Flat Battery

The battery on my TD4 was completely flat so I charged it up for a couple of hours and it started fine. There's never been an issue before so I presumed something had been left on but I couldn't find anything. The next day it was flat again. Any ideas what might be draining it?

not without a meter, could be battery ****ed

With so many circuits now electronically controlled any could be the cause of a battery drain so it can be difficult to find such a fault.
In practice it is rare for this to happen and it is more likely that the battery itself is where you need to look. As has been said a meter is the most valuble tool for this but remember the currents can be very high. If with everything off (close the doors) check the leakage current. There should be some (radio) but only milliamps. If the current is too high then the next thing would be to take out fuses one at a time and find which one makes a difference.
If you go to a decent auto-electrician they should be able to test the battery at no charge to confirm this is where your problem lies.

if the battery was completely flat it will take more than a couple of hours to fully charge again.

I have the same problem, The hippo was left for 2 months standing, when I came back to it the battery was completley flat, even the clock did`nt work. So charged the battery for a good 18 hrs and all was ok, started 1st time and turned over like it was on 24volts.

been for a 2-3 hr run in it also and seemed ok, left it standing for a day and now the battery is completley flat again?

I am thinking that the battery may be facked, but when charged reads ok 12.7v, also charges from the alternator ok 14v.

Are there any known electrical parts that can drain the battery in 24 hrs? will do a current check when its charged again.

do any of the fuel pumps or any huge Amp gobbeling devices power up when the doors are opened, I dont want to blow my fluke.

The voltage isn`t what powers the battery it`s the amps, the only way to check is to get a proper battery checker on it (not a £20.00 halfords one!!) I paid £350.00 for mine but use it alot in work. Just because a battery has good voltage doesn`t mean its ok!! A flat battery needs a good overnight charge to make it good, a couple of hours then driving it won`t ever get it 100% charged.

Bob

I had this problem on my Disco. Battery started going flat. Would charge back up and would be dead again within 2 or 3 days if not used. Got a new battery and have not had any problems since. Once they start going flat things just seem to get worse

Thanks for the input, i`m fully aware of the amps part. Hense it turning over like it was on 24v when fully charged, I do not have a drop tester or the like, but if the battery can crank the td4 engine over and over throught out the day in an instant, I would say the battery is pretty healthy. There is no sign of struggeling to turn the engine ever or any dimming of any lights etc.

Its just after leaving it 24hrs its totally flat??

Can a battery go from cranking and engine over and over without any slowing down( to me suggests a good battery) and then 24hrs later, to not even being able to power the clock?

Can it lose all its amps in 24hrs?

TheWarden said:

I had this problem on my Disco. Battery started going flat. Would charge back up and would be dead again within 2 or 3 days if not used. Got a new battery and have not had any problems since. Once they start going flat things just seem to get worse

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You could well be right, it stood for 2 months with a totally drained battery, Maybe the battery is beyond repair, they say that if its left discharged fro a while, the cells tend to corrode, and hense faulty battery.

I will charge again over night and see what happens.

PS how do I remove the bolt that holds the battery in place, as mine just seems to turn and turn, without getting any loser, does the bolt screw into plastic or is there a nut on the otherside? All I can feel on the other side is a plastic tube, the nut may well be in this, but is in accesable.

cheers

My Td4, delivered on january 9th 2001 never missed a beat in the morning until the morning of August 24th 2005, not a tick came out of it, replaced the battery and up till now it's all ok. Remember one of my previous cars, a Peugeot 309 XRD was a couple of months old when one afternoon I started, without any problems, the car after work and drove to a gasstation a couple of hundred meters away, filled up the tank and when I wanted to start again no sign of life in the battery anymore, was completely dead, replaced by a new one and for the rest of the years I kept that car no more problems, so a battery can loose all power overnight and can also, without any warning or any previous problem, brake down completely in a second.

new battery required sounds like one of the cells is short out