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Technical Everything seems to be draining the battery

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Technical Everything seems to be draining the battery

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Bbass8

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Hi,

I have been reading past posts on battery drain and got about as far as I can.

My problem is with daughters Punto 1.2 8v active 2006. It has started draining the battery so much so that it won’t start most mornings.

Her problems started with the recent problem of the fuse for the stereo blowing ( 3 times now) so we have just left it out for now. Now the battery is draining over-night. I have done battery drain tests and have found the biggest drain from the Central locking fuse circuit ( about a 300ma drain), then I found the wind-screen wash fuse has a 100ma drain too. So i thought i should check the fuses under the bonnet and found the ignition switch on about 50ma drain with the dash board also draining about 100ma.

I intend to take out the stereo front cover when the tools arrive for me to do this, I guess it’s the original Blaupunkt stereo though so not expecting too much dodgy wiring but I am after clues of what items might be considered normally power drain and what should be totally off.

Then finally any clues of where to look first so I don’t end up taking the car apart looking for a rusty earth or something :D

TIA
 
Bbass8 said:
Hi,

I have been reading past posts on battery drain and got about as far as I can.

My problem is with daughters Punto 1.2 8v active 2006. It has started draining the battery so much so that it won’t start most mornings.

Her problems started with the recent problem of the fuse for the stereo blowing ( 3 times now) so we have just left it out for now. Now the battery is draining over-night. I have done battery drain tests and have found the biggest drain from the Central locking fuse circuit ( about a 300ma drain), then I found the wind-screen wash fuse has a 100ma drain too. So i thought i should check the fuses under the bonnet and found the ignition switch on about 50ma drain with the dash board also draining about 100ma.

I intend to take out the stereo front cover when the tools arrive for me to do this, I guess it’s the original Blaupunkt stereo though so not expecting too much dodgy wiring but I am after clues of what items might be considered normally power drain and what should be totally off.

Then finally any clues of where to look first so I don’t end up taking the car apart looking for a rusty earth or something :D

TIA
Click to expand...
Sounds like water ingress to the fusebox. Otherwise it could be a alternator fault, either water again or a failed diode. Final possibility is mice.

Robert G8RPI.
 
Hi. :)

At 2006 its relatively modern in tech terms.

Is it petrol or diesel ?

The GUIDE : https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk2-2b-guides/337880-basic-battery-alternator-parasitic-drain-testing-guide.html?p=4305895

Personally.. I would spend a tenner on a battery post isolator.. ;)

Charlie
 
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Thanks guys. Water does seem a likely possibility due to the car playing up last winter too when we had a lot of rain and she does drive down country lanes through a lot of standing water.

Not sure about alternator though, as would it cause drain from those particular items? Or any links on checking them, it charges good at 14volts.


Think the isolator is a last resort but definitly will keep it in mind if I can't track it more :)
 
if all of the problems have started after the radio fuse blew then it is hard to see how it can be the alternator when the alternator is correctly charging at 14V maximum.

From memory my connected battery drops the battery voltage from about 12.68 down to 12.43. the connection is sufficient to cause visible sparking. There is no way around that when you are permanently running two small computers.

The screen wash should only be working via the ignition? 300ma on the central locking seems excessive. Potentially the insulation in those those fat electrolytic capacitors in the body computer have broken down - assuming there are some there.

All of the relays in the engine compartment are always connected to the battery even with the ignition off so there is the potential for leakage there from faulty relays.
 
varesecrazy said:
Are the duckbills clear...?

As waterlogged wiring down there in the scuttle isnt unheard of.. :(
Click to expand...

Where are these 'duckbills' I think i know what you mean. Rubber sleeves?? at wiring entrance to boxes I guess. I'll give that a good look and clear out . Thanks
 
Bbass8 said:
Where are these 'duckbills' I think i know what you mean. Rubber sleeves?? at wiring entrance to boxes I guess. I'll give that a good look and clear out . Thanks
Click to expand...

I think he means the funnels that go down from the space under the compartment the windscreen wiper motor is in. The grill on top is called the scuttle panel
 
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Think most likely it looks like its pointing towards ignition area from most peoples advice. Least i'll be in the car rather than out in the rain today.
 
judderbar said:
I think he means the funnels that go down from the space under the compartment the windscreen wiper motor is in. The grill on top is called the scuttle panel
Click to expand...

Ahh, those are clear, i'm pretty sure, as I tend to look after things like that. I'll check around that area though. Thx
 
I bought a 2001 Sporting brand new in 2001 & it’s still going strong. I do have a bit of a battle with flat batteries, but my car is geared up like Mission Control! I myself was thinking of using a hole saw on a couple of plastic drink bottle lids and placing them at the bottom of the duck bills, as I’ve noticed a lot of water in the scuttle tray and the bills block with gunk all the time, so that may have a great deal to do with it.

I’ll be tackling that myself too bud[emoji106]

P.s, I did swap my battery tray out for an HGT one a few years back, as the HGT has a longer, higher powered battery. I’ve got a Varta Silver 063 battery which has high cranking amps, I also bought a £20 cheap, phone sized jump starter off eBay which can dig me out of the crap if I’m in a hurry for work
 
My first thought was the scuttloe being full of rainwater. On the Panda it overflows onto the internal fusebox and body computer, so a possibility on the Punto too. Empty now does not mean it hasn't happened.

Underbonnet and internal fuseboxes need to be checked for water.

Otherwise, check the main earth cable from battery to engine and body. These corrode internally, but can look fine from a brief check of connectors. Also check every earth connection to the body you can find. If any circuit is struggling to find an earth, it can find an alternative back through other circuits. This could be giving you the drain on so many circuits.
 
Pompey Janner said:
I bought a 2001 Sporting brand new in 2001 & it’s still going strong. I do have a bit of a battle with flat batteries, but my car is geared up like Mission Control! I myself was thinking of using a hole saw on a couple of plastic drink bottle lids and placing them at the bottom of the duck bills, as I’ve noticed a lot of water in the scuttle tray and the bills block with gunk all the time, so that may have a great deal to do with it.

I’ll be tackling that myself too bud[emoji106]

P.s, I did swap my battery tray out for an HGT one a few years back, as the HGT has a longer, higher powered battery. I’ve got a Varta Silver 063 battery which has high cranking amps, I also bought a £20 cheap, phone sized jump starter off eBay which can dig me out of the crap if I’m in a hurry for work
Click to expand...
The small battery is a problem if you need to upgrade. I have a big spare and was looking at options for increasing size. Might be a worthwhile job.
 
varesecrazy said:
Are the duckbills clear...?

As waterlogged wiring down there in the scuttle isnt unheard of.. :(
Click to expand...

To check these Duckbills I went out in the pouring rain Saturday. Thought that was the best way to see what was really happening. The duckbills looked clear and were dripping water. BUT, the rain being really heavy was backing up in the scuttle tray and pooling. Quite a large amount of water to be precise. I got an old tooth brush and scrubbed out a lot of fine debris at bottom of duckbills and then bent them more open and they run free now.

The water must have been sloshing around and getting into electris that way as she had had problem with the wipers working when turned off too. These connections are easy to get wet if water was sloshing.

I looked for points water can get in directly and found a small hole where tape had folded back, so i masticked that one.

I guess that's the first stage of repairs sorted and a place to keep regularly maintained.
 
Hi is that an aftermarket stereo ? There’s a blaupunkt in mine and works fine , I changed it with an almost identical blaupunkt and the replacement went super hot in minutes , I know you pulled the fuse but I’d be looking at the stereo wiring and testing the car likes it when on and staying cool then drop a rear seat and close boot , is the boot lamp shutting off.
 
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Pompey Janner said:
I bought a 2001 Sporting brand new in 2001 & it’s still going strong. I do have a bit of a battle with flat batteries, but my car is geared up like Mission Control! I myself was thinking of using a hole saw on a couple of plastic drink bottle lids and placing them at the bottom of the duck bills,
Click to expand...

I did that for my sporting on one of the duck bills as it previously got blocked and the passenger floor of my car got wet when it rained.
 
The battery on my year 2000 MK2 sporting also seems to drain fast - maybe a very slow start after a week - not done a drain test on it but did discover this

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-ii/...-car-battery-electricity-through-plastic.html

I have a CTEK Charger in the porch so it's easy enough for me to charge the car when I need to. And I do have an after market radio but we installed a cut off switch years ago, so that helps but if I ever forget to turn the switch off then you really notice the battery drains much faster.
 
g8rpi said:
Sounds like water ingress to the fusebox. Otherwise it could be a alternator fault, either water again or a failed diode. Final possibility is mice.

Robert G8RPI.
Click to expand...
Long shot but worth a thought, I have recently had a neighbour with a long term issue just like this and it turned out to be the black box tracker that insurance companies have you fit to your car. The strange thing was that they bought it from a dealer with one previous owner who didn't recall ever having one fitted. Watch out!
 
f124ncobarchetta said:
Long shot but worth a thought, I have recently had a neighbour with a long term issue just like this and it turned out to be the black box tracker that insurance companies have you fit to your car. The strange thing was that they bought it from a dealer with one previous owner who didn't recall ever having one fitted. Watch out!
Click to expand...

Yep, could be GPS tracker and was a concern of mine too, as i'm guessing it's on the same fuse as stereo. Something I will be looking at once I can get that stereo out.
 
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