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Thread: Battery going flat

  1. #1
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    Battery going flat

    Just had a little read and read about the fuse 9 for the heater draining the battery ect .


    Charged the battery up fully before I got the motor running again .

    So initial current reading was 0.58Amps which is excessive.


    So as you do I pulled fuse 9 to start with and watched the multi-meter display , as it settled after the waiting period it was reading 0.27Amps


    which again is still to much current consumption , so I proceeded to look further and pull more fuses .

    During my test procedures the doors of the vehicle and tailgate were all open and latched to turn off the interior lamps , and also I had the glove box lamp disconnected. So no unnecessary additional drain was being read.

    After pulling a few fuses associated with air con , heater , I found that fuse 4 once pulled reduces the current to 0.06Amps , which is a good reading but not 100%



    Here is the point that the reading reduces from 0.22Amps vehicle locked and alarmed to 0.06Amps


    Fuse 4 is for the interior lamp circuit , so now it removed I don't have them working at all.
    No major issue for me , but I still want it fixed and correct.

    When the fuse is put back in the lamps all function as they should do , I.E. none stay on or anything .

    My question is : i guess there is some sort of comfort unit that controls the interior lamps ?
    Where am I looking within the car to disconnect it and put fuse 4 back in and monitor the drain on the battery .

    Any help would be great .


    Just a note : Went out for a drive earlier and the SLS warning lamp is on , and the front washers are not working also so fuse 4 is controlling those items .
    Last edited by Barnesautos; 01-01-2017 at 07:32 PM.

  2. #2
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    So unless you just didn't mention it - you missed a critical step there that could be skewing your results.

    Open all the doors etc. etc. so you can get to the inside (can turn off interior lights then manually if you like) then go chug 2 beers while you wait 16 minutes for car to go to sleep.

    Otherwise the high amp draw might be legit and fine.

    If the 16 minutes expired as you were pulling fuses you have no idea if it was fuse pulls or the 'sleep' mode that made the difference.

    Unless indeed you just didn't mention it, then I'd put all the fuses back in and then start your process over again exactly as you did before (open all the doors first and expose all the fuses so you can easily pull them without disturbing the 'sleep').

    Groovy cloth interior pattern by the way. Yanks don't get such things, they just assume we all want lots of leather!
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  3. #3
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    Battery going flat

    Been at this today for ages , found broken wire in tailgate loom , repaired that and now my red/white lamp work yippee .

    @geargrinder , I have waited approx 16-20 mins with passenger door latched so easy access is achieved without disturbing .

    Just to mention what I have found , once the drain is apparent
    Now 0.44amps as I'm sitting here waiting for it to rock to sleep.
    If I remove the control unit white plug and leave the other 2 connected , the drain drops to
    0.03amps




    And just as I posted this and have been waiting for the sleep , hey presto would you believe it , 0.01amps



    I'm not at all sure the broken loom was the culprit , but I'm happy it's fixed . I'm very happy I'm seeing the low draw now .
    Last edited by Barnesautos; 01-02-2017 at 10:55 AM.

  4. #4
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    Cool. Totally common typical problem w the tailgate so odds are you found it!
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
    2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
    2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

    Former:

    1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
    1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)


  5. #5
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    Thanks for your help

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