Freebird Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Hi AllWhile the Triumphs remain reliable, there is a probelm with the battery going flat on my step daughter's 306. Every couple of weeks it get too flat to start the car. She uses it every couple of days.It's got a new battery and the alternator seems OK giving 14.5V with the engine running and 12.5V with it off.Connecting my Digital voltmeter across the positive terminal and the disconnected lead shows a drain of about 120Ma rising and falling a bit. Is that about right? I have no idea.CheersGlen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 120mA seems a bit high. Is that with the alarm set? Potentially there would be the security system (alarm/immobiliser) plus a small draw from the stereo probably. Occasionally you can get other "leaks" from mucky switches and alternator diodes.Still wouldn't have thought 120mA would be a problem if the car is getting reasonable length runs every couple of days. Short runs, with a number of stops, with lights/wipers/blower etc could cause problems.What happens to the voltage if you turn everything on with the engine running? Does the belt slip?Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Cheers NickI will try it with lots of load on when I gat a chance - good thinking that man. I will also compare the drain to that of the other "moderns" in the fleet.Glen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sorbington Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Boot light staying on?? You can get all sorts of other weird current drains on modern cars too as many of the electrical systems stay powered up for a certain time after you switch off the engine. As they get older, the timer units can get a bit unreliable and keep things powered up, worth a google search on the 306 for potential issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark spit Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Connect the DVM as before, unplug fuses one at a time and see which circuit(s) draw the current with everything turned off. Might give some pointers on where to look.I had a duff alternator on an old 309 that drew leakage current when everything was off, It's French, c'est la vie............Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Not enough current for a bulb to be actually on, even a 5w will pull more than that. Alternator is a possibility as they fill up with conductive carbon dust from the brushes.I think there is more to it than the parasitic loss, suspect not charging properly under load.Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIMPUS Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 is there a original peugeot radio in it ? i've heard from the gay at my garage that peugeot's 206 and stuff sometimes have flat battery's .. and it can be that the radio plays at night or something .. and it's all wired up good ??) maybe a 306 has that to ? Regards Wim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partsaver Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 When you say the battery is going dead what are the symptoms and is it diesel or petrol, why was the battery replaced (same symptoms as with old battery) and what battery is fitted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 377 wrote:When you say the battery is going dead what are the symptoms and is it diesel or petrol, why was the battery replaced (same symptoms as with old battery) and what battery is fitted?Symptoms are very slow cranking - eg sounds like about 90 degrees, then nowt.Petrol 1100ccBattery was replaced by her Dad when the same symptoms occured just after buying it. Cleary not a battery fault at all.Exide from Euro car spares, so should be good quality. It now resides in the Spitfire having needed to swap them over to get the Pug running while it was on charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire2500 Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Certain failures of one or more of the rectifier diodes in the alternator can result in current getting drawn from the battery -- resulting in the battery going flat when left after a few days. Voltage readings with engine on will seem OK. If I remember correctly the current drawn out of the battery when this happened on our Land Rover a few years back was in the order of 200mA -- so possibly what you might be seeing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partsaver Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Have you tested the alternator whilst under load, it could be that the alt is charging whilst on idle but when it warms it is failing to charge the battery which would cause a flat battery after a few trips.also check the voltage rate from battery poss and the alternator body and the engine block, on the pugs there is an earth lead from the battery neg to a gearbox mounting bolt, the terminal corrodes causing bad earth connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greeks Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 A strange one I heard from someone the other day. They had a dead battery on a one year old modern car. Turned out to be because they parked in their garage every night but didn't lock the doors. Apparently current may still be drawn (for some reason) if the doors are unlocked. Unlikely, but it could be worth testing the battery again with the doors locked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greeks Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 4526 wrote: i've heard from the gay at my garage Is he/she the only gay at your garage ;DSeems a bit harsh to single them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 Plenty to look for then. Thanks everyone.PS: I just read my own signature strip and relalised it's a 206, not a 306 ;D - makes no odds to the fixes I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sorbington Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Greeks wrote:Is he/she the only gay at your garage ;DSeems a bit harsh to single them out.I wasn't even going to mention that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sorbington Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Greeks wrote:A strange one I heard from someone the other day. They had a dead battery on a one year old modern car. Turned out to be because they parked in their garage every night but didn't lock the doors. Apparently current may still be drawn (for some reason) if the doors are unlocked. Unlikely, but it could be worth testing the battery again with the doors locked?Yes, the electronics on some modern cars can stay powered up so you can open windows, have the radio on and all sorts of other stuff but power down gradually after the car is locked.Luckily my BMW doesn't do this as I always forget to lock it, it's often unlocked on the driveway for days at a time. ??)My Mum's Passat had a faulty radio which drained the battery when the car was left unused for a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partsaver Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Greeks wrote:A strange one I heard from someone the other day. They had a dead battery on a one year old modern car. Turned out to be because they parked in their garage every night but didn't lock the doors. Apparently current may still be drawn (for some reason) if the doors are unlocked. Unlikely, but it could be worth testing the battery again with the doors locked?Modern cars have an auto shutdown where they stay live for a few minutes after taking the key out or moving away from the car(keylees models) but a 12 year old Pug won't have this electronic trickery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sorbington Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Dunno, some Peugeots were into CANBUS wiring systems by then. One model had a problem where you opened the door, the instrument cluster would power up so you could see the mileage displays but also added three miles each time!All the same, I'd go with the basic alternator fault theory before delving deeper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32valves Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Has it got a towbar and electrics ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 32valves wrote:Has it got a towbar and electrics ? No towbar and no flash electronics that I am aware of. I was going to check it out today, but it wasn't here. She left it at the pub last night ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Right, so I had a few moments to have a look today and the battery was flat again :-/ This is not the same battery that went flat before so I'm convinced the fault lies eslewhere. She gave it a good 20mile run on Thursday too. I remember that 'cos the rear exhaust hanger broke and I was called out to do an emergancy repair as the silencer was bouncing off the road! It never rains.Anyway, I put the original battery back in (which had been residing happily in the Spitfire) and did a load test. With the headlights, HRW and brake lights on the battery voltage was 13.96 volts at idle. With no load this only increased to just over 14V. Revving the engine made no difference. I think this looks OK, but I have been wrong before.I then re measured the drain and got some odd readings. On the 200Ma range my DVM went off scale and just said "1". The next range up is 10A and using that showed no reading at all. I would have expected something more than 0.2, but no.So I am pretty sure a drain is the cause, but the combination of bitter cold, the reminants of a (severe of course) bout of man flu and the urge to get the Ducati going put paid to further investigation.The good news is the bike fired up readily after a new pair of plugs. ;DAny ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 On-load voltage looks ok. Good even. Most DVMs indicate over-range as "1". Smoke is also a possibility......... On my DVM I have to swap leads around to use the 10A function and I usually forget about this until I don't get the expected results.With aging Pugs and Voxholes in the family it's a wonder you have time for anything else :PNick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Tell me about it Nick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drofgum Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Freebird,Another possible cause of lack of reading on the 10 amp scale is a blown fuse. That scale almost certainly has its own fuse protecting the meter. Cheers, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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