flat battery again*****

gemsdad said:

p38's dont like booster packs,i used one on mine and it blew the BECM,.bring it on howardo.

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says it all, that does

howardo said:

says it all, that does

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it only means that p38's are a high tech bit of kit and need looking after,just like any thoroughbred does.

gemsdad said:

it only means that p38's are a high tech bit of kit and need looking after,just like any thoroughbred does.

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all thoroughbreds end up in the knackers yard.
I suppose its fair to say that the flame that burns the brightest , doesn't last as long.

howardo said:

all thoroughbreds end up in the knackers yard.
I suppose its fair to say that the flame that burns the brightest , doesn't last as long.

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well my flame still burns as bright as ever,and for a lot longer than yours will.

gemsdad said:

well my flame still burns as bright as ever,and for a lot longer than yours will.

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you keep having to relight yours, mines never gone out

howardo said:

you keep having to relight yours, mines never gone out

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the flame has never flickered or died.it might have dimmed once but came back stronger and brighter than ever.

Dopey said:

True but there's a way around that, with an in-line fuse like so

Battery Isolator Disconnect Switch with In-line fuse on eBay (end time 03-Dec-09 01:33:36 GMT)

But don't start it by accident when its set, the fuse blows (its meant to) and you have to replace the fuse, and after 20 seconds of no power you have to put all the codes in to start it, unless your real fast and screw the knob back on within the 20 seconds then it will be ok, the in line fuse keeps your alarm and radio etc, set

so there are pros and cons using this system

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But that would defeat the purpose of it as the battery drain would still take place through the fuse!!

Guy

mine is going dead after a week too
got a fuse tester to see if any current going through circuits but all is fine
I have noticed though that the bcem under seat is making a faint noise..
will try changing alternator
cheers

Have you checked which version of the RF Receiver you have? It could be you have an old one which is causing the BECM to be woken up continually by various wireless signals. It's a very common cause of battery drain.

There have been a few posts on battery issues since December 2009 so I'm certain that you'll find some hints in there.
Alternator
battery
becm
headlamp wipers
to name a few.

speedyyellow said:

Have you checked which version of the RF Receiver you have? It could be you have an old one which is causing the BECM to be woken up continually by various wireless signals. It's a very common cause of battery drain.

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if it is the rf,just disconnect the blue wire from it and see if that stops the batt drain.

cheers speedyyellow
but what and where is the RF Receiver
thx
Eddie

RF reciever is located under the rear parcel shelf thing on the drivers side. It's a little black box with two wires (i think)

If you open it up you can compare it to the photos of the models that datatek posted and find out if yours is the newest version, although if you haven't replaced it yourself I'm going to guess it won't be.

As an alternative you can remove the aerial wire from it and then you'll only be able to unlock and lock the car from close to that rear window but it might stop your battery draining if it is the RF reciever that's the issue.

disconnected rf receiver but becm still has power
any other ideas
cheers

theharomaster said:

disconnected rf receiver but becm still has power
any other ideas
cheers

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The BECM always has power, but it should go into sleep mode a short after after switching off. Normally it's a case of the RF receiver keeping it awake if the battery goes flat, in which care just the aerial wire should be disconnected not the power.

kooky_guy said:

Bad idea on a P38. It'd take half an hour to start it each time, what with resynching your key etc...

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Get a isolater switch I did but it also has a 5amp fuse connected all the time , so keeps stereo code alarm etc etc , I fitted mine 8 months ago and no more issues well worth the tenner

O Bife said:

I had the same problem almost 2 years ago. After a lot of checking and a new battery we finally found out what the problem was. It all came down to where we were parking. We were parking about 30m away from a bank and what was happening was that the security system in the bank was interfering with the alarm system in our P38 and in short, it was draining the ruddy thing. This might not be your problem but it might be worth looking into.

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This was happening to mine when my boss owned it. If he parked next to a certain office block it would drain over 8 hours but if he parked it elsewhere in the car park it was okay.

crashbox said:

This was happening to mine when my boss owned it. If he parked next to a certain office block it would drain over 8 hours but if he parked it elsewhere in the car park it was okay.

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this can also happen when parked under certain car park lights.my friend often gets called out to our local massive shopping centre to sort this problem out.he makes a fortune out of the centre management for doing this.