Something is drawing all the power out of the car battery?

sweettooth14

Bought a Polo 1998 on donedeal. Was told it was fine but it has never started once. I bought a new battery for it but it still wouldn't start and I had to jump start it. Something is draining all the power out of it. I feel cheated.

Could I disconnect the battery after use and reconnect it later?
Would this work?
Is it safe?
Is it easy?

chris85

sweettooth14 wrote: »

Bought a car on donedeal. Was told it was fine but it has never started once. I bought a new battery for it but it still wouldn't start and I had to jump start it. Something is draining all the power out of it. I feel cheated.

Could I disconnect the battery after use and reconnect it later?
Would this work?
Is it safe?
Is it easy?

Ok so when you put in the new battery and turned the key did was it completely dead or did the starter motor go but the engine didnt turn over?

Did it start when you bought it? You say it never started so why you buy it?

sweettooth14

When I put the new battery in the car went perfectly.
After a day it needed to be jump started.

Jimmy Iovine

Have you got a CD player and speakers? One of my friends had to take his out of the car because they kept on draining the battery.

Noiz

Did you check the alternator?

piston

Check that the bootlight doesn't stay on when the boot is closed. Not always easy to notice in a saloon car.

listermint

piston wrote: »

Check that the bootlight doesn't stay on when the boot is closed. Not always easy to notice in a saloon car.

Shouldnt kill it in 24 hours really.


OP I would suggest bringing the car to an auto electric specialist. Might be something really simple like a boot switch or could be an alternator.

Electrics in vehicles are a tricky beast. Could even be water damage somewhere on a relay.

Hamilton Auto Electric in dublin comes recommended through a friend of mine. ive not used them personally but theyve been around for years dublin southside i believe.

bazz26

OP, if you are not familiar with car electrics then I suggest having a reputable auto electrician look at it. They should be able to find the source of a drain on the battery if there is one.

sweettooth14

Whats an auto electrician? Where would I find one? How expensive are they?

bazz26

An auto electrician is a qualified expert in car electrics. Not sure where you are based but if let us know then someone might be able to recommend one local to you or you should try your local golden pages directory.

Capri86

Do you own or have access to a multi meter? There are a few simple checks you can do before paying out to a garage to diagnose the fault.
You can check the voltage at the battery terminals to see if the alternator is charging the battery correctly.

PaulieBoy

Many years ago I had a banger with exactly the same problem. All the "experts" I brought it to could not fix it. They all claimed that they could find the problem, but not one did. In the end I had a "racing car kill switch" ( not sure what it's called exactly) fitted and that was the end of the problem.
A turn of the switch and the battery was disconnected: end of battery drain problem. Handy anti theft device as well!!
Not an elegant solution, but it worked.

sweettooth14

Is a racing car kill switch expensive? What kind of money am I talking about?
Thanks for the idea.

listermint

sweettooth14 wrote: »

Is a racing car kill switch expensive? What kind of money am I talking about?
Thanks for the idea.

Sounds like youll still need an auto electrician to install it.

tbh just bring it to a specialist to have it checked over. They will give you a price over the phone. Give Hamiltons a call as above, Unfortunately youll only get so far with the internet if you can use a multimeter yourself.

Kill switches were okay in the 80's and early 90's i think were past that at this stage.

leeroybrown

Noiz wrote: »

Did you check the alternator?

+1

The most likely reason for a working car battery running flat is a dodgy alternator.

langdang

listermint wrote: »

Kill switches were okay in the 80's and early 90's i think were past that at this stage.

Still OK on a fuel pump probably, but as you say not the best idea on a battery circuit for a modern car. Last resort kinda thing* - it's most likely something simple, and would be cheap to figure out with a multimeter and a competent multimeter user.

*simple reason - it'll do your head in with the radio, central locking and that odd time you forget to disconnect it etc.
*more complicated and "i don't know much about this" reason - disconnecting the battery of modern cars will put the cars ECU back to the basic settings, it will have to re-adjust itself every time you start it and won't run as efficiently as it should until it re-trims idle etc.

Chris_Heilong

That kind of kill switch would reset the ECU each time, not sure its a great idea, maybe on a polo it is ok but I know on my car it would cause problems.

biko

Get an auto electrician to check. It might be something small and cheaply fixed.
Where are you located OP?

Joe 90

PaulieBoy wrote: »

Many years ago I had a banger with exactly the same problem. All the "experts" I brought it to could not fix it. They all claimed that they could find the problem, but not one did. In the end I had a "racing car kill switch" ( not sure what it's called exactly) fitted and that was the end of the problem.
A turn of the switch and the battery was disconnected: end of battery drain problem. Handy anti theft device as well!!
Not an elegant solution, but it worked.

Funny enough I have had the same problem with the Exige. I suspected the Tracker but evryone I asked who knew anything about Trackers told me that no way would a Tracker drain a battery.

Of course, these were people who sold Trackers.

When I eventually Goggled it, it turned out that a Tracker can indeed flatten a battery. Not a problem in a car that is used every day but in a car which might sit in the driveway for a week it is a problem,

So, eventually fitted a battery cut off and problem seems to be solved. Only did it a couple of weeks ago so the question now is will the battery recover. Lead acids don't like sitting partially charged so it may be screwed.

Dades

sweettooth14 wrote: »

Is a racing car kill switch expensive? What kind of money am I talking about?
Thanks for the idea.

A kill switch just disconnects the battery from powering anything. You can buy basic ones on eBay for a tenner that you just fit to the negative terminal. You just have to lift up the bonnet and turn a knob everytime you want to disconnect/reconnect.

However if it turns out your alternator is gone (that's the dynamo thing that keeps the battery charged while you drive) a kill switch won't help as every time you drive you'll be using up charge until it's dead again.

Capri86

Sorry but before you look into kill switches I still think you should rule out the alternator first. A kill switch will be useless if your alternator is not functioning correctly.

langdang

Capri86 wrote: »

Sorry but before you look into kill switches I still think you should rule out the alternator first. A kill switch will be useless if your alternator is not functioning correctly.

There's a whole load of simple checks that should be done before a kill switch!

Capri86

langdang wrote: »

There's a whole load of simple checks that should be done before a kill switch!

I agree. But everyone's advise is to bring it straight to the garage. Electrical faults can be horrible to sort out but you could save yourself a lot of money by ruling out some possibilities of what's draining the battery.

listermint

Capri86 wrote: »

I agree. But everyone's advise is to bring it straight to the garage. Electrical faults can be horrible to sort out but you could save yourself a lot of money by ruling out some possibilities of what's draining the battery.

Your assuming the OP has knowledge of multimeters, which has been mentioned 2-3 times on this thread with no response. so id imagine a trip to someone who can tell them what the issue is would be a preferable option.

Capri86

I'm not assuming. If the OP needs advise on DIY he is on the right place to receive it.
It's easy to tell someone to go straight to the garage. But what's the point of asking a question if that's the only response.

listermint

Capri86 wrote: »

I'm not assuming. If the OP needs advise on DIY he is on the right place to receive it.
It's easy to tell someone to go straight to the garage. But what's the point of asking a question if that's the only response.

You are assuming two people have already suggest a multimeter and alternator and both were ignored. So il work with the obvious item the OP doesnt have a multimeter and doesnt know how to operate one.

Not everyone is capable of DIY and advice should be given as such.

Capri86

listermint wrote: »

Not everyone is capable of DIY and advice should be given as such.

As you said the OP may not be capable but since that hasn't been indicated either I would like to try and help for the time being. Maybe someone else can learn from it.