old-wive's tales like that: however, I found the connection in the schematics- it was possible and was actually happening!

Something crazy like that 'could' be happening here- not necessarily with the oil-pressure light, but somehow there could be a drain through an associated line.

It might seem unlikely- but this isn't magic- it's simply the only option left.

Good work so far, KFC.
 

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Update got in amongst it I wish fiat had made provision for people with big hands but never mind. Discovered I have killed the new battery but I will swallow that I told the truth at the shop and explained my predicament and the kind man swapped the battery free of charge. Good people do still exist, so not willing to kill another one I disconnected the alternator earlier put the new battery on and bingo 12v+ now for over 3 hours and everything works again.
So in short something drastically is going wrong inside the alternator to kill a battery that fast.
In the process of getting a new alternator but what I will do is take the old one and have it properly tested so I can give an exact awnser to what it is, it may help someone on here in the future and thanks for all your comments and advice really helpful
 
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