VW Scirocco Mk1

[Barquentine]

My battery keeps draining. It had a new one fitted last July & that one won't recharge. Then a new one in November and that keeps going flat now. Could this be something to do with the immobiliser or does anyone know why it keeps going flat? I'd welcome any practical suggestions. Thanks

[tonyav]

this used to happen to a friend of mine,it turned out to be
the glove box light was stuck on.

[Full Tilt]

I assume you have had the alternator charging rate checked ?? it might be just be enough to put your ignition light out when you start up but not enough to maintain your battery charge It does not cost much to get it checked at your local garage, worth a try. FT

[Hymie]

To save yourself money buying new batteries and the grief not being able to start your car � buy a cheap multimeter (having both DC Volts & DC Current measuring capability). You should be able to buy such a meter for less than �10.

Having purchased the meter, with the engine running, measure the battery voltage � it should read just under 14 Volts. Next, disconnect the battery negative terminal and with the meter on DC current, connect the meter between the battery negative terminal and the vehicle chassis. The meter will be reading the battery drain, this should be less than 20mA (0.02A) � ensure that everything is switched off including courtesy lights. If it is significantly greater than this � identify the circuit/component causing the battery drain by pulling the fuses one at a time and disconnecting components.

In discussing a similar situation with a colleague, his wife�s car battery was draining within 4 days. After much investigation, he found that if the vehicles alarm was not activated, after around 1 minute a relay coil was permanently energised � it was this that was draining the battery. The solution was to ensure that the vehicle was alarmed whenever left for long periods.

[Brooksy]

The other favourite that crops up now & again is similar to tonyavs, the boot lamp stiucks on. Hymies idea is good, Maplins do good cheap multimeters.

[Barquentine]

Thank you, Hymie.
I will try out the procedures you described and report back here shortly.
many thanks
Barquentine.