[chrisd1891]

Hey, so I went out to start my car today, and got nothing. Jumped it, and it works fine. So I have a battery drain somewhere, as it charges right up once I drive it...and it will start later in the day...just overnight is what drains it.

My question is, where do I start? Do I just grab my multimeter and try to measure the draw from the battery and pull fuses?

Also, my auxiliary water pump stays on for a while after I turn my car off, and my fans have stopped doing the after run thing that they used to do...could there be a correlation? The after run stopped working about two days ago.

 

[dogger]

Yes get out the meter and check for load on the battery. Make sure your interior lights and factory alarm hood pin are off. Start pulling fuses.

 

[cshevlin]

PULL THE POWER TO THE SEAT BELTS....That fixed mine.

 

[TheBurninator]

PULL THE POWER TO THE SEAT BELTS....That fixed mine.

STOP YELLING

How about he determines which circuit has the issue and then decide what to pull. Chances are good this is it, but why not be sure it isn't something else too?

 

[hubbell]

i have a power drain i havent checked yet but someone disabled the seatbelts but....the drain is still there. guessing and yelling is not the solution. figure it out correctly the first time and then solves THE problem.:thumbup:

 

[dogger]

Seems more logical to just pull the seatbelt fuses and wait to see if the battery dies again. Than if that doesn't fix it put the fuses back in. Pull the fuse for the power windows and wait to see if the battery dies again. If that doesn't fix it put the fuse back. Follow this logical procedure for days and possibly weeks working your way through the entire fusebox and electrical system until you find the battery drain. :screwy:

 

[chrisd1891]

Thanks for the tips :beer:

AND THANKS FOR YELLING!!!!!

 

[TheBurninator]

Seems more logical to just pull the seatbelt fuses and wait to see if the battery dies again. Than if that doesn't fix it put the fuses back in. Pull the fuse for the power windows and wait to see if the battery dies again. If that doesn't fix it put the fuse back. Follow this logical procedure for days and possibly weeks working your way through the entire fusebox and electrical system until you find the battery drain. :screwy:

it takes some time... and maybe a few hundred dollars in dead batteries but it is the right way :banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[cshevlin]

Hahahah.. Sorry guys. It just hits a bad spot with me because I dropped so much money on battery's due to a draw....:laugh:

 

[chrisd1891]

Hahahah.. Sorry guys. It just hits a bad spot with me because I dropped so much money on battery's due to a draw....:laugh:

Haha it's cool.

So it looks to be my central locking or window regulators...but they're on the same 20amp fuse...the bently was a little less than helpful here. Is it even possible to have a constant draw from the windows? And, I've tried locking the doors, or leaving all of them unlocked to see if the draw would be less, but it is a constant 140mA with all the combinations...goes back down to 50mA once I pull the fuse.

 

[dogger]

Yes the window control module has been known to draw constant. There is a thread about cutting a wire at the switch or switches that gets rid of the draw. But I have no idea now if its around still.

 

[Eiss4]

It makes sense to me that it could be from the windows. Maybe one of the switches is getting stuck in the off position. Might want to try disconnecting the window switches one by one.

 

[chrisd1891]

Yes the window control module has been known to draw constant. There is a thread about cutting a wire at the switch or switches that gets rid of the draw. But I have no idea now if its around still.

Thanks I'll look around for a thread like that :beer:

It makes sense to me that it could be from the windows. Maybe one of the switches is getting stuck in the off position. Might want to try disconnecting the window switches one by one.

They'll be inside the door cards? And by window switches, those are separate from the control module?

 

[Non_Affiliated]

Don't forget to put your battery on a charger. Just running the car to and from places will usually not give you a full charge on the battery.

 

[chrisd1891]

Don't forget to put your battery on a charger. Just running the car to and from places will usually not give you a full charge on the battery.

Yep, I've been doing that. Today I ran it without the window/central locking fuse, but that's ghetto as hell, so I'm working to get everything fixed

 

[chrisd1891]

Alright, so when I pull this brown connector and wait a minute or two, a relay will click and the current draw will go back down to 50mA, whereas before it reads 140mA with no key in the ignition or anything. When I plug this brown one, I guess it's T 8a in the bentley, I'll hear a relay click and the draw will go back up to 140mA, so i'm really pretty sure this is my problem.

What would you guys recommend I do about it now? I tried following the wiring diagrams in the book but I'm not sure I could find anything that would suggest a draw...

Thanks :beer:

 

[lmurray]

Been here before.

read this:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4789730#post64316736

Can't explain why this works, but it will....

 

[dogger]

Cool that's the thread I was talking about. Should save that for the next post about this. Lol!

 

[chrisd1891]

Been here before.

read this:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4789730#post64316736

Can't explain why this works, but it will....

Alright I'll try that tomorrow. Just curious what I should be aiming for, I read on another forum that between 30-50mA is a normal draw? Or is that even too much? When I pull the plug out of the window control module it goes down to about 50mA from a 140mA draw