P38A 4.6V8 Battery Drain

I have replaced the battery as every few days it was near flat, batt only 2 years old, swapped it under warranty.

However I am concerned there may be a drain of the battery somewhere? Any checks I can do?

It has only done it recently in last month or so, car is parked in same location.

Could just been a duff battery but want to make sure it was if there are any tests I can do be much appreciated.

Hi Lukas , Does the BECM go to sleep " i.e. red light next to gear selector" once you parked up & locked car for the day does the light slowly fade and go out ???? cheers mozz

As well as the sleep test suggested by Mozz, check that the alternator is charging correctly. You should see at least 14.5 volts at 2k rpm with lights etc on.

Thanks Mozz and Datatec.

It is my dads car not got access to it. Where is the red light located on the gear selector?

If red light is on is there a solution?

why do you not have access to it , ??? is it abroad ?? it would be easier to talk you thru it whilst with the car ,so much quicker to help . cheers mozz

the red light is next to the "park" symbol its on the right hand side to it ,you should clearly see it ,










2

mozz smith said:

the red light is next to the "park" symbol its on the right hand side to it ,you should clearly see it ,










2

Click to expand...

Can be hard to see in bright light.
There is a BECM sleep test in the technical section I believe.

ok cheers, my dads car is in Essex, guiding him through it.

He has locked it up and asked him to check if this light is on later.

If this light is still on is there a fix available?

I don't what other BECM test there is.

theres various fixes but through process of elimination we can usually find the fault , ok firstly get your dad to fully charge battery up so its at its peak at 14.2 . test with volt meter as datatek said ,,,,then park it up and secure , then ask him to stand at passenger door looking into it at the red light see if it disappears ?? if after say 10 mins max then its not going to go asleep , so the becm is is still awake , so unlock car & into the boot ,carefully remove side plastic shelf trim drivers side , in the boot to reveal rf-reciever little black box . should have round blue sticker on it ??? let me know … unplug BLUE cable to the box , then repeat what I said previously . doing the above gives us 4 answers 1) the batterys ok ..2) the alternators ok ...3) the rf-reciever was connected … 4) that the rf-reciever is the original early unit ,,, now been superceeded twice , current model = part number =YWY500170. unfortunately very expensive £245.00+ but be careful where u buy Do NOT buy one yet !!!!!… there is other alternatives and will deal with this later when I get answers from you ,,, i.e. process of elimination ,,,ok so far so good,

What year is it ?????? im guessing 98 ???? cheers mozz

If the battery was in any way weak, the recent cold weather will see it off. Failing batteries do not like cold weather at all.

wammers said:

If the battery was in any way weak, the recent cold weather will see it off. Failing batteries do not like cold weather at all.

Click to expand...

As you say Tony, plus they do not much like being much less than fully charged either these days.

Hi tony , your right as usual it will only get worse for next couple months , ive had quite a few contacting me since jan 1st , from as far as califonia , Illinois , Croatia , Russia and a few in uk. all with same problems !!!!!! from flat batterys , loss of syncs , lockouts , disabled , keycodes etc etc etc , hopefully get them all rectified , I quite enjoy the cake now !!!!!!! ha ha ha , hope your both well . regards mozz

Datatek said:

As you say Tony, plus they do not much like being much less than fully charged either these days.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately battery makers did not think to tell people that the old 13.8 standard charging rate would struggle to charge a antimony/calcium battery, and would be as useful as tits on a Mars bar for full calcium batteries.

mmmmmm, tits on a mars bar ??????? now that's a concept ive not thought about !!!!! you make me laugh tony your witt is superb and dead pan ...so funny . but now you have me intrigued ,,tits & mars bars ..yes .

I spoke to my dad last night and he said there was no light on the gear selector after it had been locked up.

Looks like it may have been a duff battery, weird as the battery he got was a Bosch battery, the car for the last month had sat around a lot as spark plug broke up in the cylinder so had to be re-bored etc.

it is a 1997 Mozz. Is there another test I can do to make sure?

Where in Essex are we talking about?

Lukas018 said:

I spoke to my dad last night and he said there was no light on the gear selector after it had been locked up.

Looks like it may have been a duff battery, weird as the battery he got was a Bosch battery, the car for the last month had sat around a lot as spark plug broke up in the cylinder so had to be re-bored etc.

it is a 1997 Mozz. Is there another test I can do to make sure?

Click to expand...

A Bosch label on the battery is no guarantee of quality.

Lukas018 said:

Looks like it may have been a duff battery, weird as the battery he got was a Bosch battery, the car for the last month had sat around a lot as spark plug broke up in the cylinder so had to be re-bored etc.

Click to expand...

Try a Platinum one if you are keeping the car. Cannot remember if it is the 641X or the 642X.