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  1. Cool Parasitic Drain BUT not found using normal methods help needed please 
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    Hi Guys & Gals
    I say "Parasitic Drain" because i can't think of any other terminology to describe the problem
    I am now on my second new battery, both are correct for the vehicle i.e. 77Ah
    If the vehicle is left for two days it will fail to start.
    I have tried all of the Forums that I belong to including this one and nobody has come up with an alternative solution, i.e. a wire from the negative terminal post and another wire to the negative lead both to finish at my multimeter set to mA's and i have going through all the fuses.
    ​​​​​​​I have also searched on YouTube
    I have even left the vehicle for two hours for it to go to sleep
    There is no light in the glove box i.e. I have taken the festoon bulb out the same with the interior light.
    When I start the car the ignition light goes out immediately
    When I leave the vehicle the ONLY thing that is illuminated is the triangle for the hazard warning lights.
    Has anybody had this or similar where all the fuses where normal but still losing a charge after two days
    My vehicle is a A3 1.9Tdi 3 door hatchback P1 2009
     
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  2. Re: Parasitic Drain BUT not found using normal methods help needed please 
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    Does the hazard warning go out eventually? Parasitic drain is the perfect term, I presume you have done both fuse boxes? If the drain is not going to fuse box SB or SC it may be going to SA which is the strip of fuses along the front and a likely candidate is the alternator or fan controller, both common culprits.
    Anthropogenic climate change, the biggest con inflicted on mankind since religion...

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  3. Re: Parasitic Drain BUT not found using normal methods help needed please 
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    Quote Originally Posted by Crasher View Post
    Does the hazard warning go out eventually? Parasitic drain is the perfect term, I presume you have done both fuse boxes? If the drain is not going to fuse box SB or SC it may be going to SA which is the strip of fuses along the front and a likely candidate is the alternator or fan controller, both common culprits.
    Hi there Crasher
    You may or may not have noticed my absence from the Forum regarding my thread, I will tell you why.
    I used all my knowledge plus I tried suggestions raised by member on here and other Audi related Forums and I was getting no-where.
    I then came across a YouTube video and in one of the comments that followed someone ( I can't remember the YouTube video or the contributor by name) and they said and I quote "sometimes an Alternator Voltage Regulator Diode" pack can go faulty and cause the parasitic drain.
    With that in mind and after trying everything else I purchased another used alternator and just for good measure I replaced the Alternator Voltage Regulator Diode pack and slip rings.
    I took it for run 3 - 4 miles and parked it up on my driveway, but I left the bonnet not fully closed, I then left it for 7 days without touching it / trying it or anything else.
    Today is the seventh day I went out to the car and it started immediately, no sort of trying to start but just started as though I had been in it yesterday.
    So as far as I am concerned to me it looks like the problem is solved.
    Many thanks to all who contributed, but it looks like it is case closed.
    Tony
     
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  4. Re: Parasitic Drain BUT not found using normal methods help needed please 
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    When doing a draw test I always check the alternator on its own even though I have only seen this fault once in 40 years which incidentally was on a ladies early type 8L A3… thinking back reminds me, she was hot!
    Anthropogenic climate change, the biggest con inflicted on mankind since religion...

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  5. Re: Parasitic Drain BUT not found using normal methods help needed please 
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    Hi there guys & gals
    This is now a new problem
    I went outside to watch a YouTube video on my laptop so I could refer to it while sat in my Audi A3 1.9Tdi 8P1 March 2009 plate.
    I latched both doors and the bonnet
    With my Robin AR4007 multimeter set to black lead in the common and red lead in 10a, max and the dial turned round to 10A I started getting the following readings the values kept hovering around 0.239 --- 0.240 then 0.300 then 0.560 then 0.141 then 0.112
    0.073 --- 0.074.
    The difference between the word "then" and the dash line --- = "then" the reading hovering backwards and forwards
    The dash line ---started at the first number and finished at the second number.
    While the Robin was sitting there doing its thing I used my other multimeter splinktech DM2 to check all the fuses on both
    fuse boxes inside the cabin and under the hood and they ALL gave the same reading of 0.00, it got so bad I was even beginning to doubt my splinktech so I tested it on the + & - poles of the battery to get a reading I am still getting 12v etc.
    But even after leaving the car for two days drains the battery, so now I uncouple the positive cable from the battery daily.
    Does anybody have any ideas ?
     
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  6. Re: Parasitic Drain BUT not found using normal methods help needed please 
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    For me on a similar platform it was the alarm siren: 53 plate Touran battery drain fixed - it was the alarm horn.

    I didn't find the "volts across fuse" worked well for ~100mA across a 10A fuse, but putting the multimeter in circuit to measure amps did. I made a pair of leads with 1/4" blade terminals on the end that fit a standard fuse slot which was a great help.
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  7. Re: Parasitic Drain BUT not found using normal methods help needed please 
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    I tried that volts across fuse over amp rating method but it didn’t work for me either.
    Anthropogenic climate change, the biggest con inflicted on mankind since religion...

    Slava Ukraini
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  8. Re: Parasitic Drain BUT not found using normal methods help needed please 
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    If I'm reading the chart correctly it's 0.8mV drop for 100mA across a 10A standard fuse. That's ~0.0008V. While the "OK" 30mA would be ~0.00025

    I wouldn't trust my uncalibrated MM to measure those quickly and accurately while I was upside down in the driver's seat sticking the probe into the tiny test point (even though I did make it a bit easier by plugging 1/4" terminal lead into an empty slot on the supply side for the rail).
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  9. Re: Parasitic Drain BUT not found using normal methods help needed please 
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    Quote Originally Posted by VAG-Abound View Post
    For me on a similar platform it was the alarm siren: 53 plate Touran battery drain fixed - it was the alarm horn.

    I didn't find the "volts across fuse" worked well for ~100mA across a 10A fuse, but putting the multimeter in circuit to measure amps did. I made a pair of leads with 1/4" blade terminals on the end that fit a standard fuse slot which was a great help.

    To add a bit more...

    Only a few of the fuses in the cabin are live when the car is parked. You can quickly find them by looking for 12V on the supply side, and probably worth checking that that the others drop to 0V (if not then a stuck relay may be the cause).

    They're probably fed by something like the SA5 fuse on front of engine fuse box. A quick test is to pop that fuse off and check that the 12V disappears in the cabin. If so put the MM in place of SA5, and if you get ~100mA+ after a few minutes then that's probably too much, so pull each supplied fuse in turn in the cabin to see when it drops to a more sensible ~50mA. Hopefully you can put everything else back and leave that fuse out for a few days to check that battery drain disappears.

    I left a MM measuring the battery voltage on the passenger seat that I could read from outside car and could see that the fall had gone from something like ~0.5V / day to ~0.2V / day. I used a pair of long (but secured out of way of feet ) leads across that permanent 12V rail in the cabin fuse and croc clip lead to stub of bolt in footwell.
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  10. Re: Parasitic Drain BUT not found using normal methods help needed please 
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    Quote Originally Posted by Crasher View Post
    Does the hazard warning go out eventually? Parasitic drain is the perfect term, I presume you have done both fuse boxes? If the drain is not going to fuse box SB or SC it may be going to SA which is the strip of fuses along the front and a likely candidate is the alternator or fan controller, both common culprits.
    Hi there
    Many thanks for the response.
    Can you please supply me with a definitive location of SB or SC it may be going to SA
    This is a U.K RH drive car
    Tony
     
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