Battery leak
01-10-2003, 06:15 PM
#1
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Battery leak
Have had an annoying battery leak in '89 200T, ever since we got it 2 years ago.
Starter motor checked ..OK
Alternator checked, no leaking diodes.
Only thing I can think of is the Fuel Pump, which seems to drain an inordinate amount of power when the ignition is turned on - the Voltmeter drops way down to blazes.
Has anyone experienced anything in this line?
If we leave the vehicle for 2 days without driving, battery is FLAT as a tack.
Starter motor checked ..OK
Alternator checked, no leaking diodes.
Only thing I can think of is the Fuel Pump, which seems to drain an inordinate amount of power when the ignition is turned on - the Voltmeter drops way down to blazes.
Has anyone experienced anything in this line?
If we leave the vehicle for 2 days without driving, battery is FLAT as a tack.
01-10-2003, 06:48 PM
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Could your vacuum pump be running excessively?
It's right beside the battery....it supplies vacuum for the door and trunk locks.
Do you have a digital multimeter? Most have settings for milliamps and one for 10 amps. Start with the higher setting.
Wire it in series with the ground strap and negative battery terminal.
Monitor for any current flow. If it shows a current, start by removing a fuse at a time and see if the current drops to below ~0.1A. If a change in amps is detected, you've found your offending circuit. Find out what that fuse feeds and check each item on that circuit.
Good luck.
Do you have a digital multimeter? Most have settings for milliamps and one for 10 amps. Start with the higher setting.
Wire it in series with the ground strap and negative battery terminal.
Monitor for any current flow. If it shows a current, start by removing a fuse at a time and see if the current drops to below ~0.1A. If a change in amps is detected, you've found your offending circuit. Find out what that fuse feeds and check each item on that circuit.
Good luck.
01-10-2003, 08:34 PM
#3
Re: Battery leak
I had a similar problem with my '86 turbo. The battery would go dead after several days (about one week). The battery would go die because my after run fan and turbo water pump would continue to run. The culprit was the infamous Audi multisender water temperature sensor. Once I replaced the sensor, all my battery drainage problems went away.
01-11-2003, 05:52 AM
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How to troubleshoot battery drain (long)
This is something that, unfortunately, seems to happen a good bit with the Type 44's. Before performing the steps below, you'll need a decent quality multimeter as you will be measuring the load on the battery in milliamps. Once you have that in hand, here's the proper way to way to troubleshoot it. NOTE: all of these steps are done with the engine off and the ignition off:
1. Set your multimeter to measure DC current in milliamps. Disconnect the battery at the positive side and hookup the multimeter between the positive lead and the positive battery post (putting it in a series connection is the electrical term). Do NOT try to start the car with the battery connected this way as you will fry the multimeter or start a fire if the connections start sparking!!!
2. Check the multimeter and write down what the current measurement is on a piece of paper. This is the load on the battery at rest, and it should only be a few milliamps to run the clock and maintain the radio presets.
3. Take a digital picture or sketch the fusebox with a layout of what size fuses go where (I know there is a sticker on the underside of the fusebox lid, but this is just insurance).
4. Pull all the fuses from the fusebox and put them aside.
5. Check your multimeter again, compare the measurement now to the measurement you took originally. Reading should be at or close to zero.
6. Plug the fuses back into the fusebox one at a time, then check the multimeter reading after you plug in each one. This should enable you to identify what is the large current draw on your battery.
Once you have identified the circuit leg that has the short or high load, you can troubleshoot from there.
When finished, reconnect your battery the normal way.
Hope this helps!
1. Set your multimeter to measure DC current in milliamps. Disconnect the battery at the positive side and hookup the multimeter between the positive lead and the positive battery post (putting it in a series connection is the electrical term). Do NOT try to start the car with the battery connected this way as you will fry the multimeter or start a fire if the connections start sparking!!!
2. Check the multimeter and write down what the current measurement is on a piece of paper. This is the load on the battery at rest, and it should only be a few milliamps to run the clock and maintain the radio presets.
3. Take a digital picture or sketch the fusebox with a layout of what size fuses go where (I know there is a sticker on the underside of the fusebox lid, but this is just insurance).
4. Pull all the fuses from the fusebox and put them aside.
5. Check your multimeter again, compare the measurement now to the measurement you took originally. Reading should be at or close to zero.
6. Plug the fuses back into the fusebox one at a time, then check the multimeter reading after you plug in each one. This should enable you to identify what is the large current draw on your battery.
Once you have identified the circuit leg that has the short or high load, you can troubleshoot from there.
When finished, reconnect your battery the normal way.
Hope this helps!
01-11-2003, 04:23 PM
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Re: Battery leak
Thanks fellows, charged battery fully yesterday, and after a 100km run last night, the turbo fan ran on for a while, but it would not de-lock the doors this morning.
Wife(whose car it is - she rarely lets me drive it), says it is trade time, but I reckon it must be a simple thing!!!!! (She cannot read maps either....!)
So, I will invest in a multimeter tomorrow and start testing.
Thanks again
Jorge
Wife(whose car it is - she rarely lets me drive it), says it is trade time, but I reckon it must be a simple thing!!!!! (She cannot read maps either....!)
So, I will invest in a multimeter tomorrow and start testing.
Thanks again
Jorge
01-11-2003, 08:27 PM
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Re: Where is the multisender
Larry F, would like to look at this option - where is this offending multisender water temp. sensor unit located?
Always has had a very long fan runon after motor turnoff - even in cold weather.
Jorge
Always has had a very long fan runon after motor turnoff - even in cold weather.
Jorge
01-11-2003, 10:41 PM
#7
Re: Where is the multisender
Aussieguy,
The Multisender is screwed into the bottom of the coolant outlet on the cylinder head of the 10V Five cylinder Turbo engines, and is located on the coolant manifold pipe underneath the intake manifold on the 20V Five cylinder Turbo engines.
please read the following link for additional info:
hope this helps..
Larry F.<ul><li><a href="http://www.sjmautotechnik.com/cooling.html#gauge">http://www.sjmautotechnik.com/cooling.html#gauge</a></li></ul>
The Multisender is screwed into the bottom of the coolant outlet on the cylinder head of the 10V Five cylinder Turbo engines, and is located on the coolant manifold pipe underneath the intake manifold on the 20V Five cylinder Turbo engines.
please read the following link for additional info:
hope this helps..
Larry F.<ul><li><a href="http://www.sjmautotechnik.com/cooling.html#gauge">http://www.sjmautotechnik.com/cooling.html#gauge</a></li></ul>
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