:( Hi everyone,

finally having problems with my trusty felicia.mainly just gets used at the weekends, but that has been the norm. 4wks ago the battery was found to be drained of charge when i tried to start the car. only 11.5 v showed on my portable meter. a new battery was in stalled. it was fine for that weekend but 4 or 5 days later that was drained right down to 8.5 v. both batteries have recovered to show 12.65-12.8v static. when a battery is fitted and a meter put on within a couple of minutes it can go from 12.65 to 12 .47. With the engine running 14.2 shows on meter, then 13.98 with lights, fan and radio on. the CD/radio was fitted 5 wks prior to the problem and a towbar fitted 7 wks prior to the problem first occurring. in those wks the car was fine, this included a 2 wk driving holiday to ireland, and just weekend use otherwise.

any help and suggestions are very welcome.

I looked at some old thread about discharged batteries where people had got over the problem by using a solar panel that plugs into the lighter plug, would one of these work or is this problem a bit extreme? HELP!

I doubt a solar charger would help in your case as they give very little charge. I suspect there is a drain on the battery somewhere which needs sorting out. You may need to call on the services of an auto electrician.

I'd suspect a problem with your towbar wiring, unless you had to make additional feeds for the ICE, or the head is supposed to auto-off and isn't.

So start by switching the head off rather than relying on the key.

Find out which circuit is leaking by plugging this into each fuse holder

Automotive Current Tester. Brand New UK Stock on eBay, also, Diagnostic Tools Equipment, Garage Equipment Tools, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 15-Aug-08 17:42:49 BST)

I would suspect the new CD/radio since Felicia wiring seem to give the radio constant feed even when ignition is turned off. Friend of mine had this problem on a Forman. Rewiring or a "main" switch will solve the problem.

And thanks, bobob, for the tester tip, that was a handy item and easier than checking the load at the battery poles.

Thank you all for the help and suggestions. Have ordered one of those current testers and should get it in the next couple of days, so will let you know how i get along. If it is the CD/ radio or towbar electrics, i'm still confused about the delay between fitting and the problem showing up. Also the radio used the existant wiring from the old unit:confused:. Still, we'll see, and thanks again.

I did suggest that there might be a fault in the new radio.

I had the same problem, I fitted an Aldi CD/MP3 Radio using the existing wiring loom and it worked fine for about a week, before over a weekend the battery drained by itself.

I wonder if it is the lack of a switched live connection on the ISO loom - it appears to be joined together with the normal 12v live wire.

For now I have put the old original Radio back in, but would be interested to know how I can install the new radio without the battery draining again.

Disconnect the negative battery terminal, fit an ammeter inline and monitor the drain. If its over 0.2 amps then theres something wrong. Disconnect the radio and see if it goes down.

You can tap into the switched live off the ignition switch and wire that to the appropriate wire on the loom.

You can tap into the switched live off the ignition switch and wire that to the appropriate wire on the loom.

...and the appropriate wire on the radio's ISO loom should be the red one. The yellow is for constant 12V feed (keeps the pre-set stations in the memory). NB on many VAG cars (but NOT the Felicia) the car's loom is wired the opposite way - red constant and yellow from ignition!

I didn't want to add another wire to the existing snakes' nest so instead I mounted a simple switch for the red wire on the side of the radio compartment. I just bend forward as if scratching my ankle and turn it on. Not that elegant but it works for me - and allows me to listen to the radio with ignition turned off (e.g. when waiting to pick up SWMBO at her job in the afternoon).

okay folks, it's update time.

Although i haven't solved anything, i have made a start with my new current tester. fuse 1 (mono-motronic system), fuse 4 (mono-motronic fuel pump) & fuse 19 (side light switch, indicators, temp & fuel gauges) all gave readings where all the other fuses read zero. fuse 1 showed: 0.24amp with ignition on, 0.23amp with engine running; fuse 4 flickered between 5.48-5.52amps switched on & 5.98-6.00amps running; fuse 19 0.3amps swithed on, 0.58amps running.

I have also checked the relays, all of which were okay apart from the fact that relay 6 (sidelight warning buzzer) and relay INT (rear wash/wipe) are missing, although both systems have always and still do work fine!

Are there any suggestions to my findings?

Do these readings look reasonable?

Should those missing relays be fitted?

Do any of my findings link to the towbar or radio?

I would suspect fuse 19 personally but the readings of fuse 4 seem excessive; or are they meant to be!?

If fuse 19 is showing 0.3A flowing with the ignition off, the drain is probably on that fuse.

Fuse 19 supplies the instrument panel and electric door mirror adjustment (if installed).

Cheers mate. If there's a drain on that with the ignition off, something is wrong for sure.

Disconnect the negative battery terminal, fit an ammeter inline and monitor the drain. If its over 0.2 amps then theres something wrong. Disconnect the radio and see if it goes down.

:iagree:

or use a bulb, if the bulb lights up then there is something draining power:)

No drain on any circuit with the ignition off. tester notes say to switch on and run the engine. however, i realised that the radio has a fuse in the back (looking at the old one), not sure how to get the radio out to check, but did play the radio (with ignition off) and pulled each fuse out in turn and it kept playing, so i think it is the radio. looks like an inline switch is best option. I think it best to go in the yellow rather than the red wire as that is the wire drawing off the battery. what do you folks think?

I'd try explicitly turning the radio off with the radio switch, and checking for a battery drain first.

No drain on any circuit with the ignition off. tester notes say to switch on and run the engine. however, i realised that the radio has a fuse in the back (looking at the old one), not sure how to get the radio out to check, but did play the radio (with ignition off) and pulled each fuse out in turn and it kept playing, so i think it is the radio. looks like an inline switch is best option. I think it best to go in the yellow rather than the red wire as that is the wire drawing off the battery. what do you folks think?

If you want to keep the pre-set stations you shouldn't cut off the supply to the radio altogether. No matter what colours the wires in the car's loom have, on the radio side of the ISO contact the yellow wire should have constant feed (and current should be very low), the red wire is where the switch should be.

Hello all, have now managed to get the radio out and have checked this for current drain. The fuse is tight against the wiring block so couldn't use the new current tester that i'd bought. Still, using a multimeter i got a reading that flickered pretty high initially but settled down to 0.1 amp which isn't much, but is the only circuit draining with the ignition off. Apart from this, i discovered a significant difference in the wiring right where the potential problem is. The new wiring that came with the radio (but wasn't fitted) has, as we know, the red wire to the ignition and a yellow tapping into the live wire on the battery side of the ignition. The existing (old) wiring block has the same red wire but also from the same terminal, a small loop wire goes to where the yellow is on the new wire block. The wiring difference probably works in conjunction with a particular radio.

There are two solutions that i can see, 1) get the new wiring fitted, and 2) snip the loop wire and attach a wire to tap into the live wire (finding that might be easiersaid than done though).