LordRaiden84

Car started just now and battery charging at 14.4V. Standby at 12.7V. I'll keep monitoring. Looking like it could've very well been the Columbus with the Parrot handsfree but until it's starts regular and maintains consistency then I'm not ruling anything else out. At least for now it's a step in the right direction.

Try 2 hours

Got an update. My last post pertaining to asking how to trick the car into thinking it's locked was obviously pretty rhetorical. All I did was to close the latch on the drivers door. Turned out I didn't need to access that fuse panel afterall. I did the current draw trick and was getting very sporadic results where it would spike from 2/3 - 50mA and you needed to wait to catch it in the act. I appreciate that the 'pulling fuses' method isn't the favoured option but removing F8 (Radio) with the meter still connected in series dropped the reading significantly. The car cranked with the Varta and I let it idle for a good 20 mins. It's charging so it proves the alternator is not an issue. Took the car for a good spin and noted any dash warning lights or sounds etc, of which were none. Going to try to (excuse the pun) stay positive and see if the removal of the head unit circuit has cured the drain. If it is that I'll honestly be gobsmacked. That head unit got swapped 4 years ago and never did it back then. What I will say is, the Columbus is tethered into an old parrot CK3100 bluetooth module that was already pre-installed when I got the car in 2015. There's a possibility this may have failed and causing an issue but not sure. Anyways, I will attempt to start the car first thing tomorrow and see if it works. Fingers crossed.

I'm assuming if the varta stays at 12.5V then I can use it to try to establish the battery drain fault. On a side note, if the other battery at 12.7V failed to crank the car then what chance do I have with this at 12.5V? If it drops further and at this rate is looking likely then I'm snookered. If the varta holds enough juice to investigate the drain I'd be happy. Right now I'm starting to think getting the car turned over has actually become a non priority. I've browsed some youtube vids and researched the volt drop method for detecting parasitic drain across the fuses. Of all the vids and reading etc there's nothing that points to how to avoid 'waking' the car up when one comes to check the interior fuses. I'm aware you need to close the drop bonnet latch so it activates the microswitch to trick the bonnet is shut but this is for the fuses in the engine bay. Does the same method apply for the drivers door so you can access the side panel fuses?

Thank you for the advice regards a charger. I will have a good read over a brew. Ok, this is where I'm at. Charged Varta up and proceeded to take incremental measurements as follows: 07:00 @ 13.08V 10:00 @ 12.62V 13:00 @ 12.58V 16:00 @ 12.56V 18:30 @ 12.55V So, over a 12hr period it's lost 0.53V. The battery is standalone btw and not connected to anything. I'm going to measure tomorrow at 07:00 and see what a 24hr period does. It appears it's steadied out at 12.55V but we'll see what tomorrow brings. Incidentally, the other battery that got charged up to 12.70V could not crank the car. I in the very least expected it to. Now, this is where things get interesting. I believe (unless of course someone can say otherwise), the problem is far worse than first anticipated. After the initial failed crank attempt I did it again and then turned it off. Checked the battery and it read 9.80V. This was literally 10-15 mins after initially fitting the battery. Turned the key again but no attempt to crank and the dash went ballistic. All bells & whistles including the coil light warning and tone then the front lights strobing without actually turning the car over. Then even more beeps with tones that I've ever heard before. Creeped me out tbh. I imagine it's because the voltage is so low so it's throwing a wobbler. My concern is that there has to be some very nasty electrical gremlins at work to reduce the battery voltage that fast. I could understand if I was turning the key like mad and cranking it non stop but not the case here. I do fear a combination of a sinister battery draw along with my lack of education in terms of battery care and attempting to start the car may have borked 2 batteries. I'm going to drown my sorrows tonight with a few beers. I really need them right now.

I did yes. Said neighbour has his charger back now so I'm going to charge the Varta (if it will ofc) and see if it holds a charge or as you alluded to, buggered. If it's the latter I can at least try the other battery and go from there. Incidentally, I removed fuse No. 28 (Radio) just as a precautionary measure. I want to be dead certain it isn't the Columbus causing the drain. I will get that CTEK one ordered deffo but for now I can use the neighbours. I'll keep all updated.

So the CTEK MXS 5.0 is the one to go for? Incidentally, the battery currently in the car is a Varta 77AH. Measured it today. Disconnected it was reading 9.05V. When connected it was 7.85V. I have another battery that's in storage that's 11.95V. Would you recommend trying to charge the Varta one first? The other is an ebay jobby and what made me purchase the Varta was the OEM battery off ebay went flat after about a month. I thought it was a dud so got the Varta. Now that's playing up I can't see lightning striking twice. Something must be draining it. I only measured it about 4 days ago and it was 11.80V. It's dropped significantly.

I'd need to charge the battery in the first place (got to get my own charger now as neighbour has loaned it out elsewhere ugh). As soon as I get a charger I'll sort it. I'm too reluctant to jump it now from other halfs car as earlier posts have indicated battery damage can result from this. I don't think it's the alternator when I did jump it last time and took it for a long run and let it idle for 30 mins it was measuring 14+V at the time. I dunno I just feel more comfortable removing the battery from the car and charging it inside. I can't park the car in the garage it's currently being used for mass storage (long story) and don't fancy mucking about running a lead out to the car for all the neighbours to see. I feel incredibly lucky because I can use the swmbo's car when they're not working and have access to a works vehicle in the week. If I didn't have the above two options I'd be royally in the carp. So yeah, I'll pick up a charger and monitor the battery over the weekend before moving to next step. I will of course post back and let you all know how I get on. Any recommendations on a charger would be most welcome. Thanks again all I really appreciate everyone's input.

Can I just confirm then and get everyone to agree as per Carlston's earlier post that I firstly need to diagnose the battery itself prior to using the guide, which btw is really appreciated. I will disconnect it completely and charge it indoors overnight and then test it over say a 48 hour period to see if there's any discernable volt drop. If it does drop significantly, then it would suggest a faulty battery contrary to what I first thought. I think this should be the first step. Am I correct?

Thanks for the very informative response chaps. Going to see neighbour later today hopefully when they get back from their travels and loan their battery charger. I will obviously shop around and invest in one of course. It seems silly keep asking to borrow it although they don't really mind we get on very well. If it gets charged tonight then tomorrow after work I will check the battery voltage first and foremost to see it is actually taking a charge then proceed with the steps advised. I had a brainwave earlier and realised a while back the rear wiper would sometimes not fire the fluid but you'd hear the motor. Quite sporadic it's behaviour tbh. Not sure if it's grit in the nozzle but will poke it with a needle or something of that ilk. Anyways what I'm getting at is I recall someone saying on the Octavia the rubber hosing to the rear washer can become loose at a joint or something so the fluid just goes straight down the back inside the panelling and possibly onto the electrics. Might be a bit out there but does this sound familiar to anyone? Also, although I'm 99.9% certain the columbus can't be the culprit as it was installed ages ago, do hear a whirring like fan sound coming from the double air con vents above when car has been shut down and locked (I stay very still in car so as not to trigger alarm). Does this suggest something not shutting down or is this normal?

That's a really well thought out reply. I appreciate the effort. I'll do this is in order so as in the hope it makes perfect sense to you and to help aid a methodical response. Firstly, I can get hold of a neighbours charger and am prepared to leave it on overnight. However, can I not just bung the leads on other halfs motor and jump it or could that damage the battery as well? I will test the stand by voltage later and let you know what it is but last time it was deffo 11.8V Ok, same neighbour can assist me here if I do get paranoid about jazz hands during this process. Just to clarify (apologies if I sound thick), am I right in saying your instructing me to put the + probe of the test meter under the clamp so it can be uncoupled then lifted off? Also, I'm gathering from the above the - probe of the meter goes on the clamp whilst the clamp is still housed on the positive terminal of the battery? Would that not cause a short?

This is a recurring issue so I'm more leaning towards it being something more sinister than the battery itself. The initial new battery which is now in storage started going flat after a few weeks, thus swapped it for the Varta. It is worth mentioning I use a works vehicle so don't have access to my car during the week. What is the normal expectancy for a derv to be left idle before turning it over. Surely more than 3 days?

Hi all Really, really need to get to the bottom of this it's stressing me out to the nines. Basically, purchased a Varta battery to replace an old battery that had been in the car for a number of years. The car will run completely flat after about 3 days which indicates battery drain. Interestingly, a kind member on here swapped my Bolero for the Columbus like 4 years ago so if that was the issue surely I'd have ran into problems way back when. Using a multimeter I get around 11.80V at battery doing nothing then (when it's been jumped by the better halfs car) on idle measures 14V. It's getting to a stage now where jumping it, taking it for a run etc etc is obviously not the answer. I know I need to diagnose the current draw or usage when the car is powered down but I have a problem. Basically, I know I need the car to 'think' it's locked so have to manually open the boot but mine is modified due to being an aftermarket honeycomb grille. The latching arm would not fit through the grille as there's no vertical gap like the OEM one so it's been bent to the side. Am I right in saying I can pre-release the bonnet, then lock the car and immobiliser it, wait 30 mins or so for the car to go to sleep then just lift it by prising it up (I can fit my hand in the gap between under of bonnet and top of vent)? Also, do I disconnect the neutral from the battery terminal and measure it across the fuses or do I need to do something else? I really want to try to find out what's going on. I don't think it's a faulty battery as it's done this twice now and the previous one was thought to be faulty. Guess I was wrong. Please help it's bothering me that much now I feel like getting shut of the car altogether. It's a VRS CR170 MKII btw. Thank you

Hmmmmmm. I did ask myself if it was the turbo as it suddenly went very sluggish after a seriously good thrashing round the back lanes. No one in sight so perfect scenario for the old 'Italian tune up'. Started motor this morning, no warning lights and car ticking over as normal. Quick drive and turbo does seem to be responding to standard throttle presses. Weird one tbh. I will keep you informed regards the scan and see what comes back. May be an idea to get the turbo looked at as a precaution.

A friend of mine is going to try to arrange something but it does depend on if the person he gets in touch with is both willing and available. I honestly don't know what the issue is. The temp gauge was fine etc but that ridiculous black smoke and it crawling uphill 45 mins from my home was not a pleasant experience. Thank you kindly for the offer. If I do get stuck or the other chap lets me down, I'll hit you up.