Battery keeps going flat

W reg VW Golf 1.4 "E"

Last week, my car refused to start and it turned out to be a flat battery. Jumped it and it started OK. Went for a drive during the week to allow the battery to be "charged up".

Then 2 days of no use until this morning, it failed to start. Flat battery again.

I have confirmed that everthing are turned off when I locked it. (i.e. no headlights on, no radio switched on, etc)

Is it a sign that the battery is dying and needs a replacement? Or is it something else.

If the battery needs to be replaced, where can I get one for good price? Money are tight now that we had our baby boy!

Thanks all.

 

It's probably the battery, unless it looks brand new. Have a look to see if you can see a 'charge by' date on it, which would give you an idea of its age.

GSF or Euro Car Parts should be competitive for prices, if you live somewhere near a branch, or shop around your local motor factors.

 

Thanks, I'll check the Charge By date on the battery tonight.

 

also worth a proper trickle charge , a drive around doesnt realy top em right up

 

Well, I had a look at the battery last night - it's wrapped up so tightly, I can't see any labels or anything like that. All I can see is that it's a red battery, does it help? LOL

Then it has some sort of black box with fuses in it on the top of the battery, think it's added at a later stage, maybe alarm wiring. Does look like it's going to be a ***** to take it apart to get some details about the battery.

Might be easier to take it to the garage and let them do the dirty work. I'll see if I can take some pics and see if it's standard or not.

Cheers.

 

Going back to this... what battery brand should I look for? Got a very little budget, perhaps up to 50 or so.

Do I need to match the specific model or can any battery be used for this as long as it gives out the same volt?

Thanks.

 

Narrowed it down to this

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/V...ar-lighting/electrical/car-battery/?444770630

Is this any good?

Is there a way for me to check if the current car battery actually needs replacing. We used the car a few days ago and it's flat already. Nothing has been left switched on. I have trickled charged it. When we jump charged it, it runs fine, even on the next day. it's only when it has left unused for a few days, it've gone flat.

So I guess it's a clue that it needs replacing?

Thanks all.

 

Replaced the battery 1 week after my post above.

No problem at all since then.

Until today - BOOM! Battery's totally flat. So it must be something else, i.e. slow leak through faulty wiring/earth or not charged up at all?

What is the best way to troubleshoot this?

Thanks.

 

has it been used often and for decent runs ?

if yes then check the alternator is charging well

 

Yup, used all the time, last time was 1 and half day ago.

So it does sound like the alternator is the suspect. More money to be spent.

 

alternator can be checked with a cheap multimeter ...stick all your lights /heater/radio etc on and test the battery volts with it running , idealy you need to see 13.5v or above

if that checks out , might have something like an alarm or radio draining it (have you checked the boot /glovebox lights)

 

I'm going to borrow the multimeter from work. But first I need to jump start the car to get it going again. So annoying, my wife had to cancel her today's appointments because she couldn't use it.

Thnaks for the help so far.

 

might be worth getting a cheap trickle charger if you can , a quick run wont fully charge the battery

 

I have a similar problem on my mk4 1.8T (goes flat after 3 or 4 days if not used but otherwise fine). You can check the current draw across the fuses above the battery. The 1st one is for the alternator, 2nd one is for all electrics inside, can't remember what the other 2 are for. I haven't managed to pinpoint my problem but the drain from my electrics is a bit high (0.55A iirc). The alarm drain will not register as it can't be armed whilst doing the test.

The alternator shouldn't register any drain, unless there is a problem... something to do with earthing itself??

Sorry for vague info, but worth a test if you can.

 

Was not able to get the multimeter from work as couldn't find it.

But I have checked every lights I could think of - boot light, glove box light, door light, internor lights - all turned off upon closing, so it's not that... must be something else.

Jump started and went for a 22 miles drive, started up fine after that. Have plugged it up to the trickle charger for now to get the battery topped up.

This is starting to annoy me now LOL.

Does anyone know someone in Norwich who can look into this electrical issue for a good price?

Thanks,

 

Took the car to the garage for troubleshooting - guess what?

They couldn't find the fault! Not even any battery drain/leakage when the engine is turned off. And all fine and is charging up the battery OK when the engine is running.

Now at loss to why the battery kept going flat...

 

Mine isn't as bad, so live with it.

Did they check for current draw with the alarm and immobilisor on?
And do you have any issues with the door modules? I saw somewhere on a Mercedes forum that their door module was causing a current drain. I have the common problem of the passenger door not always popping open, and the puddle light or interior light never comes on. It is caused by dry joints and I wonder if this is drawing a tiny amount of juice. Mine can go 4-5 days without being a problem starting, so not too bad.

Good luck, and let me know if you find it.

 

How long do you have the car? how long do you know it?
I had a phantom problem in my car once and had to live with your symptoms for 2years!! So do these simple checks:
With the car off and ignition on- do you have the battery warning light come on and go off?
Do your reverse lights work? Ever had the gearbox/switch changed?
Ever had the starter changed?

They seem like odd questions but Ill explain....
There is a connection plug on the alternator with two small wires. One is the warning light on the dash and the other is a controll wire from the ECU. The alternator's charging can be turned on and off by the ECU, so if this wire is disconnected or broken it will not charge suffiently. Mine showed 13.4 on tick over but had nearly nothing up the revs.
Those two wires run from the alternator across the front of the car to the starter area where there is a joint to the car loom.
On my car before I bought it, the starter was changed meaning they needed to disconnect the this plug and also the reverse light switch.
On refitting, they mixed up the plugs!!
Alternator got unrecognisable signal, no dash light and no reverse lights! 3 batteries later..I found it

So thats my story atleast, may not be your trouble but have a look and if not I'd be checking the alternator charging voltage, clutch pulley and then a draw from somewhere. If its a Bosch alter then a rebuild is good value and worth while, got one done last week with new pulley, slip rings and bearing with genuine Bosch parts for €95. If its Valeo - forget it!
Dave.ok

 

For others who wondered what's the latest update on this... it turned out to be the alternator - it would work in one case and stopped working in another case.

Got it replaced last Dec and all is good.