Just watched about 10 different videos trying to find how to perform a battery drain. This was the most informative by far! You'd go far on TH-cam if you knew the techniques to get your subscriber numbers up!
These simple electrical measurements are what you need to know when servicing the car electrics. Due to my work, I have a lot to do with high currents, and we also do the same with troubleshooting as you do. Very well shown Martin, thank you.
Very good video Martin. Amazing how a simple connection can look perfectly good. But the corrosion between the connection is the problem. Another area to watch out for is the wire going into the connector. Usually they are covered with shrink type covering and corrosion loves to hide there as well. It look perfect, but far from it. Thumbs Up!
Great video Martin. 14 v from the alternator is correct and good. I bet someone in past has been connecting something to radio live and probably left it in place. Always a good idea to check earth connection before the bad weather hits. Cheers, Jeff.
Thanks that was absolutely just the information I needed. My Astra J van had exactly the same problem and I had eliminated it down to the fuse 35 as you did, the 'infotainment' system. What I didn't know was how to check the earth resistance. I suspect that mine is doing the same thing. I will check as soon as the battery is up to charge. I wish I had seen this before I started finding out the what the problem was, all the information required would have been there. Im not entirely convinced that the alternator replacement that I had a couple of weeks ago at great expense was necessary but its too late to check now. Subscribed.
I put a new battery in my opel astra H last November and I noticed in the last couple of weeks it sounded like the battery was slowly going flat when I'd start the car in the morning. I did as you did diagnosing the drain on my battery and it was the radio that was causing between 1.24 and 1 amp drain so I removed the 10 amp fuse for the radio. This was very helpful, thanks.
Thanks for this video! The 06 zafira same engine has been a real pain in my arse, no load idle voltage was 14v, everything on was 13.43v no change when revved. Cleaned the earth strap under the battery....13.9v fully loaded, 14.1v idle no load. Every now and then it will require about 4 cranks to start so hopefully this will cure it. The draw test showed 0.35ma.
Hi Martin oooo I've learned something today thanks Martin very interesting i will archive this video for future reference its it annoying when you drop a nut in the engine bay and onto the floor or a part of the engine 😁 I've done it may times 👍😁
Nice job mate. I use a spray grease on the bat terminals and earth leads find it works well after you clean them up. Your Right probably is the parrot system as it maybe it on the permanent live to stereo. Ach well fixed for now.👍👍
I had a new radio professionally fitted late last year and since then there is a clicking through the speakers when the wipers are on intermittent and also the interior light dimly flashes at the same time, it never did it with the previous head unit but the fitter said the new head unit may have highlighted a fault that was already there so i might try this in case it is an earth fault, thanks Martin.
Exceptional video Martin. I have to say, I am chuffed with how you explained the issue to diagnosis and remedial fix, in layman’s terms. I have learnt something new today, which I never knew how to do. Thank you sir 👏🏼 As always, a credit to your channel.
One thing to mention is that on a battery that is not new you can have an increased internal resistance in the battery due to age. When testing the battery with a meter it can show 12 volts at the terminals when not under load but when the starter motor is engaged the voltage at the battery terminals can drop to 8 or 9 volts. This is not enough to turn the starter motor over. I had that problem. It doesn’t apply to the battery in this video because the battery was new but worth remembering for older batteries. 😎
Very enjoyable and a constructive approach how do checks which Are very helpful to someone whom is a novice saving time and money 💰 Try yourself it’s fun to learn I always believed and practiced what I preached a driver should have a rudimentary knowledge of a. Vehicle they drive First class content martin 👍👍👍👍👍
It's worth noting that Vauxhalls will switch off extra equipment after aprox. 30 minutes, after you've taken the key out the ignition and shut the doors. So that 1A draw would/should/could drop down to much less after 30 minutes without touching the car (the battery would need to remain connected for this time! Otherwise everything will reinitialise as you reconnect it, and you'd have to start timing 30 minutes again).
I'm an electrician in my 50's and using standard test kit and tracing theory has always worked. All this fancy test gadgetry is to supposedly make it easier, but I find the tried and tested old ways are easier to do with better results. Like a lot of things these days, far too complicated and trying to bypass basic electrical principles for people who don't understand them. All the gear and no idea, springs to mind! 😂😂
I got one of them gizmos with the bank of lights on and two crocodile clips off of Amazon, for what it does its bloody marvellous and I have a solar car charged in the boot if its going to be off road for a while to keep it topped off. Was quite pleased as Aviva sent me a gift certificate last year for £20 and that was just what I needed for the battery/alternator tester and the solar charger :D
I had to laugh when the bolt dropped on the floor, don't you just hate it when that happens! Great vid, my dad's got a similar problem on a 300tdi Disco, now I know how to check it. Thanks 😁
Martin the Infotainment system takes a good 10 mins to shutdown properly when the car is switched off, don't overlook the alternator, I had the exact same problem with my astra, alternator was charging at 14 volts but it was back feeding and draining the battery over night a new alternator cured it. good luck pal
Sure I heard somewhere if u leave a CD in the cd player it stops the radio coming on by itself,bit of a common fault. Very good tutorial on find a battery drain bud
Hi Martin i had the same problem on 2 of my cars and both were down to the starter motors being u/s. Replaced the starter motors in both cars and cured the problem. Keep up the good work
It will be the parrot kit. I've seen many that do this. It's down to where they pick up the ignition. Especially on a can bus radio where there isnt one......
Good fault finding Martin Also nice to see im not the only one working out in this recent cold weather😂 I had a different electrical problem on my diesel zafira A few months back. It took me 3 charged up batteries to find fault in the end like you did with pulling fuses. My problem was a faulty glow plug relay staying on all the time. Luckily it’s starting ok in this cold cold weather so glow plugs seem to be working ok. I wouldn’t want to be taking those out with over 200,000 miles on the clock. Keep up the good work on the great channels you have mate. 👍
I think even Leon will give you a pat on the back for that video. Well done, learned lots with this video. Have a fiat with the same problem ie battery goes flat and it is a new one
My Reliant has a dud battery still, I usually jump it off an old Bora battery which is 600 cca but of course where I been jumping it and not putting some charge back into the Bora battery both dropped the dead donkey on me today so now got both taking turns on the battery charger. I often have a little bit of battery light on so I changed the alternator for a 65amp is it new one but the new one don't cut the mustard either, I have been around all my chassis earths, all my electrical connections making them shiny and nice again and lathering in some protecting grease, I even took the alternator off and did diode testing etc and all good so scratching me head a bit... the car battery did come back with some bat-aid tabs but just not enough for that 30 sec cranking my three pin plug requires :(
Martin thanks, I shall be doing my checks on my Zafira over the Easter weekend as my battery is discharged after stopping and my music system is not working. I'll let you know how it goes.
This saved me hundreds of pounds. Mine was the music system "Parasitic Draw". Everything is working properly now, but I also needed a new battery, which was only charging to 10 volts. Martin you are a legend.
hI martin if you are going to change the radio you need to change the radio display screen as they are paired together and are not interchangeable with another vauxhall stereo.
Sounds very similar to my mk5 Astra VXR. Ended up being both fuse 35 & 36 which are the head unit and screen. Replaced them both and it was fixed. Vauxhall has issues with 07 year and older head units and replaced them, but it also turns out the issue still existed with newer units. Mine being an 09. Good chance to upgrade if desired to a navi unit.
Yeah hopefully Jimmy is settling in to his new unit and Martin can get down the recording us a video, then get on with the acclaim and get rid so he can get on with the trotter van
A good logical fault finding video. The engine earth strap or battery earth to chassis is a classic fault on cars with a few years under their belts. The large terminations of these connections do get corroded quite often. It’s worse if they have been disturbed at some time and never cleaned up. Different metals pushed together will corrode fast. With a so-so battery voltage of less than 12.5 volts, a very poor earth to the starter motor will make it crank very slowly, or not at all. A fully charged lead acid battery with a design voltage of 12 volts is fully charged at 13.8 volts. Under load it might fall a bit below that, but the alternator will still charge it above 12.5 volts. If the charging current goes too high above 13.8 volts it could overcharge the battery and this will eventually lead to it drying out. Modern sealed batteries cope better, but too much voltage will also damage the battery. A good vault finding video here, logical steps taken. There will always be a few hundred milliamps drain on the battery when the engine is off. The alternator diode pack will allow some reverse current when idle. Amps of drain will of course flatten the battery....
Very interesting and learnt a lot. Had trouble about three weeks ago, unfortunately that was the alternator. Now half way through doing my son's car, he slipped in to a curb and has bent the steering tie rod, I have struggled all day trying to get the steering rack end bolt off. I am going to get a 30mm spanner tomorrow hopefully that will work. I dread calls from my wife or son. It's always a problem.
Jeffrey Mortimer Hi Jeff What car is it you’re trying to undo steering arm on. If it’s the big nut onto steering rack itself, you normal can undo them using a few methods. Stilsons, mole grips, water pump grips or hit it round with a chisel if it’s scrap anyway
@@Jasonhughes258 Thanks for your help Jason. It a 2009 1.4 Seat Ibiza. I bought an adjustable spanner this evening, but I didn't have a lot of room to move the nut, luckily it's a hex nut. I have found it easier to try from the engine compartment. I thought if I got a 30mm spanner I would have a bit more room to play with. Had to give up at 10 pm tonight.
Hi Jason, thanks again for your advice. Just to let you know that after buying a 32mm spanner I finally got it off. Its all done now. My son has now cleared off and I have to tidy up the mess.
160 mA is not exactly nothing. Cd30 has known issue with cd recognition switch which causes battery drain. There is a service technical bulletin for it.
Great tip that pal! My 306 has a bit of a flicker on tick over, its done it since I have owned the car, so I wonder if there could be a little problem like this.
Its so easy to find out rather than do all that. All you got to do is. Start the car take the positive lead off if the car Keeps running its the battery if it stops its the alternator its thats simply save u messing about. I used to work for the aa. Check the battery leads save ur self time.
I had an intermittent drain on a Capri 2.0. It was spring time (reason I put that will become apparent) This went on for months where about once a week the battery would go flat. I couldn’t find a drain or any fault. Just in case I changed the battery and the alternator. As summer started to become winter I noticed when I went to the car that the back window was clear of frost. Sure enough the battery was flat. On reading the wiring diagram of the rear screen heater relay I worked out if the relay fails it can fail to live. Changed the relay box and didn’t have a problem after that. As I said it wasn’t every night or even every week but diagnosed by frost on a window, or lack of.
I've done the same thing, dropped something at my feet then bent down to pick it up only to discover it's not at my feet so spend ages looking for it and given up in disgust then buy another one. The bought one turns up in the post and the lost one also turns up.
A little info regarding the battery testing. Unless there is a load on the cables, checking the voltage at the post will be the exact same as the connector - simple reason being there is no load to create a bolt drop. I try to explain this to apprentices in the simplest manner I can, take a 1 meg ohm resistor, put 12v on it from a battery, what is the output voltage? Without a load it’s 12v still. You have completed a circuit so there is nothing to create volt drop. Hope this helps someone, happy tinkering.
Not if the post connections were corroded. You would see a lower voltage that would be confirmed by putting a load on them and see a higher resistance and possibly heat generated at the joint. I've had many terminal at a starter motor for example where the post supply is 12.4 volts but at the starter motor end of the cable only showing 8 volts for example. A clean up of terminals corrected the issue in all cases.
the cars electronics are likely what are causing that voltage drop you see there between the post and the starter, as there is load on the terminal/post even at very low milli amps which would be enough to create a drop.
retrorestore I’m not saying you won’t see 12v at the starter? Nor am I getting at you. What I was pointing out was without load (depending on how bad the situation is very small or moderate load) you will see different volt drop conditions. A small amount of corrosion causing a resistance would be nothing until you try pull a load which is what I was getting at from the start. For you to have dropped to 8 odd bolts must have been pretty bad. But if you isolated every last milli amp of current draw from that battery, corrosion won’t drop the battery voltage without some kind of load/circuit. Which is why in the trade even a simple light bulb/test light is a much better tester than a multi meter - when trying to find a wire which may have rubbed through, green crusties set in But according to a voltmeter you still have 12v, apply the light bulb and it says otherwise. 12v into a resistor still gives 12v out, until you apply a load.
@@stef2198 Lets leave it there bud, too much writing for something I have already fixed. The radio was the power drain and I removed the Parrot as well. All is now fine.
I had to search to figure out what a parrot was. But on early 2000 chevy impala's, The stereo amplifier is known to have a bad shut off wire, That leaves the amp running all the time, And draining the battery. It was located in the upper back of the trunk, And was easy to exchange. I can only assume that this Parrot system is doing the same thing.
Great video, super helpful and I'm betting its the parrot system causing the issue, hate them. So many of these had parrot systems installed and they're a nightmare! Super helpful video especially for these Vauxhalls, so many of them have ended up in the tat yard for power drain issues. I've had 3 that have suffered this. One was the Nav system connector (parrot fault), one was the Dashboard instrument cluster set (corroded at the back must've gotten wet inside) and on my most recent one the headlight light connectors were full of crud. Other people suffer with glow plug shorts and alternator diodes. Could make a fortune just fixing this issue on these 04-10 Vauxhalls 🤣
@@retrorestore Great news, I bet most of the Astra's, Zafira's and Vectra's on the heap are down to power drain issues like this, it's a shame as they're great cars otherwise. They don't like their wires being messed with, especially by parrot kits, the OEM battery was never good enough for the bigger engines in the first place, sticking the power-hungry parrot on it was where many people whet wrong 😂
Yes I had the same on my mums Astra H it would come on randomly in the night and putting in a CD in fixed it. The car was sold to a family member and she changed the CD player as it would randomly play in the night, she laughed when I told her just put a CD in lol
Check the parrot system had the same in my cousins vectra 1.9 120 the system was installed incorrect took all out and reinstalled myself been fine since
I bet it's been installed using the bottom of cig lighter as u believe that the Astra h cigs are permanently live if is I believe there is a black wire with a female spade connection there as well which is a ignition live what should be used for aftermarket stereos hands-free and all them sort of things
I fitted a volt meter to the dash of a 2008 Smart car that I owned some years ago, shocked to see it read barely 12 volts sometimes even whilst doing 70 on the motorway! I then found out that the charging system on some cars are now ECU controlled so that were in fact normal. How more and more complex cars have become.
As usual another great video Martin, shall be trying this tomorrow on my van that as a power drain, I’d have never thought of that, I’m good with cars but not the electrical side of things, have a Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Seeing this reminded me I am due to remake all my earthing points, its a yearly thing I have to do as the body is fibreglass and the chassis is in and out of the road muck leading to corrosion. I still haven't had the headlamp out to repair it (thank you 3M waterproof duct tape), them MK2 Fiesta headlamps are a doddle on a MK2 Fiesta... on a MK2 Reliant Robin they are a bloody nightmare as all the retainers are likely rusted up, full of salt and road mush, usually snap off but my instant daylight driving lamps are still good with the lit missile rocker switch, handy too for BMW er drivers who think driving around with their mains on is funny... I am selling on my Reliant in the new year, simply because docs have said driving is why I ain't getting any exercise, found out too that the hospital dropped a huge spanner when they bypasses the left side all alright... seems there is a problem as they didn't do the one on the right that needed doing and no wonder I am feeling crook all the time :( I got a pushbike so going to have to get used to shank's pony...
Thank you for the video! I have a question. I have a 12 V battery. Every cold morning problems to start the car. At how many volts the battery will be too low, so the engine will not be able to start? Greetings from Belgium!
I got same engine in my astra, I just noticed when the car is cold or warm when I crank it up to start it kind of takes maybe 10 sec to start it doent instantly start up being 1.9 diesel it should start on the turn so im not sure if that's normal or somthing needs doing, engine is fine its got 114k miles. But what could be the reason it does that, the battery is good.
Hello again. Did you manage to fix the radio/cd player? I have the same problem but have no idea how to fix faulty 'infotainment' problem. Thanks again. T.
This video is really helpful for those of us who don't know much about cars electrical system
These videos should stay on youtube forever.
Great explanation and info.
Just watched about 10 different videos trying to find how to perform a battery drain. This was the most informative by far! You'd go far on TH-cam if you knew the techniques to get your subscriber numbers up!
These simple electrical measurements are what you need to know when servicing the car electrics.
Due to my work, I have a lot to do with high currents, and we also do the same with troubleshooting as you do.
Very well shown Martin, thank you.
Thanks Bernd.
Very good video Martin. Amazing how a simple connection can look perfectly good. But the corrosion between the connection is the problem. Another area to watch out for is the wire going into the connector. Usually they are covered with shrink type covering and corrosion loves to hide there as well. It look perfect, but far from it. Thumbs Up!
Your a Fountain of knowledge Martin! 👍🏻
Thanks bud
Thank you Martin your videos are very educational please make more of these videos please I am from South Africa thank you again
Great video Martin. 14 v from the alternator is correct and good. I bet someone in past has been connecting something to radio live and probably left it in place. Always a good idea to check earth connection before the bad weather hits.
Cheers, Jeff.
I suspect the parrot system Jeff.
Thanks that was absolutely just the information I needed. My Astra J van had exactly the same problem and I had eliminated it down to the fuse 35 as you did, the 'infotainment' system. What I didn't know was how to check the earth resistance. I suspect that mine is doing the same thing. I will check as soon as the battery is up to charge. I wish I had seen this before I started finding out the what the problem was, all the information required would have been there. Im not entirely convinced that the alternator replacement that I had a couple of weeks ago at great expense was necessary but its too late to check now. Subscribed.
I put a new battery in my opel astra H last November and I noticed in the last couple of weeks it sounded like the battery was slowly going flat when I'd start the car in the morning.
I did as you did diagnosing the drain on my battery and it was the radio that was causing between 1.24 and 1 amp drain so I removed the 10 amp fuse for the radio.
This was very helpful, thanks.
Thanks for this video! The 06 zafira same engine has been a real pain in my arse, no load idle voltage was 14v, everything on was 13.43v no change when revved. Cleaned the earth strap under the battery....13.9v fully loaded, 14.1v idle no load. Every now and then it will require about 4 cranks to start so hopefully this will cure it. The draw test showed 0.35ma.
Hello Sharon & Martin.
A very good explanation on the battery and the negative I hope everything's ok now👍👍
Cheers Snobby, I was diving in and out of your livestream whilst working bud.
Superb video for diagnosing issues with battery drain.10/10 buddy thanks 👍🏻
Excellent video. Having the same problem with my Vauxhall Astra Estate so I will certainly give this a try.
Good luck!
Hi Martin oooo I've learned something today thanks Martin very interesting i will archive this video for future reference its it annoying when you drop a nut in the engine bay and onto the floor or a part of the engine 😁 I've done it may times 👍😁
Really wonderful video martin, nice and easy to understand and straight to the point no faffing around!!
Nice job mate. I use a spray grease on the bat terminals and earth leads find it works well after you clean them up. Your Right probably is the parrot system as it maybe it on the permanent live to stereo. Ach well fixed for now.👍👍
Yes Ali, I think that's the case too.
Sharon's fixed it,she took the leaves out of the scuttle !!!!😆
I had a new radio professionally fitted late last year and since then there is a clicking through the speakers when the wipers are on intermittent and also the interior light dimly flashes at the same time, it never did it with the previous head unit but the fitter said the new head unit may have highlighted a fault that was already there so i might try this in case it is an earth fault, thanks Martin.
At last Martin thanks for showing us how to use a multimeter to find battery drain.
Very handy video Martin, I’ll be referring to this later, cheers mate 👍
Exceptional video Martin. I have to say, I am chuffed with how you explained the issue to diagnosis and remedial fix, in layman’s terms.
I have learnt something new today, which I never knew how to do. Thank you sir 👏🏼
As always, a credit to your channel.
Thanks Nick, I like to keep it simple.
One thing to mention is that on a battery that is not new you can have an increased internal resistance in the battery due to age. When testing the battery with a meter it can show 12 volts at the terminals when not under load but when the starter motor is engaged the voltage at the battery terminals can drop to 8 or 9 volts. This is not enough to turn the starter motor over. I had that problem. It doesn’t apply to the battery in this video because the battery was new but worth remembering for older batteries. 😎
Very enjoyable and a constructive approach how do checks which
Are very helpful to someone whom is a novice saving time and money 💰
Try yourself it’s fun to learn
I always believed and practiced what I preached a driver should have a rudimentary knowledge of a. Vehicle they drive
First class content martin 👍👍👍👍👍
That's the trouble these days Chris, people no longer practice these simple skills.
It's worth noting that Vauxhalls will switch off extra equipment after aprox. 30 minutes, after you've taken the key out the ignition and shut the doors. So that 1A draw would/should/could drop down to much less after 30 minutes without touching the car (the battery would need to remain connected for this time! Otherwise everything will reinitialise as you reconnect it, and you'd have to start timing 30 minutes again).
The radio was faulty bud, its been fine since we disconnected it.
Pretty Polly is the problem someone prob rigged it up to permanent live 🙄😉 let us know the outcome Martin , good vid as always 👍
Brilliant vid Martin....seen loads of vids on here with ppl making it look complicated and using hundreds of pounds worth of equipment. 👌👌👌
I like to keep it simple Dave lol
I'm an electrician in my 50's and using standard test kit and tracing theory has always worked.
All this fancy test gadgetry is to supposedly make it easier, but I find the tried and tested old ways are easier to do with better results.
Like a lot of things these days, far too complicated and trying to bypass basic electrical principles for people who don't understand them.
All the gear and no idea, springs to mind! 😂😂
I got one of them gizmos with the bank of lights on and two crocodile clips off of Amazon, for what it does its bloody marvellous and I have a solar car charged in the boot if its going to be off road for a while to keep it topped off. Was quite pleased as Aviva sent me a gift certificate last year for £20 and that was just what I needed for the battery/alternator tester and the solar charger :D
Fantastic video, you don't try to impress anyone, you tell it as it is cheers .
Thanks 👍
Martin look into the parrot had similar problem with mine when someone had hardwired the parrot into the wiring and done it wrong
Yes Ash, I do suspect the parrot too.
bit late but yeah .. the parrot HF kit must be prime suspect
@@888johnmac It was the radio causing the drain. I removed the parrot too.
@@retrorestore
How are you fixing the radio? Buy new one? Or? I have the same problem
@@janinaumanen5322 we fitted a new one
I love these types of vids useful info and will be of use 👍
Another great knowledgeable fault finding vid for those electrical gremlins you can come up against top job Martin keep up the good work 👍 👍 👍
Well done I liked your methodology in finding the problem.
That was lovely. Logical and I couldn't help a chortle when the dome head managed to escape. Thanks :)
I didn't find it lol
Really good video Martin, my dad has the same problem on his ford tractor, so we’ll be doing these tests on it tomorrow! Cheers
I had to laugh when the bolt dropped on the floor, don't you just hate it when that happens! Great vid, my dad's got a similar problem on a 300tdi Disco, now I know how to check it. Thanks 😁
Martin the Infotainment system takes a good 10 mins to shutdown properly when the car is switched off, don't overlook the alternator, I had the exact same problem with my astra, alternator was charging at 14 volts but it was back feeding and draining the battery over night a new alternator cured it. good luck pal
Its sorted now Mark, I disconnected the radio and the parrot.
Sure I heard somewhere if u leave a CD in the cd player it stops the radio coming on by itself,bit of a common fault. Very good tutorial on find a battery drain bud
Another way of doing it without disconnecting the battery is measure the voltage across each fuse, low mv=low current draw, high mv= high current draw
Hi Martin i had the same problem on 2 of my cars and both were down to the starter motors being u/s. Replaced the starter motors in both cars and cured the problem. Keep up the good work
Nice one. Its fine now I removed the Parrot and the radio was causing the power drain.
@@retrorestore what is a Parrot? in this context
@@pewlivepie5006 A telephone remote kit.
It will be the parrot kit. I've seen many that do this. It's down to where they pick up the ignition. Especially on a can bus radio where there isnt one......
Hello Martin. Been away a while. Glad to be back. Watching from the dining room at physical therapy.
Thanks bud. Hope you are OK
Wow absolutely brilliant! Well done very knowledgeable
Martin that is good info for future diagnostic if my battery goes flat. THANKS
Good fault finding Martin
Also nice to see im not the only one working out in this recent cold weather😂
I had a different electrical problem on my diesel zafira A few months back. It took me 3 charged up batteries to find fault in the end like you did with pulling fuses. My problem was a faulty glow plug relay staying on all the time. Luckily it’s starting ok in this cold cold weather so glow plugs seem to be working ok.
I wouldn’t want to be taking those out with over 200,000 miles on the clock.
Keep up the good work on the great channels you have mate. 👍
Cheers Jason, 200,000 miles, that's done some work lol
Excellent video - thank you! (and love the moment where you lose the nut on the gravel - happens to us all!)
Glad it was helpful!
I think even Leon will give you a pat on the back for that video. Well done, learned lots with this video. Have a fiat with the same problem ie battery goes flat and it is a new one
My Reliant has a dud battery still, I usually jump it off an old Bora battery which is 600 cca but of course where I been jumping it and not putting some charge back into the Bora battery both dropped the dead donkey on me today so now got both taking turns on the battery charger. I often have a little bit of battery light on so I changed the alternator for a 65amp is it new one but the new one don't cut the mustard either, I have been around all my chassis earths, all my electrical connections making them shiny and nice again and lathering in some protecting grease, I even took the alternator off and did diode testing etc and all good so scratching me head a bit... the car battery did come back with some bat-aid tabs but just not enough for that 30 sec cranking my three pin plug requires :(
Martin thanks, I shall be doing my checks on my Zafira over the Easter weekend as my battery is discharged after stopping and my music system is not working. I'll let you know how it goes.
This saved me hundreds of pounds. Mine was the music system "Parasitic Draw". Everything is working properly now, but I also needed a new battery, which was only charging to 10 volts. Martin you are a legend.
I’ve got a volt /usb power socket in my van
Good video
Great video. Loved that you left the dropping the nut part in - who hasn't had this happen to them - although with a lot more swearing in my case!!
Glad you enjoyed it
Great video. Handy to check my 1.9 vectra.
Love the dell boy accent and voice
hI martin if you are going to change the radio you need to change the radio display screen as they are paired together and are not interchangeable with another vauxhall stereo.
Thanks Pete
Sounds very similar to my mk5 Astra VXR. Ended up being both fuse 35 & 36 which are the head unit and screen. Replaced them both and it was fixed. Vauxhall has issues with 07 year and older head units and replaced them, but it also turns out the issue still existed with newer units. Mine being an 09.
Good chance to upgrade if desired to a navi unit.
It was the radio causing the drain and I also removed the parrot.
What is the parrot?
A great electrifying video bud! 😉 👍👍
Excellent, made everything so easy to understand.
Anyone else miss seeing Jimmy's garage and the trotter van?
Yeah hopefully Jimmy is settling in to his new unit and Martin can get down the recording us a video, then get on with the acclaim and get rid so he can get on with the trotter van
A good logical fault finding video. The engine earth strap or battery earth to chassis is a classic fault on cars with a few years under their belts. The large terminations of these connections do get corroded quite often. It’s worse if they have been disturbed at some time and never cleaned up. Different metals pushed together will corrode fast. With a so-so battery voltage of less than 12.5 volts, a very poor earth to the starter motor will make it crank very slowly, or not at all. A fully charged lead acid battery with a design voltage of 12 volts is fully charged at 13.8 volts. Under load it might fall a bit below that, but the alternator will still charge it above 12.5 volts. If the charging current goes too high above 13.8 volts it could overcharge the battery and this will eventually lead to it drying out. Modern sealed batteries cope better, but too much voltage will also damage the battery. A good vault finding video here, logical steps taken. There will always be a few hundred milliamps drain on the battery when the engine is off. The alternator diode pack will allow some reverse current when idle. Amps of drain will of course flatten the battery....
Fantastic video Martin my guess is that hands free set I had one on my old Toyota and it gave the same trouble
I've removed it now Aaron
Was it the parrot kit ??
Great work. You know the game.
Very interesting and learnt a lot. Had trouble about three weeks ago, unfortunately that was the alternator.
Now half way through doing my son's car, he slipped in to a curb and has bent the steering tie rod, I have struggled all day trying to get the steering rack end bolt off. I am going to get a 30mm spanner tomorrow hopefully that will work.
I dread calls from my wife or son. It's always a problem.
Jeffrey Mortimer
Hi Jeff
What car is it you’re trying to undo steering arm on.
If it’s the big nut onto steering rack itself, you normal can undo them using a few methods.
Stilsons, mole grips, water pump grips or hit it round with a chisel if it’s scrap anyway
@@Jasonhughes258 Thanks for your help Jason. It a 2009 1.4 Seat Ibiza. I bought an adjustable spanner this evening, but I didn't have a lot of room to move the nut, luckily it's a hex nut. I have found it easier to try from the engine compartment. I thought if I got a 30mm spanner I would have a bit more room to play with.
Had to give up at 10 pm tonight.
Hi Jason, thanks again for your advice. Just to let you know that after buying a 32mm spanner I finally got it off. Its all done now. My son has now cleared off and I have to tidy up the mess.
160 mA is not exactly nothing. Cd30 has known issue with cd recognition switch which causes battery drain. There is a service technical bulletin for it.
Great tip that pal! My 306 has a bit of a flicker on tick over, its done it since I have owned the car, so I wonder if there could be a little problem like this.
What is it with dropped nuts? They just vanish! Great video thanks....
Well done Martin another great video
Thanks William
Its so easy to find out rather than do all that. All you got to do is. Start the car take the positive lead off if the car Keeps running its the battery if it stops its the alternator its thats simply save u messing about. I used to work for the aa. Check the battery leads save ur self time.
You do that on a modern car and you'll risk damaging the ECU. NO WAY DO THAT FOLKS.
I had an intermittent drain on a Capri 2.0. It was spring time (reason I put that will become apparent) This went on for months where about once a week the battery would go flat. I couldn’t find a drain or any fault. Just in case I changed the battery and the alternator. As summer started to become winter I noticed when I went to the car that the back window was clear of frost. Sure enough the battery was flat. On reading the wiring diagram of the rear screen heater relay I worked out if the relay fails it can fail to live. Changed the relay box and didn’t have a problem after that. As I said it wasn’t every night or even every week but diagnosed by frost on a window, or lack of.
So much easier on older cars. No computers to worry about.
@@retrorestore and we used to think they were complicated.
Brilliant video M8.... Thankyou very much for sharing it
Top tip buddy, I'm going to check mine on my T4 on my next day off now 👍
I've done the same thing, dropped something at my feet then bent down to pick it up only to discover it's not at my feet so spend ages looking for it and given up in disgust then buy another one. The bought one turns up in the post and the lost one also turns up.
A little info regarding the battery testing. Unless there is a load on the cables, checking the voltage at the post will be the exact same as the connector - simple reason being there is no load to create a bolt drop.
I try to explain this to apprentices in the simplest manner I can, take a 1 meg ohm resistor, put 12v on it from a battery, what is the output voltage? Without a load it’s 12v still. You have completed a circuit so there is nothing to create volt drop. Hope this helps someone, happy tinkering.
Not if the post connections were corroded. You would see a lower voltage that would be confirmed by putting a load on them and see a higher resistance and possibly heat generated at the joint. I've had many terminal at a starter motor for example where the post supply is 12.4 volts but at the starter motor end of the cable only showing 8 volts for example. A clean up of terminals corrected the issue in all cases.
the cars electronics are likely what are causing that voltage drop you see there between the post and the starter, as there is load on the terminal/post even at very low milli amps which would be enough to create a drop.
@@stef2198 No bud, You should see the 12 Volts at the starter from the big cable direct from the battery. I do know, I was a sparks for 25 years
retrorestore I’m not saying you won’t see 12v at the starter? Nor am I getting at you.
What I was pointing out was without load (depending on how bad the situation is very small or moderate load) you will see different volt drop conditions. A small amount of corrosion causing a resistance would be nothing until you try pull a load which is what I was getting at from the start. For you to have dropped to 8 odd bolts must have been pretty bad. But if you isolated every last milli amp of current draw from that battery, corrosion won’t drop the battery voltage without some kind of load/circuit. Which is why in the trade even a simple light bulb/test light is a much better tester than a multi meter - when trying to find a wire which may have rubbed through, green crusties set in But according to a voltmeter you still have 12v, apply the light bulb and it says otherwise.
12v into a resistor still gives 12v out, until you apply a load.
@@stef2198 Lets leave it there bud, too much writing for something I have already fixed. The radio was the power drain and I removed the Parrot as well. All is now fine.
My brother had a Honda Civic type r that kept draining it's battery. He put a master cut off switch to stop it draining.
Great video Martin easy to follow explanations great help in tackling similar issues. 👍👍
Thanks 👍
100% solid gold video. 👏
Wheni had a battery drain on my old cavalier it turned out to be the switch in in the boot was broke meaning the boot light was always on .
Thanks Martin never new how to do that brilliant info
Thanks Col
I had to search to figure out what a parrot was. But on early 2000 chevy impala's, The stereo amplifier is known to have a bad shut off wire, That leaves the amp running all the time, And draining the battery. It was located in the upper back of the trunk, And was easy to exchange. I can only assume that this Parrot system is doing the same thing.
I disconnected the stereo and the current drain went away. I also removed the parrot system as well.
your a hero mate have seen this vid before but just done my grandsons moter great vid ta very much
Just had the same on my Opel meriva.
The radio's backlights got stuck on always on.
Great video, super helpful and I'm betting its the parrot system causing the issue, hate them. So many of these had parrot systems installed and they're a nightmare!
Super helpful video especially for these Vauxhalls, so many of them have ended up in the tat yard for power drain issues.
I've had 3 that have suffered this. One was the Nav system connector (parrot fault), one was the Dashboard instrument cluster set (corroded at the back must've gotten wet inside) and on my most recent one the headlight light connectors were full of crud.
Other people suffer with glow plug shorts and alternator diodes.
Could make a fortune just fixing this issue on these 04-10 Vauxhalls 🤣
Yes it was that causing the power drain. Been fine since I sorted it.
@@retrorestore Great news, I bet most of the Astra's, Zafira's and Vectra's on the heap are down to power drain issues like this, it's a shame as they're great cars otherwise.
They don't like their wires being messed with, especially by parrot kits, the OEM battery was never good enough for the bigger engines in the first place, sticking the power-hungry parrot on it was where many people whet wrong 😂
Was a funny thing with these Vauxhall radios - needed a CD left in them or they would start to randomly power back up
Yes I had the same on my mums Astra H it would come on randomly in the night and putting in a CD in fixed it. The car was sold to a family member and she changed the CD player as it would randomly play in the night, she laughed when I told her just put a CD in lol
My mechanic said (opel astra 1.9 cdti 2007) that it's normal for the dynamo to make contact with the sashi? earth?
i got trouble with astra h 1.3 cdti van no lights maybe earth trouble as well
You are great and thank you for sharing your knowledge!
My pleasure!
Check the parrot system had the same in my cousins vectra 1.9 120 the system was installed incorrect took all out and reinstalled myself been fine since
I bet it's been installed using the bottom of cig lighter as u believe that the Astra h cigs are permanently live if is I believe there is a black wire with a female spade connection there as well which is a ignition live what should be used for aftermarket stereos hands-free and all them sort of things
Yes, I suspect it is the parrot as well
I fitted a volt meter to the dash of a 2008 Smart car that I owned some years ago, shocked to see it read barely 12 volts sometimes even whilst doing 70 on the motorway! I then found out that the charging system on some cars are now ECU controlled so that were in fact normal. How more and more complex cars have become.
The charging voltage still needs to exceed 12v or the battery wont charge.
@@dogwalker666 Yes but not all the time, this 'new' charging system monitors the battery closely, reducing the output/charge once the battery is full.
Really good video Martin, very well explained...👍
As usual another great video Martin, shall be trying this tomorrow on my van that as a power drain, I’d have never thought of that, I’m good with cars but not the electrical side of things, have a Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Thanks bud.
Very interesting . Great channel 👍😎
Great video mate, I know how to check the charge but not how to check for a drain on the system, I do now thanks for showing how to do it, atb cheers
Really helpful, but I use copper lube
Thanks for another informative vid bud must admit as much as I like fixing cars electrics isn't my strong point
Seeing this reminded me I am due to remake all my earthing points, its a yearly thing I have to do as the body is fibreglass and the chassis is in and out of the road muck leading to corrosion. I still haven't had the headlamp out to repair it (thank you 3M waterproof duct tape), them MK2 Fiesta headlamps are a doddle on a MK2 Fiesta... on a MK2 Reliant Robin they are a bloody nightmare as all the retainers are likely rusted up, full of salt and road mush, usually snap off but my instant daylight driving lamps are still good with the lit missile rocker switch, handy too for BMW er drivers who think driving around with their mains on is funny... I am selling on my Reliant in the new year, simply because docs have said driving is why I ain't getting any exercise, found out too that the hospital dropped a huge spanner when they bypasses the left side all alright... seems there is a problem as they didn't do the one on the right that needed doing and no wonder I am feeling crook all the time :( I got a pushbike so going to have to get used to shank's pony...
Sorry to hear about the bypass problems Ian, hope you get it sorted bud.
Great vid Martin 👍
Cheers Jamie
Thank you for the video! I have a question. I have a 12 V battery. Every cold morning problems to start the car. At how many volts the battery will be too low, so the engine will not be able to start? Greetings from Belgium!
Anything under 12 volts will cause problems in my opinion.
is it that the radio was wired bad. that the acc I believe its call the accessory power was wired to the constand power causing the drain
Great video, i have the same problem on my opel astra h 2006, i will check everything tomorow
I got same engine in my astra, I just noticed when the car is cold or warm when I crank it up to start it kind of takes maybe 10 sec to start it doent instantly start up being 1.9 diesel it should start on the turn so im not sure if that's normal or somthing needs doing, engine is fine its got 114k miles. But what could be the reason it does that, the battery is good.
It could be a few things. Fuel starvation, air intake leak, even the timing belt as I found. Get an obdll reader to see if it's throwing up and codes.
Hello again. Did you manage to fix the radio/cd player? I have the same problem but have no idea how to fix faulty 'infotainment' problem. Thanks again. T.
No, we disconnected it.
Haha. Me too.@@retrorestore