Technical Draining battery

[Beampanda 2]

Hello All. I have a Panda mk3 ( type 169).2011 1.2 dynamic 48k miles. Owned since May 24.
Firstly. Had a big petrol leak when filled up.
( When i bought it the car was 1/4 full) Took the back seat out and carpet, found there was an open gap in the top of the fuel tank where the pump fits. Bought a new screw top and seal and a special tool to take it off and refitted it with a new seal. God knows why this had happened and not veen cured before
Now recently, the battery, which is quite new, drains itself i thought it may be the interior light so now leave it Off. But the battery still sometimes drains after couple of days. I bought a lithium power bank capable of being used to start a car and this works well as a back-up to keep in the boot. When the car starts again the battery is fine for daily use but leave the car for 3 or 4 days and it doesn't want to turn over. Any thoughts what maybe draining the battery? Is this a common fault! Thanks

 

[koalar]

Anything

It's a process of elimination

Often it's the altenator but not always

Normally you disconnect the battery plus and with the door shut measure the amps between the battery terminal and the disconnected cable

Wait until the body computer goes back to sleep
Remove a fuse or disconnect something and measure again, until you find it

Do you have a multimeter that measures amps

 

[Beampanda 2]

Anything

It's a process of elimination

Often it's the altenator but not always

Normally you disconnect the battery plus and with the door shut measure the amps between the battery terminal and the disconnected cable

Wait until the body computer goes back to sleep
Remove a fuse or disconnect something and measure again, until you find it

Do you have a multimeter that measures amps

Yes I do. Thank you for your swift reply. M

 

[DaveMcT]

While looking to disconnect the alternator, check the stator case for cracks. It may well be on the way out anyway.

 

[Greasytrucker]

Another favourite I’ve had in the past is the light in the glovebox not switching off when closed (if it has one obviously) Easily eliminated by removing the bulb but often overlooked

 

[koalar]

Another favourite I’ve had in the past is the light in the glovebox not switching off when closed (if it has one obviously) Easily eliminated by removing the bulb but often overlooked

Nice suggestion

Do any dynamics have this light

Mine haven't might be year dependent

 

[Greasytrucker]

Nice suggestion

Do any dynamics have this light

Mine haven't might be year dependent

Ah possibly not then, just know it’s caught me out in the past

 

[koalar]

Ah possibly not then, just know it’s caught me out in the past

Worth knowing happed to a friend's Kia picanto

There's lots of different specs of the panda I only had the active dynamic and eco

I don't know every possibility

 

[Beampanda 2]

Another favourite I’ve had in the past is the light in the glovebox not switching off when closed (if it has one obviously) Easily eliminated by removing the bulb but often overlooked

Aha, thats a good tip. Thanks Mr Greasy, or may i call you trucker?

 

[koalar]

We need to start somewhere, here a few checks to get you going

We don't know if it's the battery (yes it's new) charging or a drain


Visual check the battery terminal for corrosion

If your car doesn't have Aircon, check the auxiliary belt tension

Common fault with battery draining
Is the radio on when you first get in the car, there was a common problem with the cd microswich causing it it come on randomly at night, haven seen one for awhile now

Basic test
Key on but don't start the engine
Key off
Open the driver's door, don't get out
Close the divers door
Look around and make sure there nothing staying on, dash goes off and so on


Battery test,
If you have a scan tool measure the voltage drop during cranking

You can not measure this with a multimeter it drops too quickly, a new good charged battery should stay above 10 volts, this is mine at the end of its life


Alternator regulator test
At idle, meter on DC volts, probes across the battery terminal with no electrical load should be 14.1v, if you put the main beam on, rear heater, blowers on full it will dip slightly, if you raise the revs it should come back to 14 1v, don't run the car too long like this, it quite a load for the alternator


Alternator diode test
At idle, meter on low AC volts, probes across the battery terminal, load the system again main beam on, rear heater, blowers on full

Should be less than 50 mV AC (0.05 V)

Raise the revs to 2.5k if it hold the voltage or decreases it's good if it increases to above 300 mV (0.3 V) AC it's bad

Block ground testing
Meter measuring low volts DC. With one lead on the battery negative and the other on the engine block, get someone to crank the engine, should measure less than 200mV but I wouldn't be over concerned if it's slightly more, warning don't use the lifting eye it painted and insulated from the block

Curent draw testing
Open the bonnet
Make sure the interior light is off
Shut and lock the door
Disregard my previous instructions
Undo the negative clamp it easier
On you multimeter you normally need to plug the probes in a different socket to measure amps. Put one lead on the battery negative terminal the other on the negative clamp. Use some rubber bands to hold them in place

It should go down to a value of 50 mA after 15 minutes

Important don't open the door, while measuring low amps it will probably blow the fuse in the meter, I switch the interior light off incase I forget

I can't remember exactly but my active and dynamic measured slightly differently so 50mA is just the ball park

If it's not in the right ball park it a matter of removing each fuse until you find it then fault finding that circuit

Probably missed something out but there enough to

be going on with

 

[Beampanda 2]

We need to start somewhere, here a few checks to get you going

We don't know if it's the battery (yes it's new) charging or a drain


Visual check the battery terminal for corrosion

If your car doesn't have Aircon, check the auxiliary belt tension

Common fault with battery draining
Is the radio on when you first get in the car, there was a common problem with the cd microswich causing it it come on randomly at night, haven seen one for awhile now

Basic test
Key on but don't start the engine
Key off
Open the driver's door, don't get out
Close the divers door
Look around and make sure there nothing staying on, dash goes off and so on


Battery test,
If you have a scan tool measure the voltage drop during cranking

View attachment 479728

You can not measure this with a multimeter it drops too quickly, a new good charged battery should stay above 10 volts, this is mine at the end of its life


Alternator regulator test
At idle, meter on DC volts, probes across the battery terminal with no electrical load should be 14.1v, if you put the main beam on, rear heater, blowers on full it will dip slightly, if you raise the revs it should come back to 14 1v, don't run the car too long like this, it quite a load for the alternator


Alternator diode test
At idle, meter on low AC volts, probes across the battery terminal, load the system again main beam on, rear heater, blowers on full

Should be less than 50 mV AC (0.05 V)

Raise the revs to 2.5k if it hold the voltage or decreases it's good if it increases to above 300 mV (0.3 V) AC it's bad

Block ground testing
Meter measuring low volts DC. With one lead on the battery negative and the other on the engine block, get someone to crank the engine, should measure less than 200mV but I wouldn't be over concerned if it's slightly more, warning don't use the lifting eye it painted and insulated from the block

Curent draw testing
Open the bonnet
Make sure the interior light is off
Shut and lock the door
Disregard my previous instructions
Undo the negative clamp it easier
On you multimeter you normally need to plug the probes in a different socket to measure amps. Put one lead on the battery negative terminal the other on the negative clamp. Use some rubber bands to hold them in place

It should go down to a value of 50 mA after 15 minutes

Important don't open the door, while measuring low amps it will probably blow the fuse in the meter, I switch the interior light off incase I forget

I can't remember exactly but my active and dynamic measured slightly differently so 50mA is just the ball park

If it's not in the right ball park it a matter of removing each fuse until you find it then fault finding that circuit

Probably missed something out but there enough to

be going on with

Wow! Thats great. Thank you.

Nice suggestion

Do any dynamics have this light

Mine haven't might be year dependent

Sadly no glovebox light in 2011 dynamic.

 

[Mike1alike]

Start with measuring the amperage with car in 'parking mode'. It should be under 40 mA.
You need to connect the multimeter in series, between the battery (-) cable which you take off and the battery (-) terminal. Multimeter set on 10 A. If result is higher than 40 mA means there is parasitic drainage. Take the fuses out one at the time and read the amperage again every time. When amperage drops, the circuit you took the last fuse out is the one with the fault, the parasitic consumer.

 

[Mike1alike]

Mind you, even blown light bulb causes parasitic drainage, so do check them, too.

 

[koalar]

Start with measuring the amperage with car in 'parking mode'. It should be under 40 mA.
You need to connect the multimeter in series, between the battery (-) cable which you take off and the battery (-) terminal. Multimeter set on 10 A. If result is higher than 40 mA means there is parasitic drainage. Take the fuses out one at the time and read the amperage again every time. When amperage drops, the circuit you took the last fuse out is the one with the fault, the parasitic consumer.

Mike, read the post above
This information isnt correct
Your sending the original poster down the wrong pathway
It will always measure over 40 mA somewhere around 200mA on your test

Please stop just posting everything thing of the internet, it does help and does not always apply to every car

On the panda you have to wait until the body computer and ECU has go to low power mode before you measure any drain, even then is still waiting for the remote to be pressed and normally measures around 50mA

Active and dynamic measure slightly differently but not enough to worry about

The correct values are in post 10

 

[The Panda Nut]

I thought we had parasitic battery drain on Daffo (2011 car). It was the.attery failing.
From many years experience, dont think because the battery is new that its necessaily good. Ive been caught out before. And with a whole bad batch of batteries too. Internal short circuits can be hard to spot.

 

[koalar]

I thought we had parasitic battery drain on Daffo (2011 car). t was thebattery failing.
From many years experience, dont think because the battery is new that its necessaily good, Ive been caught out before. Ans with a whole bad batch of betteries too. Internal short circuits can be hard to spot.

Highly likely or not charging correctly

Symptoms more follow a failing battery than a parasitic drain, there will always be exception but things like a short in the alternator are normally dead flat overnight

Works if used every day, fails after a couple of days is pretty typical symptoms of a failing battery or the radio coming on

Seeing as they have a multimeter with amps it's pretty quick and simple to eliminate charging and drain