2 yr old Suzuki Brezza - PAP battery

L

lkpat

Executive Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2023
Messages
7,139
Reaction score
5,966
Location
In your head
So this morning we woke up to a super pap battery in our 2021 Brezza. Strangely we took it to the dealership just last week to have a towbar fitted. Now I know it's not unusual to have the battery go after two years, though I must admit I've seen better success with new vehicles in the past. I'm suspicious that there's a parasitic draw somewhere and would like to test.

I've connected the charger, but I don't have a lot of hope. The multimeter measured 6v this morning, so that's as pap as it gets - I assume a cell has just died. What I'd like to do is check the draw with everything off and wondered if it's a good idea to connect the battery charger to the vehicle circuit (capable of 4-6a) and see what the draw is. I do know enough to realise it's probably not a good idea to do that, particularly on a new vehicle, but I thought I'd ask anyway. The intention is not to switch anything on but the standard circuits, but yeh... I'm not taking any chances.

What's the verdict? Charger pushes out around 14v IIRC.
 
I would go out on a limb and say the wiring introduced with fitting the towbar is causing the issue..

It doesn't appear as though you had this issue before the towbar was fitted.. I would start with a trip back to the towbar place..
 
WAslayer said:
I would go out on a limb and say the wiring introduced with fitting the towbar is causing the issue..

It doesn't appear as though you had this issue before the towbar was fitted.. I would start with a trip back to the towbar place..
Click to expand...
A towbar is simply introducing an extension to existing wiring (tail lights).
What could be possibly drawing power there?
If there was a short, it would blow fuses.
 
PaulMurkin said:
A towbar is simply introducing an extension to existing wiring (tail lights).
What could be possibly drawing power there?
If there was a short, it would blow fuses.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I agree. It would have to be a very special conductor to create a short with significant resistance.
 
PaulMurkin said:
Those cars have a swak battery. It's a small battery as you would have noticed by now.
If based in CT, Batteries Unlimited should be able to assist you.
Click to expand...
I'm 100km from EL towards the wild coast. Battery center will supply. I might just have someone from the village collect for me on Monday.
 
I think the verdict is (should) be that I replace the battery and test with it in place rather than test using anything but a battery, even though I won't be powering on.
 
marco79 said:
Are most car batteries not designed to only last 2 years?
Click to expand...
Funny you should say that. I bought a brand new Corsa C 1.4 sport in 2007, it had a Willard battery that lasted 7 years. I was impressed so replaced it with another Willard that only lasted 2 year and a few days out of warranty.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rh1
PaulMurkin said:
A towbar is simply introducing an extension to existing wiring (tail lights).
What could be possibly drawing power there?
If there was a short, it would blow fuses.
Click to expand...
Well, that depends where they tied the wiring into.. they could have introduced a fault where the boot light for example remains on.. this isn't as far fetched as it sounds..

Way too coincidental that the battery suddenly dies after towbar is fitted..
 
WAslayer said:
Well, that depends where they tied the wiring into.. they could have introduced a fault where the boot light for example remains on.. this isn't as far fetched as it sounds..

Way too coincidental that the battery suddenly dies after towbar is fitted..
Click to expand...
The assumption was that the OP would have noticed things like that and correlated it to battery drain.
 
PaulMurkin said:
The assumption was that the OP would have noticed things like that and correlated it to battery drain.
Click to expand...
You would certainly notice the boot light be on when the boot is open, not so much when closed, unless you specifically go looking for it..
 
The way to check a parasitic draw is to switch everything off, disconnect the negative terminal and measure the current in series to the negative terminal.

I don't recall the acceptable current but it's in the mA range.
 
PaulMurkin said:
A towbar is simply introducing an extension to existing wiring (tail lights).
What could be possibly drawing power there?
If there was a short, it would blow fuses.
Click to expand...
Not always, some cars have additional modules fitted,
 
lkpat said:
So this morning we woke up to a super pap battery in our 2021 Brezza. Strangely we took it to the dealership just last week to have a towbar fitted. Now I know it's not unusual to have the battery go after two years, though I must admit I've seen better success with new vehicles in the past. I'm suspicious that there's a parasitic draw somewhere and would like to test.

I've connected the charger, but I don't have a lot of hope. The multimeter measured 6v this morning, so that's as pap as it gets - I assume a cell has just died. What I'd like to do is check the draw with everything off and wondered if it's a good idea to connect the battery charger to the vehicle circuit (capable of 4-6a) and see what the draw is. I do know enough to realise it's probably not a good idea to do that, particularly on a new vehicle, but I thought I'd ask anyway. The intention is not to switch anything on but the standard circuits, but yeh... I'm not taking any chances.

What's the verdict? Charger pushes out around 14v IIRC.
Click to expand...
Most cars today has parasitic drains. Do you have keyless entry? Thats one. But generally they all have it lately. If you dont drive it often, the battery will slowly deteriorate. I have invested in a Bosch charger C1 to top it up, albeit its a big slow it works well. Thats the disadvantage of computerized cars.

So in most modern cars its perfectly normal. From Mercedes to Toyota to Suzuki and VW.

Also short trips. You need to drive at least 30 minutes without turning it off.

Just get a charger to top it up now and then, easy if its garaged.

As for dealerships, they love to leave doors open while the car is being worked on. They dont check the battery. They will simply jumpstart is sometimes and ask you to drive it around. But in all honesty, get a Bosch charger.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X