Club 80-90 Forums

My starter battery was running flat over a couple of days.

So, I disconnected the leisure battery (which I'm sure is dead anyway) and inserted a circuit breaker on the starter battery.
Starter battery is less than a year old.

If I jumped start and drive, the battery charges ok and lasts at least a day.

After a couple of days, even when disconnected, engine won't turn over, but all ingnition lights come on ok.

I have a good multimeter. Voltage:
- when charging, >14
- when newly charged, but engine off, 12.6
- After a couple of days, V is about 12 or just over when disconnected.
- When I connect, then V drops to about 11.6
- If I turn on the igniition - without trying to turn the engine, V drops to about 6.7.

Will be grateful for any ideas.

Peter

Disconnect the +ve terminal, and put the multimeter - on a current range - between terminal and post. Wait a minute or two, then tell us what current consumption you're seeing.
Then, one by one, remove every fuse and check the current across it. Clock/radio is the most likely, but there might have been all sorts of entertaining bodgery in the past.

Thanks, good tip. I'll be checking around with the multimeter over the weekend.

It seems likely then that when the battery is connected, there's a short somewhere that is rapidly draining it. Its a 1989 T25. I bought it from a sepcialist garage that did a few changes for me (added a standard power socket and a gas heater with an electric starter), so perhaps there was a slip somewhere in the wiring. (I could go back to them, but they're a good 2 hrs away).