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countryboy

Member
Evening all,

Am having a few issues with battery drain and saw a LR specialist today. He said he suspects it is the battery but I need to test it once the car is asleep.

Can anyone please confirm the exact procedure? Should I leave leave the car for an hour after getting out to go to sleep and then connect the multimeter? The mechanic said I need to disconnect the negative terminal before testing - is that right?

Any advice most grateful!

CB
 
It would help if you told us what car it is.

If you disconnect and re-connect I suspect it will wake everything up again, a clamp meter would be better.
 
Thanks Datatek. The FSR has been replaced and the LR specialist said my battery is faulty but need to test it. I'm just after instructions on exactly how to test it!
 
Two ways....

Turn everything off, open the bonnet, leave it this way for a few minutes for the sat nav to sleep... Disconnect negative terminal on battery.

Using your digital volt meter set to DC AMPS connect the Red Lead to the battery negative LEAD and the Black Lead to the BATTERY negative terminal post.

Tbis will reawaken the car and will draw a current, after ten minutes or so the car will sleep again measure this amp reading.

DO NOT START THE CAR, OPEN ANY DOORS, TURN THE IGNITION ON AT ANYTIME DURING THIS, YOU WILL FECK YOUR METER.

the second way is to use a DC clamp meter....no need to disconnect anything then!!
 
Saint.V8 said:
Two ways....

Turn everything off, open the bonnet, leave it this way for a few minutes for the sat nav to sleep... Disconnect negative terminal on battery.

Using your digital volt meter set to DC AMPS connect the Red Lead to the battery negative LEAD and the Black Lead to the BATTERY negative terminal post.

Tbis will reawaken the car and will draw a current, after ten minutes or so the car will sleep again measure this amp reading.

DO NOT START THE CAR, OPEN ANY DOORS, TURN THE IGNITION ON AT ANYTIME DURING THIS, YOU WILL FECK YOUR METER.

the second way is to use a DC clamp meter....no need to disconnect anything then!!
Click to expand...

Perfect, exactly what I was looking for! I assume this will tell me whether the battery is draining or not? What reading should I expect??
 
countryboy said:
Perfect, exactly what I was looking for! I assume this will tell me whether the battery is draining or not? What reading should I expect??
Click to expand...

Only way to properly check a battery for condition is with a shunt tester.
 
Datatek said:
It will tell you what the drain is but not if your battery is any good.
Click to expand...
My post came after you recom. a shunt test...so is out of place in the convo....

Yes mine will test for a drain...a shunt test is something completely different...

Time it took to type out you had already mentioned the shunt!
 
Saint.V8 said:
My post came after you recom. a shunt test...so is out of place in the convo....

Yes mine will test for a drain...a shunt test is something completely different...

Time it took to type out you had already mentioned the shunt!
Click to expand...

Ha, no worries.

I need to check for both - am happy how to test for drains then. What is a shunt test - can I do it myself?
 
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