Technical 2003 Punto 1.2 Battery drains completely. Isolated which fuse is causing the problem

[soulio]

During the cold snap recently my car battery died a few times. I managed to jump start it successfully after leaving it connected to the donor car for about 10 minutes each time and ran it for a little while every day to keep it ticking over.

Once the weather started to get better I thought my problems were over but a couple of days ago the battery was completely flat again. I couldn't even turn on the interior light. I foolishly decided to buy a new battery and everything was working great for about a day then this morning it was completely dead again.

I rang the RAC and he got as far as discovering there was a 700ma (I think) drain on the battery.

When he pulled the 70A fuse (F01 JB1) in the fuse box the drain disappeared. I've since discovered on this forum that the fuse is for "dashboard power, standard functions".

I'm sorry for the long back story. I was hoping somebody might be able to help me out with what to do next. I can't seem to find out what functions are actually affected by this fuse. In the meantime I have disconnected my battery to conserve the power.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I have a standard factory fitted radio. It stopped working about a week ago for seemingly no reason. The light on the on/off button doesn't come on and pressing it does nothing at all. I'm hoping the problem is something to do with the radio.

 

[benny279]

Have you tried replacing the fuse?

 

[soulio]

I hadn't considered that as the fuse looks to still be in tact. Could that solve the problem?

 

[benny279]

Maybe it will maybe it won't this is the thing with cars you never know until you try, it's all about trial and error also I would suggest getting the battery drop tested at any local garage which is normally free of charge. Also check the alternator output voltage.

 

[Brendan W]

F1 is one of the 'holy crap' fuses and covers a few things like electric windows and sunroof in cars up to 03. You are on the right track in looking for the fuse where the current is going. I suggest going into the passenger fusebox and pulling the smaller fuses starting with the items above.

 

[Ziggy122]

Maxi fuses power several otger items. So u need to isolate which circuit is to blame

Ziggy

 

[s and b]

sit in the car with the engine running
radio off
so you are aware of your surroundings
turn engine off
schhhhhhhh
wait at least 60 seconds and listening for a click of a relay
no click mean big bill
click mean bsi gone noddy byes
is good

report back

 

[arnie1971]

The fact your stereo has recently failed could be a clue. Remove the fuse for it and check the drain then. It won't actually be the fuse itself as they are there just to protect the equipment in that circuit.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[soulio]

Wow what a response. Thanks everyone.
Very interesting developments. I bought a test light after reading on here that it was a good way of checking for parasitic drain and it's turned out to be very useful.

With it I could see that the drain was quite high and it fluctuated constantly.

I pulled the first fuse, number 39 (luggage compartment light, interior light, audio system, diagnostic socket) after checking the fuse diagram for which one controlled the radio. The light instantly went out.

I then put the fuse back in, and the light came back on.
I then removed the radio itself and removed the radio fuse. The light went out.
It appears that the cause of the drain was my broken radio.

I just wish I'd figured this out before buying a new battery last week!!
Still, thanks for the response everyone. I'll let you know if I'm wrong and my battery does still drain in a couple of days.

 

[Ziggy122]

its rare for the standard radio to cause the heavy power drain

Normally its the aftermarket ones that cause such drains as they remain constantly live when ignition off

Time for a nice upgrade!

Remember we are here anytime - We could have saved you some WONGA

ziggy

 

[prakashisin]

Wow what a response. Thanks everyone.
Very interesting developments. I bought a test light after reading on here that it was a good way of checking for parasitic drain and it's turned out to be very useful.

With it I could see that the drain was quite high and it fluctuated constantly.

I pulled the first fuse, number 39 (luggage compartment light, interior light, audio system, diagnostic socket) after checking the fuse diagram for which one controlled the radio. The light instantly went out.

I then put the fuse back in, and the light came back on.
I then removed the radio itself and removed the radio fuse. The light went out.
It appears that the cause of the drain was my broken radio.

I just wish I'd figured this out before buying a new battery last week!!
Still, thanks for the response everyone. I'll let you know if I'm wrong and my battery does still drain in a couple of days.

Hi, any update or progress on this issue, I seem to have the same problem and not sure what should I do next, I'm currently in the Garage and the electrician is pulling out all the possibilities to check the faculty part, any suggestions please

 

[prakashisin]

I am having the same problem but everything else is working as expected, but I had the display issue 6months ago, but it's still the same, I happened to change the new battery and it drained out 3times already

 

[GrandePunto PL]

Your "electrician" is an idiot, clearly. Professional car electrician/technician can not pinpoint the issue?
So the owner (you) must look for help in the internet?

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi, any update or progress on this issue, I seem to have the same problem and not sure what should I do next, I'm currently in the Garage and the electrician is pulling out all the possibilities to check the faculty part, any suggestions please

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