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Lupo GTI Drain - Any advice?


Mattz341
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Right.

So my GTI is draining its battery.

The battery is fine (Holds charge and copes well with a discharge test). I also bought a brand new battery over spec'd for the car and that also keeps dying.

I've done the usual checks, all earths and positive cables are fine, I've removed the fuses one by one to observe a change in drain (Albeit did change - but it stayed at about 2.88A) all to no avail.

Then i removed all fuses (Including engine fuses) and it read 2.88A.

The weird thing is, if i leave the car disconnected (Say over night) and check the drain in the morning, it's normal (between 0.1-0.2A).

If i leave the car connected to the battery the drain increases - so after a full day and night of being attached its reading anything upward of 2.8A - the highest being 3.2A!!!!

I read on here that the CCM can sometimes be an issue, but my thinking is that if I've removed all of the fuses, nothing should be live? (With the exception of the starter motor as that's got a permanent live from the battery).

Does anyone have any other avenues I should look at?

As it's pretty tiresome having it go dead constantly.

If i have no luck then i'll book it into VW so they can take a look at it.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

Edited by Mattz341
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I should probably note its not the orange turd, it's a lovely standard GTI. No modded radio (First thing I removed to try and fault find). Nothing else that's not standard as far as I know. (Well besides suspension lol!)

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Aftermarket headunit?

If so, sounds like your blue or white/blue lead on the headunit ISO block is draining through the white/red permanent live on the cars loom


Oh, just saw your post about the radio :P no idea then son

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No dude not silver. I'm not saying anything about it as i've got big plans for it lol!

Although i've seen the silver one you refer too as i reckon theres only 4 down south (Yours mine a red one and then that silver one)

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Lol no worries, maybe I'll see it in the flesh one day :)

The silver one is a Y plate and must be the same one I saw about two months back in Hove, like you say there really aren't many about down here.

My poor black one needs some TLC, need a decent local garage to change the rear wheel bearing urgently as it sounds horrible....

Anyway sorry to derail the thread haha...

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Aftermarket headunit?

If so, sounds like your blue or white/blue lead on the headunit ISO block is draining through the white/red permanent live on the cars loom

Oh, just saw your post about the radio :P no idea then son

Thanks anyway dude! First thing I checked as I know the signal and permanent are swapped

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Your off current should be no more than the max allowed 50mA. More than that and something is running/on.

There is the feed off the end of the fuse block on top of the battery? It shouldn't be that difficult to isolate by pulling fuses and measuring the current in each fuse socket.

The only other thing is a dodgy alternator regulator. But really unusual if it is..... The current is about consistent with the rotor winding. 2.5A ish.... Try unbolting the alternator feed (at the battery end) and measuring the current there.

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My battery is in the boot, all the engine fuses are in the front in the bay.

The thing that baffled me is the fact that when I removed all of the fuses it still said 2.8A..

I'll try the alternator but that would disappear with the fuses being removed??

I've got a feeling I've missed the point of what you've said lol!

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My battery is in the boot, all the engine fuses are in the front in the bay.

I'll try the alternator but that would disappear with the fuses being removed??

Yeah, I'm guessing that you have engine fuses and the normal under dash fuses. Check all of them with a current meter.

The alternator usually is connected directly to the battery which is why I thought of it. Try that first.

Electrics are just like a house with loads of bathrooms. Somehwere the water is running, and you simply have to check every tap one by one till you find it. :)

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Do your door micro switches work as they should, I've seen a similar fault occur and it was the door micro switches in the end that would go live by themselves due to dicky contacts momentarily and wake up the various systems for a period till they went back to sleep again, only to come on again when the fault reoccurred.

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No Pete the drivers one doesn't work - well the interior light doesn't ever come on and when unlocking the car on the button the only thing that opens is the drivers side lock, nothing else.

If that's the case then that's mental. I shall have a look at those too!!!

Thanks man!!!

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Not trying to break this thread, but is there a way to spray contact cleaner in somewhere to clean the microswitches without pulling the locks?

Every Vdub, skoda, seat and audi I know 1997 to about 2009 has lock faults. Even the top of the range Phaeton. Why did VW get their locks so wrong....

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A. When the car is switched off, do you get a live reading from the white/black wire in the bottom left corner of the ecu ? (left plug)

B. I have a spare drivers microswitch.

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A. When the car is switched off, do you get a live reading from the white/black wire in the bottom left corner of the ecu ? (left plug)

B. I have a spare drivers microswitch.

Hey Rich,

A. I don't have the wiring diagram- is that wire you're talking about a sense line to tell the ECU that the doors are unlocked? If it is, is it the same wire that needs to be off (= locked) to get the LED to flash and to pair up new blank keys (which I'm failing to do)?

And B. Do you need to pull the entire lock mech to get that microswitch swapped over? (Me thinks I'll need to mine... groan).

No C. :)

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A. don't question, just do.

B. Yes, it's just a doorcard off and two bolts, easy.

A. yes my master. Do or do not, there is no try.

B. And I've just beautifully sealed the inner waterproof membrane only last week. Looks like I'll be cutting it out again then. Sigh.

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Ok so now I will Ask a question!

Can I remove the Plugs for the ECU?

Or will it cause me issues?

As to get to the White/blue wire I'm presuming I'll need to inplug the connector block, take cover off then reconnect.

Thanks again

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Ok so now I will Ask a question!

Can I remove the Plugs for the ECU?

Or will it cause me issues?

As to get to the White/blue wire I'm presuming I'll need to inplug the connector block, take cover off then reconnect.

Thanks again

Yeah, but disconnect the battery first, and do not reconnect until the ECU connectors are back on. Use a pin to measure the volts on the wire (pierce the insulation and seal the tiny hole afterwards). Make sure your meter is in volts measuring mode. Don't apply any voltage to the pin (or a load). Then you can watch the volts change as things around the car happen.

I guess you've eliminated the alternator already?

I'm curious to know what this fault is...

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