Club 80-90 Forums

I have a problem with my starter battery.
Van hadn’t been used for a while and the battery went flat, I put on a CTEK charger on a full reconditioning cycle. Charger said battery was ok once charged, and the indicator on the battery also said it was good.
put it back on the van and I just got the click from the starter solenoid, so replaced the starter motor, and the van started. It was about a week between putting the battery back in the van and me replacing the starter motor, the battery kept its charge all this time.
Tried to start the van a week later and my battery was flat again, to the point where it read less than 1 volt!
I disconnected the battery and checked the voltage again, and it was rising, finally ending up just over 9 volts.
Now I know my battery is probably knackered having been drained so low, but what’s going on?
It looks like the battery sits there absolutely fine, but if I start the van something then starts to drain the battery even when the van is stopped.
I have a 1.6td camper, if this makes any difference.
I hate electrics but also hate not knowing how to fix this, I’m worried if I put a new battery on, the same thing will happen.
sorry for the long post. Stuart

Right firstly that battery is toast , without the shadow of a doubt .
Get a new battery , then look for the drain….
Quite easy with minimal tools , even just a 21w brake light bulb and a bit of wire will tell you if you have a drain

With a fully charged good battery , connect the +12v connection to the battery , but do not connect the -12v “earth strap “
Instead connect the bulb between the -12v pole of the battery and the earth strap . A slight glow will show , the bigger the drain the bigger the glow , pull fuses one at a time to find which circuit is draining .

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO START THE VAN WITH TEST BULB IN CIRCUIT

I had similar symptoms a few years ago. It was a faulty glow plug relay. The battery would go down to the point that the relay dropped out, then the drain through the glow plugs would stop.

I'm not saying that's definitely what your problem is, but worth having a look.

colinthefox wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 18:37 I had similar symptoms a few years ago. It was a faulty glow plug relay. The battery would go down to the point that the relay dropped out, then the drain through the glow plugs would stop.

I'm not saying that's definitely what your problem is, but worth having a look.

To find out, connect a 12V bulb from the glow plug busbar to earth. If it glows, your glowplugs are glowing too!
 

Thanks for the replies, I’ll have a play at the weekend and report back. 

As promised after a weekend of fiddling.
It looks like it’s my central locking!
A while ago one of my doors had stopped locking when the central locking was activated. I thought it was just the activator, that needed sorting.
However it looks like, somewhere in the wiring for the central locking, I have a fault that’s draining my battery when activated.
I haven’t found the actual fault yet, but when I activate it, my battery starts to drain, if it’s not, my battery keeps its charge.
so I’m going to pull the fuse to stop any accidental operation, and try and find the actual fault when I have a bit more time.
Was great to be out and about in the van again!
 

Odds on its the loom going into the door from the van thats damaged inside the rubber boot