Battery draining issue.

Devon101 said:
I meant I have reached out to get a quote. Still waiting for feedback.
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As many people have suggested have you tried pulling the fuses till you find which circuit is causing the drain?
It's a simple process and often once you know where to look the culprit is easy to see, like a loose connection or rubbed wire.

A good auto electrician may find the issue quite easily but even then not guaranteed and they are not cheap. And it appears you don't have an auto electrician that you already use and can trust, a dodgy auto electrician can start costing the earth, many technicians these days only know how to replace parts and very little about diagnostics.
 
I had the same issue with a battery drain and found the car radio as the suspect. The radio has 2 power wires 1 for power and one for memory. so even with the radio turned off and the power wire disconnected it was draining the battery via the memory cable.

Everything worked fine but turns out the radio had a issue. Also check that the radio power wire and memory wire runs of 2 separate cables power cables. Lazy installers connect them together on one power wire from the battery that then causes the unit to draw power on both wires
 
airborne said:
As many people have suggested have you tried pulling the fuses till you find which circuit is causing the drain?
It's a simple process and often once you know where to look the culprit is easy to see, like a loose connection or rubbed wire.

A good auto electrician may find the issue quite easily but even then not guaranteed and they are not cheap. And it appears you don't have an auto electrician that you already use and can trust, a dodgy auto electrician can start costing the earth, many technicians these days only know how to replace parts and very little about diagnostics.
Click to expand...
A good auto electrician that is the trick. My first car had an issue. I took it to my father recommended auto electrician, he did some checks, 5 minutes later he replaced a corroded wire which he said someone had done a crappy repair on and charge me the princely sum of R150, telling me I am not paying him for the 5 minutes but for his wealth of his experience.
 
Devon101 said:
There is a sound system but even if i fully disconnect it, the battery still drains. So that has been ruled out.

What could be causing the battery to drain? Earth wires have been checked and all are working.
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qscwbt said:
I had the same issue with a battery drain and found the car radio as the suspect. The radio has 2 power wires 1 for power and one for memory. so even with the radio turned off and the power wire disconnected it was draining the battery via the memory cable.

Everything worked fine but turns out the radio had a issue. Also check that the radio power wire and memory wire runs of 2 separate cables power cables. Lazy installers connect them together on one power wire from the battery that then causes the unit to draw power on both wires
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.
 
qscwbt said:
I had the same issue with a battery drain and found the car radio as the suspect. The radio has 2 power wires 1 for power and one for memory. so even with the radio turned off and the power wire disconnected it was draining the battery via the memory cable.

Everything worked fine but turns out the radio had a issue. Also check that the radio power wire and memory wire runs of 2 separate cables power cables. Lazy installers connect them together on one power wire from the battery that then causes the unit to draw power on both wires
Click to expand...
I did ask my nephew if there might be any cables left after removing the system and radio. We will need to look again.
 
airborne said:
As many people have suggested have you tried pulling the fuses till you find which circuit is causing the drain?
It's a simple process and often once you know where to look the culprit is easy to see, like a loose connection or rubbed wire.

A good auto electrician may find the issue quite easily but even then not guaranteed and they are not cheap. And it appears you don't have an auto electrician that you already use and can trust, a dodgy auto electrician can start costing the earth, many technicians these days only know how to replace parts and very little about diagnostics.
Click to expand...
Looking for one now. I dont want to end up in this position again in a few months.
 
Devon101 said:
I thought it would be a quick fix. On Saturday afternoon it was fine but dead Sunday morning.
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I get it man...but this can become a costly nightmare and huge inconvenience. Expensive car batteries as well as that dreaded "click...click...click" at the mall on a Sunday morning.

Maybe ask around locally where you are, for an auto-electrician recommendation. I just think it will be your best bet and hopefully not too expensive.

Good luck.
 
rh1 said:
A good auto electrician that is the trick. My first car had an issue. I took it to my father recommended auto electrician, he did some checks, 5 minutes later he replaced a corroded wire which he said someone had done a crappy repair on and charge me the princely sum of R150, telling me I am not paying him for the 5 minutes but for his wealth of his experience.
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Is the electrician still in business?
 
My wifes car battery also would not start the car , took it to battery centre, they told us the battery is fine. drive home, next day it would not turn the engine. We drove there again, computer say battery is fine, we replace it, end of the story.

Or , put that meter over battery, start car and see till where to volts drop, then you will know.
 
TheChamp said:
Do let us know what happens @Devon101, don't disappear.
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Car started fine this morning but the negative was left off overnight. I reached out to the place @ghaye provided. They guy quoted R 650 per hour. He also said if they can locate the issue in the 1st hour, it will be fixed then. If not, they ask before they do any more work. I will only be able to take the car this weekend though.
 
Devon101 said:
Car started fine this morning but the negative was left off overnight. I reached out to the place @ghaye provided. They guy quoted R 650 per hour. He also said if they can locate the issue in the 1st hour, it will be fixed then. If not, they ask before they do any more work. I will only be able to take the car this weekend though.
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The very point of taking into to a fancy place is because they should have the fancy machinery to pin down the fault in no time at all, otherwise there is no point, so I am surprised at that kind of pricing structure, they should know how long it's going to take them already.

Question is, if they don't know if they will locate the fault in the first hour, how do they know they will get the fault in the second, third or fourth hour, will they get it in 24 hrs?

I am not liking it at all, but it's your choice. For me a fair way of doing it is a fixed, once off price on diagnostics, then a quote to fix the problem after it's found.

Don't you have a Bosch Diagnostics somewhere around?
 
TheChamp said:
The very point of taking into to a fancy place is because they should have the fancy machinery to pin down the fault in no time at all, otherwise there is no point, so I am surprised at that kind of pricing structure, they should know how long it's going to take them already.

Question is, if they don't know if they will locate the fault in the first hour, how do they know they will get the fault in the second, third or fourth hour, will they get it in 24 hrs?

I am not liking it at all, but it's your choice. For me a fair way of doing it is a fixed, once off price on diagnostics, then a quote to fix the problem after it's found.

Don't you have a Bosch Diagnostics somewhere around?
Click to expand...
There are a few around here. Their pricing is a bit more but I am going to compare a few places before I decide.
 
I bet it's one of two things
Old tracking/security system
Radio/Cell kit/cell charger
But it'll be a non OEM item.
Everything else should effectively have no access to power unless it's wired wrong.
 
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