Faulty battery or car draining the battery?

[Groot]

My car battery is made by Duracell and I fitted it into my Focus 1.6LX 2005 in November 2016.

I only do a several thousand miles a year mostly taking my wife to and from the station about 3 times a week and the odd visit to relatives about 100 miles away. I know this sounds like the battery never really gets the time to recharge itself but since fitting it I have never had any issue it with it until now.

After the cold snap that we had the other week, I went to pick my wife up at the station but the key fob wouldn't open the door. I opened it manually, tried to start the engine but the electrics were completely dead, not even the lights appeared.

I charged the battery last Saturday and it started no problem. Sunday afternoon it started when I went into town, but in the evening when I went to take my wife to the station again, completely dead.

From this information, does it sound like the battery is faulty or is something in the car draining it rapidly? I've done a quick search and managed to find some basic instruction for checking the car but my knowledge is limited. To test whether a battery is faulty, does it need to be taken to a specialist? If not, how do I test it?

I know it's probably a case of how long is a piece of string, but if I took it to a garage, how much do you think it would cost to find any fault? Is it worth taking it to an official Ford garage?

Thanks very much and hope you can help.

[Phil21185]

I would try and diagnose the problem yourself as garages are likely to replace parts on guesswork and that can be costly.

I had the same problem with my mk3 in the same cold snap but thankfully all seems well after a good battery charge.

When I asked, folk on here said that most places will do a free battery load test but to me that seems like a window for them to sell you a new battery.

Batteries don't like the cold, but usually it's severe prolonged periods (like the winter of 2010:: -20 round our way!)

If you have a multimeter, measure the voltage at the battery terminals with the car running.

It may be that the alternator is not putting out what it should, though this will likely result in a dash light.

Voltage with car running should be anything above, what, guys? 13.5 - 14v?

Basically if it is the low 12's or doesn't change between engine on and engine off, the alternator isn't charging the battery properly.

If you get a good reading with the engine running and the battery passes a proper load test then there is a drain on the car somewhere.

What you'll need to do then is connect the meter in series with the battery (ie, disconnect the negative terminal from the battery and put one meter probe on the battery negative and the other on the terminal you disconnected. Then set the meter to a DC amp setting - Should be marked A (with a dotted and straight line under it) 200m or similar.

It may read high or "1" to start with but leave it all connected and the car unlocked for 30 mins and see what it reads after that. Anything higher than about 040 and you have a problem.

Then it's time to start pulling fuses one at a time to see if the reading drops. If it does, find out what the fuse powers and that is likely to be your culprit.

[Groot]

Thank you very much for that reply.

I will try to digest that information and give the tasks a go!

It would be nice if it was the battery because that's simple for me to solve but I fear there is trouble afoot!

I actually used two old battery chargers because I wasn't sure if any of them worked. One is a Winfield brand from the days of Woolworths! The other I can't remember but maybe just as old.

In the meantime, Ive ordered a NOCO Genius G3500UK 6V/12V 3.5 Amp UltraSafe Battery Charger since it's got good reviews and I can use it for my scooter battery too. Not sure if this was an unnecessary expense and all the talk of damaging your car battery using a cheap/old charger is likely but I suppose I will now have a decent charger and should last me for years to come.

Thanks again.

[williamweb]

Buy a multimeter.You can then establish the condition of the battery,if it is draining and if the alternator is charging as said above.Anything over 12.6 is fully charged,12.5 is 80% charged and about 12.2 is 50%,12 and under is flat.

[Groot]

Thanks. I already have one, just need to blow the cobwebs off it!

[Freddy42]

This is a useful  accessory.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vehicle-Car-12v-24v-Battery-Voltage-Meter-Monitor-Tester-Checker/253485142763?epid=1639161362&hash=item3b04e452eb:g:mfQAAOSwz~paTJdT

[lasthope]

I just took my car to a local motor world do free battery tests

[Ned_Mk2_1.8tdci]

Looks like a problem with a poorly charged battery. First check the alternator charing voltage, with the car running, should be btw 14.4-14.8V. When charging your battery use a charger that supplies 15.2-15.5 VDC. This may seem bit too high, but batteries with Ca-Ca or silver-Ca plates require higher charging voltages. Do not waste your money on fancy electronic chargers, these are good to charge only 25% discharged batteries. And take usual caution with electrolyte level in all cells, gassing etc...

[Jethro_Tull]

Modern calcium batteries last longer, but can fail prematurely if under used.  If you're doing low mileage and infrequent journeys it'll need top up charges in between.

[Groot]

Thanks for all your help guys.

After all your advice, I've watched a few YouTube videos on how to check the alternator and for a parasitic drain, and I'm feeling confident enough to try it myself now.

Actually, I think I've done this before (flashbacks!) but it's so, so long ago now I can't remember a thing.

I'll charge the battery hopefully tonight and check that first. In fact, if I was to leave the battery in the car until the weekend instead and there was a parasitic drain, would that damage the battery? Should I have taken it out already?

Thanks again.

[Phil21185]

How did you get on?

[Groot]

So sorry for the late reply, as usual when I try to focus on something I'm met with a barrage of other issues to contend with first!

Nevertheless, I have now charged the battery - it's giving 12.6V.

Put it back in the car, tested the voltage when running the car with lots of things turned on - Giving about 14.5V to13.6V depending what's switched on so I'm assuming the alternator is okay?

It also never went below 10V when starting the car so I'm assuming the battery is okay for CCA?

Finally, I tested the draw when everything is switched off (as if you've parked it overnight) and it's rapidly fluctuating between 4.5 to 0.8. It's supposed to be only around a solid 0.5 or less isn't it?

Therefore, it seems I have a parasitic drain coming from somewhere. I will test it all again just to make sure then get down to the issue of pulling out all the fuses one by one to see what's causing it.

As said, I will test that again especially the draw test because can it fluctuate like that? I will be using a new multimeter. Just hope it's going to be something simple!

Thanks again for all your help and putting me on the path!

 

[raftopoua]

Hi Groot,

 

Sadly this is a very common problem in the mk2.

Mine also has it….

The micro switch in the ignition barrel is stuck and not allowing the ecu to go to sleep after the key is removed.

The proper fix is to replace the ignition barrel.

Until you do that, you can try to remove fuse no46 which is located under the glovebox. It has worked for me!

 

Regards

[Groot]

Thanks for the tip.

I'll try that fuse first!

[ScaniaPBman]

On 3/12/2018 at 5:50 PM, Freddy42 said:

This is a useful  accessory.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vehicle-Car-12v-24v-Battery-Voltage-Meter-Monitor-Tester-Checker/253485142763?epid=1639161362&hash=item3b04e452eb:g:mfQAAOSwz~paTJdT

Thanks for this bit of advice.

I ordered one and it has dropped through my letterbox this morning.

ScaniaPBman.

[Albert27]

Interesting read guys. Be good to know the outcome @Groot when you get it sorted 

[Groot]

Okay, it 'seems' to have been sorted.
The reason?
Absolutely no idea!

I pulled out all the fuses one by one, including the big ones then did it all again to double-check. There were some in the glove compartment such as the one for the central locking system that I couldn't access because they were placed behind the fuse panel for some reason. The amps didn't drop but still fluctuated around the 3.8 mark. Occasionally it randomly would drop to an acceptable level but then start again after a couple minutes. I'm not sure if that was simply down to my multimeter not making a good connection.

In the end I put everything back and started the car but quickly realised the fans, AC and stereo etc. were no longer working. I thought I had blown a fuse or something more serious but after checking I realised I had put that fuse back in a redundant slot!

After putting it back in the right slot, I started the engine and tested facilities again where all is well once more. I then wired up the battery up just to check for the draw again and hey presto it 'seems' to have corrected itself - I'm getting just a steady 0.5 amps!

For the past 2 days, the battery hasn't become flat so I'm wondering if starting the engine without that fuse has possibly reset something?

I really don't know and understand what has happened but if that's the end of it then I'll be a happy bunny. i guess I'll find out during the coming week.

Thanks again for all your help.

[raftopoua]

0.5A is a lot! If you have a 40Ah battery then it will be completely flat after 80 hours… Just over 3 days of not using the car.

The acceptable drain after the car has gone to ‘’sleep’’ mode is less than 0.1A  .

[iantt]

0.1ampis still high. Should be more like 0.02amp

[raftopoua]

Agreed, but some modern cars have 0.1A drain and there is nothing you can do about that...

0.1A drain means 400h of peace of mind or more than 2 weeks for a healthy 40Ah battery.

[Groot]

Sorry, I meant 0.05......... I think......... now I'm paranoid....... I will check again on Good Friday and hope it doesn't become a Bad Friday.

Thanks again.

[Phil21185]

This is pretty much what happened to me. After charging the battery outside the car and pulling all the fuses I could find it seemed to have sorted itself. 

It's likely one of the modules attached to a pulled fuse was causing the issue and needed a 'reset'...