Evening all,

FL2 07 at 70 000 has developed a continually draining battery when left for 1 - 2 days. I have tested with an ammeter for a draw and when fully locked and shut down I am getting a reading of 0.5ma, not enough I believe to be considered a parasitic draw.

When conducting the test I get an initial spike of 1-2 amps before then settling at the above figure. I have pulled all fuses and none show a significant reduction.

Alternator is kicking out 14v when running, and have disconnected at rest and is not causing the draw.

Battery is brand new, and has been fully charged.

I have scoured the forums for an answer/situation similar to mine and I cannot find one. I am baffled by this.

Anyone has a situation like this or can offer advice for further diagnosis?

Cheers

Ryan

Hi Ryan,
Most VM's try to aim at around 30-50mA quiescent drain.
The various ECU's on the car need time to go into sleep mode; therefore the drain will gradually reduce over time after shutdown. If you measure the quiescent drain immediately after locking the car, it will be much higher than say after one hour after locking.
I'm not being rude or disputing your technical know how, but 0.5mA quiescent drain is impossible to achieve and as you say is not enough to cause a problem.
Could this be 0.5A (or 500mA)? That would be enough to drain your battery  Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Peg leg, thank you for your reply and kindness, a long day spent staring at an ammeter in despair will send the mind crazy.

Having re-checked this morning the reading I am getting is 0.05A so a 50mA draw, not out of the ordinary?

Battery voltage is stabilised around 12.4V after a full charge yesterday.

Ryan

Possible duff new battery?

Could be, I'll try eliminate that as a variable and update.

Ryan,
50mA shouldn't be a problem. After an hour or so, I'd expect it to drop even more with a short pulse from the alarm LED.
As the output from the alternator is 14v, I'm a bit baffled

Just a thought, have you been using a mobile with L/R's sat nav? Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

As baffled as I.

It's only the XS so no Bluetooth or sat bag so already ruled out. I purchased the vehicle with an aftermarket head unit already installed but I have had the dash out and checked all the wiring over and seems sensible with no obvious exposed wiring that could ground.

It is currently in with a mechanic so we will see if he can shed any light on the issue.

No bluetooth? Are you sure? I thought it was standard on XS? My XS has it ...

Steering wheel controls mounted, and there's a fuse in the boot for Bluetooth but as the LR has gone there is no way to interface a phone via Bluetooth.

Please let us know the outcome  Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Mechanic is as stumped as we are. Literally no idea. Will have to monitor over the coming weeks. I will be installing the extra earth lead as I have previously had the hdc faulting business on starts but I doubt these are interlinked.

FYI, LR specify a quiescent drain of <23.6 mA after shut-down.

Shutdown period is 35 minutes if the car is unlocked or single-locked, and 12 minutes if double-locked.

(Figures from the Topix manual.)

If the battery is going flat after a couple of days there really are only two possibilities - something is draining the charge, or the battery itself is faulty. And easy test, assuming you're not going to be using the car for a few days, would be to disconnect the battery when you park the car - if it still goes flat the battery is clearly at fault.

If you have secure parking you could also try parking with the bonnet open (which means not locked and alarmed, hence the secure parking), which would allow you to check quiescent drain at regular intervals without disturbing the car (waking it up) by doing so.

As others have said, an XS should have bluetooth, and the presence of the phone controls on the wheel would tend to confirm it. You should find a phone button on the stereo, and menu items which allow you to pair phones, etc. Perhaps worth checking if that's working OK - if it's not there may be a fault in the bluetooth module which could also be draining the battery.

Cheers pab, I will give to half an hour and test quiescent drain again. The factory LR head unit it no longer fitted therefore no access to Bluetooth controls. However I have pulled all unnecessary audio fuses (including the Bluetooth module) as a precaution.

Based on the figures you provided Pab, she was remaining at a draw of 50mA after the allotted time. I'd suspected the aftermarket head unit so pulled the fuse and low and behold she draws 10mA after a couple of minutes in shutdown.

Progress had been made and I thank you for your knowledge.

I shall see how she holds her charge and apparently get used to the sound of my own voice it would seem.

Ah, I was not aware you had an aftermarket head unit and I'm surprised it's using so much current. The batt +ve supply to which is normally used to hold memory only which is naff all once the head unit is switched off.

But then again, 50mA quiescent is not enough to flatten a fully charged battery in 1-2 days Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.