Hi guys. Had to get RAC out to my 2005 tdi hatchback as battery dead one morning. I'd left my heat pad plugged into cig lighter overnight (stupid I know, but have long covid brainfog).RAC chap said it wouldnt be that as when ignition turned off power to lighter would cut off. He said battery wasn't in best shape so as it was 6 yrs old i got another. Yesterday exact thing happened. Told again it shouldnt be the cig lighter/heat pad being left on but chooding not to believe it!

Why would this drain my battery? Old car? Fault in wiring? Also, since having new battery the automatic windows in front of car dont work. A fuse? Or something else?

You guys have been brilliant at dianosing/explaining issues before. Any ideas this time please? TIA Lizzie 😁

If your talking about the one press up/down the windows may require resetting after battery change. Hold down button and continue to hold once windows are fully down for 5-10secs and then up and when closed continue to hold for 5-10sec. Do it on each window. As for the cig socket my sons is live all the time. Not sure if its normal or someone has changed wiring. Plug something in with a light or check with multimeter with ignition off and key out. Also check the battery charge warning light is on at ignition and off when car running.

Alasdair

Thanks Alasdair. Will do all that ASAP. Youve saved me a trip to the garage! 😊

Cig lighter in MkI Fabia is permanent live. The RAC fella needs to go back to college and learn how to use a multimeter.
He could very easily have confirmed it was permanently live in two minutes but instead he's wangled the cost of a new battery out of you.

Yes- the thought did cross my mind - that i needn't have bought a new battery! To be fair to him he tested the battery and said it wasnt chargjng fully (cant remember exactly what he said) and I didnt buy the battery he offered (£196/5 yr guarantee !) He did tell me I'd get one cheaper locally so went back to where I'd bought my first one (the original lasted 14 years!) and it was £90. They said mine was 6yrs old - I didnt think that was too bad with only a 2 yr guarantee? If I'd have had more time I'd've gof them to test it and/or shopped around but I had to get to work!

@Lizzie60 do you remember if he mentioned alternator load sensor at all as that's a common problem on the MkI Fabia.

6 year old is probably about right for a battery to be a bit weak. Funny how you can have one in the car for 10 years from new then need to replace it every 5-6years. Maybe batteries arent what they used to be. I seem to be on a bit of a run of new ones after the cold spell. Had to replace 3 in different cars in the last month plus reckon I need a new one for tractor and forklift. Expensive business vehicles!

Have a fair collection of old ones now. Just waiting for scrap prices to rise a bit

Alasdair