Technical Battery Drain

[DanHem]

Hi,

I have a Mk2 Punto ELX with a battery drain (on a new battery) - and I have searched the forums here and tested for the obvious causes.

Using a multi-meter I detected a constant 250mA drain. So I checked the stereo and the boot light i.e. I removed the stereo head unit entirely and placed a digital camera in the boot to witness the boot light going out. The drain remained so I started yanking fuses. I traced it first to something attached to the F1 fuse and then traced it further to the F53 fuse in the internal fusebox i.e removing F53 removes the current drain. This fuse supports; hazard warning, indicator and dashboard. As the clock is constantly on I decided to remove the instrument panel and test it again, the drain remained so I guess it's not the dashboard!?

So any ideas? could it be the body computer (multi-timer unit)? Any positive suggestions greatly appreciated!

 

[s and b]

what happens if you disconnect the alternator cables?

 

[DanHem]

Thanks for the reply s and b. I (with someone who knows way more than I do!) detached the connection to the battery from the alternator and unfortunately the drain remains. It does seem to be tied to the F53 fuse i.e. removing this kills the drain, is this a red herring?

 

[dumbledore]

Sound like you are on the correct path. Noticed you mentioned hazard lights. Check that are. Also try to get the wiring diagram and see what else that fuse 53 drives exactly.

 

[Geordie 99]

Not often I post but it may help.
I have a 05 8v 1.2 dynamic.
F53 10Amp shows up in my handbook as:-
Hazard lights
Direction indicators
Instrument lights & warning lights (Battery powered)

Hope it helps