Wierd Battery Draining Problem...

[Loxam]

Im still here and still sorting my FC

I have a wierd problem with my battery, and I can\'t work it out.  Everytime I leave the battery attached and the alarm on, after say 8 hours ish the alarm goes mad then when I try to start the car the battery is flat.

The connectors to the battery (terminals) are a bit shoddy tightening up and one of the hoops is actually broken (god knows how).

What I can\'t work out is whats draining it or common causes of a drain.  Is the alarm sucking the power, is it the connectors that are causing the problem or something else?

I have bought a brand new battery now and have it disconnected from the car when im not using it.

Any help on this would be appreciated - if it is the alarm im thinking of ditching it completely and getting a quick release steering wheel :Thumbs-up

The alarm is a cat1 clifford cobrathing

[peterwolds]

assume ok if alarm not activated? if still not ok could be duff alternator ?

[grinder]

i had the same prob - it was the stock panic alarm draining the battery

have you a red switch on the side of the steering colomn

if so thats a panic button

has the orig mazda alarm been fully removed ??

im sure there is a way to check for bad earths aswell - something about a test lamp from the negative battery terminal to the body - if this lights the lamp you have a bad earth - or summat like that - i assume you can use a volt meter aswell - if that shows a voltage - then you have a drain on the battery somewhere

what happens if you pull the EGI and MAIN fuse - does it still drain

this is ALWAYS a good one to check - is the boot light off i have heard many stories about this draining the battery !!

Stu

stu

[nikp]

Don\'t some alarms go off if the battery is low?

So, could be a duff battery. Attach the new battery, and find out. Or, alternatively, get the old one checked out. It may be that it just can\'t hold any charge.

[Loxam]

Ok update.

I think this alarm does go off if the battery is low.  I had the old battery checked out, and it was goosed but the guy seemed to think this was due to the alarm draining it (chavfords though ).

Checked the boot light, it was in the on position, I switched it to off now just to make sure.

There is a panic button installed - could this be the problem?

Im guessing seems this alarm was installed professionally at a garage (by original owner - Paul) that the previous system was fully removed - is there anyway to check though?

Not checked bad earths yet.

Not pulled fuses yet.

I have disabled the alarm for now, and checking it overnight to see if its drained in the morning.  If it is then I know its definately not the battery (its brand new) and something else.

[grinder]

you can check the fuses - i cant tell you which ones though as it would allow anyone to turn the stock alarm off

drop me an email and i will tell you which ones to check - i would yahoo you - but its been blocked at work

Stu

[monkey-fd3s]

I have a similar problem on my FD - I might have fixed it now but i\'m not sure as I\'ve only left it for 4 days without starting it...

See if it makes a week then I\'ll know.

You\'re right tho when the battery dies the alarm has an internal one (at least mine does) once that drops below a certain voltage then the siren sounds.  ****ing my neigbours off no end if I\'m at work and it\'s the middle of the day

I\'ve made some custom earth straps from the engine to the body and double earthed the battery to the body.

My problems I thought were related to the connectors/fuses left over after the ABS was removed but not true...

I\'ll let you know what I find.

[Paul-Tll]

Have you tried a meter on amps with ign off to see what sort of current drain there may be? If you are pulling some still, whip the fusses out one at a time untill it goes? or the other way round and remove all and load up one at a time.
I\'ll pm you with the alarm details that I remember
Paul..

[oldone]

Alarms have \'built in\' system for voltage drop...this is in case somebody gets their hand under the bonnet to cut the battery cables to disarm the battery !
If the alternator is functioning incorrectly you will have additional probs.....as the advice goes,look for a \'system\' which is drawing the current even when ignition is off:Typing

[Loxam]

Prob best email me paul richard@loxam.me.uk cheers for that.

Ill check out the car in the morning to see if its fine - if not ill whip the meter out!

[Loxam]

UPDATE: Checked it this morning and it started up fine, maybe it was just the battery had goosed *fingers crossed*

This is all with the alarm disabled.  Ill see how it gets on in the next few days.

Then ill re-enable the alarm and see what happens