Full story...In July/Aug my car died, it wouldn't start. Annoying but I recharged the battery and away I went, 4 days later it died again. I purchased a new battery, put ...it in and away we go. Just under 2 weeks later it died again.

I recharged the battery got it down to a garage for them to take a look, the first guy buggered off halfway through another guy took over. Guy 1 thought he had traced it to the interior light, but when Guy 2 took over couldn't find an issue.

Got it back and it died again. So I thought I would be sensible and took it to the Skoda dealer, surely they must have heard of a problem. They had it for 3-4 days, checked it when it arrived, checked it 3-4 days later after leaving it on the forecourt the whole time, not running it at all, nothing found wrong with battery/alternator, no drain found, told to keep driving it and get back to them if it happened again. (£60)

I got a friend to have a look at it, he replaced the battery with a brand new one (2) checked it over, found no issues, said it could possibly have been a dud battery. Give it a go and get back to him. Drove it as normal the next day. The day after went to go to work in the morning, battery dead.

He came down again and checked it over, checked the alternator a bit more throughly changed the battery just it case it was 2 duds in a row (3) Drove it as normal the next day. The day after went to go to work in the morning, battery dead.

Around now my drivers lock failed.

He put me on to another chap as he would be busy with other things. New guy, came and had a look, changed the battery for another new one (4), said there was a massive drain on the locking system, at the driver's side lock. He would price up the parts and get back to me. He also told me it should be ok to drive as he ha disconnected the locking system. He got back to me, I told him to go ahead as he felt this would solve the problem, either way the lock was buggered and needed fixing. Drove it as normal the next day. The day after went to go to work in the morning, battery dead.

He came to repair the lock (£360) changed the battery for a new one (5) (are you seeing a pattern yet?) and suggested I get a solar panel battery charger as well just in case (I shouldn't need one, they are not suppsed to do this!!!!!), but it should be fine.

Drove it as normal the next day. The day after went to go to work in the morning, battery dead.

Someone I know couldn't come to look at it but did give me tests to run as I had bought a digital multimeter by this point.

1 Using a full charged battery, put a volt meter on the battery. ignition off. set the meter to read 20ma dc. there should be a reading of 14.4volts. keep the meter on there for about 10 minutes and when you check back it should still be 14.4 volts. if not calcualte the amount of drain down. - Initailly it was 11.97, after 10 mins it was 12.18

2 using the same method as above, but this time with the ignition on the first click (accessories only) Radio off, lights off, Any drain? - I put the ignition on for 1 click and it dropped to 12.07, after 10 mins it was 12.02

3 With volt meter still connected, watch the dial or readout on the meter. start the car and see if the volt meter reads 14.4 volts or lower. most of them should read between 13.8 and 14.2 volts while the engine is running. - Started the car and it read 13.83 and stayed around there the whole time.

If all these check out ok then the next step is to check the switches inside the car, courtesy lamps, radio, boot lamp are all off.

Check the fuses in the fuse box. Are they all ok and correctly rated (10 amp, 7 amp, 15 amp etc)

Under the bonnet. Is the wiring around the back of the alternator pulled out/twisted/stretched? This could lead to broken wires inside the sleeving that arent visable..

I checked all the switches and lights, everything seemed to be off.

I managed to find the alternator, everything seems to be connected ok, nothing tight or bent.

I have since purchased a Haynes Manual and a OBD II fault detector.

I ran the OBD II scanner and came up with 2 faults

On SRS it comes back with 00532 - Transmission Control Module Relay-Supply Voltage (B+) Malfunction Low Battery or Bad Ground.

The second code on SRS is 01299 - this seems to be a diagnostic gateway fault. However I cannot find any solid info on any websites.

I also did a battery check with my multimeter and it was reading 12.67 with car on but not running.

It seems to run fine if I disconnect the battery each time I leave the car and reconnect it when I go to drive again.

Details

Skoda Fabia Comfort Estate

Petrol 1397cc

2001

Someone please help as I have been with this issue for almost 6 months and I cannot afford to keep going to the garage!

Edited 9 December, 201015 yr by Goubs

Does the headlight warning buzzer working? Its possible that it isn't the headlights you are leaving on, but the parking lights (when the indicator stalk is turned keeping either the left or right sidelight and rearlight on). I do find this unlikely to run a new battery flat overnight though.

It seems a bit suspect that if the car isn't used for a period of time like when it was left at the dealership it seems fine, and doesn't do it all the time. If i read correctly its only run flat 6-7 times over the past 6 months. I'm sorry to say it but it sounds like lights being left on :(

The first thing I would do is to remove the alternator fuse on top of the battery and leave overnight or even for several days if necessary.

Then check to see if the battery has been discharged.