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holdengirl1981
Starting in the driveway
1 Posts
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 Posted - 23 Jan 2007 : 8:31:14 PM
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Hey all
I'm a single mum with 4 children & I keep getting strandard because my battery keeps going flat. Since new years day I have had 2 replace the fuel tank, both front & back brakes, spark plugs, battery & battery terminals....
I haven't driven my car since new years eve....
I have bought a new battery & I have had the alternator & the regulator checked i have also had the battery terminals changed & had it looked at 4 an open circuit..
I'm running out of ideas can any1 help please???????
Thank You
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trizo
Forum Moderator
3091 Posts
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Posted - 23 Jan 2007 : 9:16:21 PM
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hi welcome to the club m8!
The first thing that comes to mind is the alternator!!! Then the regulator, realy it still sounds like 1 of the 2!! ok firstly do u have a v6 or v8??? anyways it shouldnt matter as the same principle applys! This might sound a bit silly but have you tried jiggling the battery terminals? some time a new terminal and a new battery dont always like each other!
I had this problem with mine it ended up being the earth lead to the battery! Did you get a mechanic to test it, the alternator I mean! The only other thing I can think of is the coil pack but as far as I know it dosent draw power until being kiked over......
The solinoid comes to mind but when u say the battery is flat does the car even try to kik over ??? If it does in that case it could be the starter motor or the solinoid. The only other thing I can think of is if u have a alternate power sorce ie radio,fan ect... that needs to be turned of manualy,this will draw power the same as leaving the heasd lights on... (i do that heaps!!) let us know wat else you try .. and just keep a eye on the thread as the other members have alot of knowledge as well!!! theres not to much that doesnt get sorted here!!! |
3 can keep a secret if 2 are dead |
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mouce
National Driver
1525 Posts
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Posted - 24 Jan 2007 : 09:11:43 AM
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As trizo mentioned, it's possible that just wiggling the connections will work (we used to have a hi-lux where we had to hit the positive connection with a hammer to get it to start!), however I wouldn't be counting on it being that simple.
Since it's a new battery, I'd be inclined to say that it's REALLY not going to happen that well.
The altenator is a damn good spot to start, but you say you've already checked that one out, and the regulator, so I'm going to assume that the mechanic knew what he/she was doing. If you've been told that they are okay, I'll take your word for it.
There is a fairly easy (and not too expensive) option. Total cost will be about $50, and not too much of your time hopefully. Get your hands on an ammeter, in all it shouldn't have to read any more than 10A for this experiment, so even a dodgy multimeter from DickSmith for $9.50 should work. Make sure you've got a good amount of electrical tape kicking around too.
1: Disconnect the earth from the battery
2: Disconnect the positive from the battery
3: Connect the positive lead of the ammeter to the positive connector (that you just removed from the battery), and tape securely in place. DO NOT RE-ATTACH this to the battery.
4: Connect the negative lead of the ammeter to the positive battery terminal (tape it in place so that there's a nice solid connection).
5: If you have an immobiliser, disconnect the earth to the speaker (I've found with mine that when I reconnect the battery the alarm goes off, not great at 11PM in the garage at home 
6: Reconnect the earth to the negative battery terminal
7: If using a multimeter, switch it to measure 10A (the higher the current setting the better, but most only go to 10A)
8: Make a note of the reading (allowing for the fact that your battery is going flat, I'm assuming that you've got a continual current leak somewhere, this will give you an idea of how large it is).
9: Below the steering wheel, remove the panel which covers the fuse bank in the drivers foot well.
10: Start at one end of the fuse board and remove fuse number 1.
11: Check the reading on the multimeter, if it has decreased let us know which fuse it is, and we'll start thrashing out ideas for you.
12: If it hasn't decreased, put fuse 1 back in, and do the same thing (one at a time) for the rest of the fuses. Let us know which fuse makes the magical difference
When you're done;
1: Disconnect the earth from the battery,
2: Disconnect the ammeter leads you taped in place
3: Reconnect the positive battery leads
4: Reconnect the earth
5: Before driving, reset the ECU http://www.vncommodore.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=413
Something that might be worth checking first though, is the boot light. Just by their design the VN boot light switch fails very easily, and often they just leave the light on continually. This might not sound like a big deal because it's only a little light, but if left on for a couple of days without the engine being started, you can find yourself with a flat battery. An easy way to test this is put one of the kids in the boot, and close it. Ask them if the light stays on.
Whatever is doing it, we'll manage to nut it out for you. |
Bite off more than you can chew, and chew like hell - Peter Brock (1945-2006) |
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VN Mad88
P Plater
32 Posts
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Posted - 24 Jan 2007 : 10:17:04 AM
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Yeah i was going to say the boot light, mine kept stuffing up and because i had an alarm on my car it would be going off at all hours of the night.... if it isd just simply remove it.
Hey Trizo, u seam to have the same problem with the lights as i did and many other poeple. It got the better of me one day so i went to dicksmiths and bought a reversing beeper, ran it from the power to the lights and the courtesy light in the door and Walla.!. When u open the door with your lights on the thing starts beeping... Bit fiddly but havn't left my lights on since and it all cost me less than $20. |
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MrBond-007
P Plater
26 Posts
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Posted - 27 Jan 2007 : 09:09:39 AM
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Also check the glove box light, as the switch in my VP wasn't shutting it off properly, so if the car was left for an extended period it would go flat.
Only real way to check this is at night look for any light escaping from the glovebox, as in mine the switch still worked, but when the glove box was shut it didn't quite push it in far enough. |
WHAT?! You went over my Helmet? |
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