Electrical Fault

Ricco_04 · April 01, 2009, 05:16:48 PM

Howdi all.

Having a problemn with the FD. Put a new battery in as the old one was killed off by the winter, or so I thought.....

New one made a hell of a difference and been spot on for 3 weeks. Drove to work one morning and all was just fine. Less than 8 hours later I had no battery at all - the dash lights almost looked as if they where not going to come on! I have not left any lights on and even took stereo face out on the laughable chance that was causing it.

I looked at the PFC and am down to 11.5 volts with ignition on and 14.0 volts after i got it started from a battery pack. Should this be around 12 and 14.4 volts respectively?

I have checked the earth on alternator and also loom plug. Made sure battery connection is ok and thats fine. Going to check water levels now. The battery also has a health indicator window which says it\'s ok so thats lying lol.

Im thinking I have developed a major drain somewhere as after 24 hours charge there was virtually no difference. Have put on another charger on to rule a dodgy charger out too.

Got to be the car and not the battery cause it\'s properly killed 2 batterys in 3 weeks (ok 1 was 3 years old) I dont have a multimeter to check anything with but shall be getting one cause I might be needing it

Any idears please :Typing

chopper2k22 · April 01, 2009, 09:45:23 PM

sounds like its using something while locked, have you locked the car with out the alarm on ??

clive · April 01, 2009, 10:01:39 PM

If the battery\'s dry it means the alternator is not regulating it\'s self and requires a new one or a rebuild.

If the battery\'s boiling off and the water is below the top of the plates inside the battery then the battery will appear to be flat,

I have literally toped up low battery\'s that are flat, left them for 5 minutes and the vehicle has started

Ricco_04 · April 01, 2009, 10:13:31 PM

Cheers guys.

I attemped to check the battery but it\'s a meintenance free jobbie and has no where to gain access to see water levels.

I have tried charging the battery with the alarm off and its made no difference.

One of my chargers, once charged, lets you know weather the battery is strong or weak - after charging the old one that stays weak and so does the new one! :3Confused

Checked the battery voltage again on the Commander and with the charger on its 11.5v and just battery is reading 10.5v. Would have thought they should have been 14.5v & 12.0v?

Hmmmmmmm

neil_jdmr · April 01, 2009, 10:57:00 PM

just tell me the rear window demister switch is not switched to on, this is an old favourite as it drains a battery in hours even with the car switched off

logicalChimp · April 02, 2009, 11:48:47 AM

It sounds like it is a short somewhere - it\'s the most likely thing that could kill a battery.

Might be worth checking cables for worn insulation etc?

Ricco_04 · April 02, 2009, 10:03:46 PM

Quote from: neil_jdmr;595573just tell me the rear window demister switch is not switched to on, this is an old favourite as it drains a battery in hours even with the car switched off

Did have a check - was hoping it was something as stoopid as that but unfortunately it was off....

hmmmm :confused:

Ricco_04 · April 02, 2009, 10:05:49 PM

Quote from: logicalChimp;595656It sounds like it is a short somewhere - it\'s the most likely thing that could kill a battery.

Might be worth checking cables for worn insulation etc?

Yeah I agree. Looking at battery readings in various states I recon im loosing 2-3 volts somewhere. Have looked through and can not see anything that would cause me any probs...

Going to ring the ol auto electrician tomorrow and see if he can come have a look

Thanks for the help folks, hopefully find something to fix

Ricco_04 · April 04, 2009, 03:08:45 PM

Rang the auto electrician and they cant look at it till Tuesday so trying to have another go myself! Cleaned up all the earth points that I could see, which has not made a difference.

Also had a look at the sensor check on the Cammander and realised I have no idea what the values should be. Can anyone confirm weather this all looks ok?

Cheers, Ricco.

nikp · April 05, 2009, 05:02:25 PM

Often if something is highlighted in black it means there is a problem with it. Your fuel one is highlighted in your pic (Not sure if it is suggesting high or low) so perhaps something wrong there. Not sure if FUEL means fuel temp sensor - probably is. Maybe worth have a check about there.

michaelb · April 05, 2009, 07:59:49 PM

Quote from: nikp;596338Often if something is highlighted in black it means there is a problem with it. Your fuel one is highlighted in your pic (Not sure if it is suggesting high or low) so perhaps something wrong there. Not sure if FUEL means fuel temp sensor - probably is. Maybe worth have a check about there.

Hi

Wouldn\'t that be your cat converter sensor highlighted in black? Is yr cat on or off? Where is the sensor? Still on your car?

Regards,
Michaelb

nikp · April 05, 2009, 09:08:56 PM

Nope, it\'s definitely the fuel temp sensor: http://www.apexi-usa.com/pdfInstallation/12.pdf

Page 38

michaelb · April 05, 2009, 09:54:58 PM

Quote from: nikp;596391Nope, it\'s definitely the fuel temp sensor: http://www.apexi-usa.com/pdfInstallation/12.pdf

Page 38

Hi Mate

It is not the fuel temp sensor but the catalic converter sensor which I am on about.

Often when the cat is removed the sensor is left on the car and it may be touching something metal thus using up the battery powerâ€¦

Regards,
Michaelb

Ricco_04 · April 05, 2009, 10:31:55 PM

Ok cheers for the info guys.

The sensor check screen was taken with the ignition on (engine not runing) so that may change things If I get another one with that in mind.

There is currently no cat on the car.

I have just got another battery to play around with so I will put that on tomorrow and do another picture of the sensor check to see the difference and also another one when its running.

Ill get into the boot and remove the inspection cover for the fuel pump and have a look over the wires there, see what its all like.

While im on it then, It would be good to know what all the abbreviations mean, here is what I have so far.....

I know other stuff on there like FPR is fuel pressure regulator but dont understand what it is checking (on or off) so left them blank

PIM : ? Voltage
VTA1 : ? Voltage
VTA2 : ? Voltage
VMOP : Oil Metering Pump Voltage
WTRT : ? Voltage
AIRT : Air Temperature Sensor Voltage
FUEL : Fuel Pump Voltage
O2S : Oxygen Sensor Voltage
STR : ? ON/OFF
A/C : Air Conditioning ON/OFF
PWS : ? ON/OFF
NTR : Neutral Gear ON/OFF
CLT : ? ON/OFF
ELD : ? ON/OFF
HWL : ? ON/OFF
FPD : ? ON/OFF
FPR : ? ON/OFF
APR : ? ON/OFF
PAC : ? ON/OFF
CCN : ? ON/OFF
TCN : ? ON/OFF
PRC : ? ON/OFF

Cheers, Ricco.

AshRX · April 05, 2009, 11:40:23 PM

The CAT is cat temp

HWL is emmisions control on the inlet manifold

PAC is port air control

CCN is charge control

Electrical Fault

logicalChimp

AshRX