Electrical Problem

[scoobystu]

I think this van is jinxed.

2.5Tdi 1999 T4. Having a few problems with the van I have just bought and amongst others I have an electrical fault.

The battery is draining continuously. It has just been for a service and the dude that did it disconnected the battery overnight to see if it would start in the morning. It fired up straight away. He has checked that the battery is charging, which it is. The battery will hold it's charge for a few hours but will pretty much be flat after that.

Are there any particular areas that I should investigate initially? Is there a good method of finding out where I have a potential short circuit?

There are a few electrical components that don't work. Cigarette lighter, radio, interior light and one of the rear wiper motors is suspect. You can hear the solenoid on the wiper motor clicking but the wiper does not move. I disconnected it but to no avail.

Any help would be much appreciated!!

Cheers

Stu

[Sam]

Remove the fuses for all the items you believe are faulty and replace them one at a time until you find out what is causing the drain.

Or

With the battery connected and the faulty items all fused, put a meter across the battery to find out how much (if any) current is being drawn and work from there.

With the van off, it should only draw enough power to run the clocks/odo etc

[scoobystu]

With the battery connected and the faulty items all fused, put a meter across the battery to find out how much (if any) current is being drawn and work from there.


That is a tremendous idea. I have a meter so that would save waiting for the battery to go flat overnight. Cheers.

[Sam]

That is a tremendous idea. I have a meter so that would save waiting for the battery to go flat overnight. Cheers.

Sometimes it's better to think in basic terms than go for the all out assault.

I had a similar problem with an old MKII, in my case it was drawing enough power to run the clock. My hunting went on for a very long time.

I think the end result was a short in one of the courtesy lights.

[scoobystu]

I will give it a go and let you know how I get on.

The sliding door does not close properly yet and the courtesy light may be switched from there. However the light doesn't work so the previous owner may have removed the bulb to stop it staying on all the time. It could be anything tho.

I haven't had a chance to have a good look at it yet but will do it some time next week. Cheers

[scoobystu]

Had a quick look last night to see if I could find anything. Turns out tho that I had the meter connected incorrectly across the battery. I put it in parallel with the terminals when I should have had it in series with the +12v terminal and the live cable.

Either way it was a bit fruitless as I realised that I don't have a manual for the van and don't know what the fuses I was pulling out are for.

Does anyone out there have a manual that shows the fuse box with a description of the fuses?

Unfortunately I can't get the van to start at all now could it be that I need some mega jump leads?

[scoobystu]

OK with the meter in series and all fuses in I am getting a reading of 0.5A.

By removing fuse 21 which is 15A the current drops to 0.0. I don't really know what this fuse looks after but the clocks went off when I pulled it out. I started the van and checked everything and the clocks came back on even with the fuse out. The courtesy light does not work any more tho.

One thing I have noticed is that if you open any door the courtesy light does not come on.

The cigarette lighter looked very suspect so I disconnected it. Also the radio doesn't work but I can't get it out to check it yet. Is it on the same fuse?

Does anyone know how much current the clocks take to run?

[scoobystu]

After a bit of investigative work it would appear that it was the radio that was causing the problem.

The interior light is still not working properly yet (when you open the door) but the radio was drawing a fair amount of current and it didn't work so I heaved it in the bin.