battery going flat

thamesroverp6

thamesroverp6

Member
hi there,could someone offer me some info on why my battery keeps going flat. i have to get out the charger,approx. every 1 to 2 weeks, to recharge it. it seems to slowly go flat unless i kill the circuit with the terminal switch that someone previously has fitted. maybe that is why it was fitted by the previous owner to stop it from going flat. anyway it has done it since day one,since i purchased it anyway and generally on the short trip to wrk it doesnt get chrged properly ,unless used 2 to 3 times a day or on along trip.i know it might be difficult to diagnose ,but any suggestions would be of great help. i am electrically minded ,so can tackle most things myself.
 
The obvious conclusion is that you have a continuous discharge somewhere. With the ignition off the only load ought to be the clock. This is clockwork, but uses a pulse of electricity every minute or so to rewind itself. Beyond this, the most likely problem is the boot lamp. Check that yours goes out when you shut the boot lid - I'll leave you to devise an entertaining way of doing that! If it doesn't the plunger switch at the front left corner of the boot lid is adjustable on its mount, just loosen the two screws securing the mount to the body and set to taste.

Chris
 
Have you a digital voltmeter? if yes, with every thing switched off (including boot light) set it to read current, 10 amp range to start, open your battery isolation switch and connect across the switch. measure the current, if the reading is low (less than 100 milli Amps) select a lower current range and read. The reading you should see is 0.00 current. Unfortunatly the clock is still connected and may suck up to about 50 milli Amps. However get a reading and get back to us.
Even a short run in your car of 1 or 2 kms will recharge a good battery, however if your battery is knackered thenit will not as lead acid batteries as they age are more reluctant to recharge quickly due to elevated internal battery resistance, Does your battery have a date code?? If it was fitted by an old school auto sparky he may have given it the old "Best of our day" code and a number, where the number indicates the Decade and the letter corresponds to the month, B being Janurary and the Y being December.

Another thing to look for is the ignition light, if still glowing at more than 1000 RPM you may have a faulty alternator which can discharge your battery also.

Graeme
 
is the kill switch got a little fuse? these are normally for security.

The clock can drain the battery over a period of time. Do you know if you have ACR alternator?

Your 2000sc wont have a ammeter so hard to check how the charging is working. Does the RED BATT lamp come on when the ignition is on before cranking the engine? if it does not come on there could be a fault with the alternator or the wires.

If the warning lamp circuit is faulty then the car wont charge at low RPM, it is also worth give the car a good could of revs before driving to excite the alternator.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/12V-PLUG-CAR-MAP- ... 45f78dd73a

these things are a handy indicator and plugs in the cigar lighter. Other cheaper ones are available.

Colin
 
ok thanks,some things to check. i have a meter to check the current draw.the clock is faulty ,so i have disconnected that so no draw from that anymore.i broke the clock as i tried to take the front of to repaint the trim.will get back to you guys with what ive found.
 
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