Battery goes flat!!!

[southwest]

Battery (new one) goes flat, measured current loss at 4.5amps continuous!
discharging through large cable from + ve terminal, does that go to the starter circuit only?????
if so any ideas what could drag 4.5a ?? if not what else is it connected to?
cheers martin

[Lex Luthor]

Everything is connected to there... :(

I would start pulling fuses to isolate the drain.
That is a lot of drain......

[southwest]

nothing new fitted , except battery, current drain is present all the time, even with the car unlocked . with the ignition off. I've pulled out ALL the fuses in the box on the end of the dash, and the relays for good measure.
also the relay next to the ?ecu? off side rear of engine bay.and its still there

I will admit I'm baffled,, it seems like the starter motor is the only thing in that circuit not fused.......and I cant see how that could drain almost 5amps just because its there! thats almost 60 watts and nothing I can find is getting hot or running unexpectedly

[new to vw]

check all your earth's as well.....has any cable's been trapped or the insulation worn away?????? just a thought as i had this on a bike.....
hope this help's
lee

[mcstu74]

Hi! Try disconnecting the alternator (if you can). At least you can isolate that from your investigation. They do occasionally do funny things, including draining when engine is not running.

[southwest]

Thanks for the suggestions , tried the alternator(lost the nut cover) and no different, thinking now thet the wet carpets and lousy joints may be something to do with it, since yesterday ive had all the footwell wires and the comfort module(sick joke) out and in the footwell iself on the carpet and the battery didnt go flat overnight!!
still dont understand if the fault was there why the carpet didnt burst into flames , it was 60watts going somewhere:o

[mcstu74]

Wet carpets? That would possibly cause a few mA to flow (even perhaps up to 100mA), but not several amps... unless it's in the early stages of carbonisation of the carpet due to electrolysis! There's no heat though - I'd at least expect some heat somewhere. The comfort module's not suspect, is it?

[southwest]

I agree a few mA through the wet is what i would expect too , not amps, still chasing fault, a friend suggested it may be a voltage produced by electrolosys(???) with the wet wires and different metals.. its possible ,and Im using a digital meter, so I'm going to see if I can get an analog meter with a real needle to read:( will lit you all Know

ps "If only everything was as reliable as a volkswagon" We'd all be on horseback

Thanks for the support folks

[RickT]

This may sound a draft question......

Do you lock your car over night?? i know some people leave them unlocked in a safe secure garage....

What happens if left unlocked the modules dont shut down and stay live.. hence draining the battery over night...

this was an issue with the Toureg, Where some "posh" owners were parking it in their massive secure garage over night leaving them unlocked and due to the amount of modules onboard it drained the battery over night,.. Once the car is locked it goes to sleep turning off the modules in due course rather than staying live!

RicKT