Regular Flat Battery - Sunroof Related??? - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

TS50 · 12-11-2003, 21:26

Hi there all. I dont know if anyone can help me, but I am having a problem with my T3, TS50. I am having flat batteries consitently. First it was if I left my car undriven for about 5 days, then it dropped to 3 days. I mean its under Premium Assist (or whatever its called) but it still annoys the crap out of me. Then last night I put it in the garage around about 6.30 pm, hoped in this morning around 7.30, and damn it, flat battery. thats after 13 hours.
The battery is only 4 months old, and is a bigger battery than standard for my vehicle.

This has my local dealer pulling his hair out, however they feel they have tracked down the problem. The Sunroof.

When I picked my car up, the sunroof closed every time you turned the iginiton off, this was different to all the other ones i have had whereas the roof closed when you locked the car. They changed this, so as the roof only closed when car was locked. ( I prefer this as I like to park my car at work with the roof open, so it dosnt get hot and stuffy, where i work I see my car from my office window, and its not a problem or busy area, so safe to leave unlocked)

However, today they tell me that they believe this is the source of my flat batteries, that while car is unlocked, and roof is open, the module is looking for the signal to close, thus keeping a battery drain. They want to do either of 2 things, and I am not that happy with either.
1./ They want to revert my car to standard, i.e. roof closes as soon as ignition is switched off. or
2./ Put a timing relay on the roof, that shuts the power off to the roof 2 mins after ignition is shut down, this sounded ok, except that each time the power is cut, the roof loosed its memory settings, and will need to be re-programmed.

I like the way my roof operates now, anyone got any ideas for me?
Sorry about the long post

Dellboy999 · 12-11-2003, 21:56

The amount of drain would have to considerable for the battery to be dead, I would get the mutlimeter out, and then sit and watch it, or check it every hour to see the voltage drop, I would also check the Ampage drain with sunroof open, and sunroof closed.

Now if it is draining when open, then it must know it is closed to stop draining, now if it knows it closed then why can't a switch be put on the closed switch, to make the car think the roof is closed, advantages are that the battery wouldnt drain, and 2 you can alarm with roof open if you wished.

My thoughts anyway.

Jason

TS50 · 12-11-2003, 21:59

hmm that makes sense
they told me that the rof is draining 198 mamps
so quite a reasonable drain

xarpo83 · 12-11-2003, 22:21

TS50,

From your post, a current of 198 mamps is not much, it's only 0.198 amps, or equivalent of a 2.4 watt globe. Not much.

Check the RC rating of your battery, mine is 100. This is the time in minutes the battery should maintain a current draw of 25 amps and still maintain a voltage of 1.75 per cell, ie, 10.5 volts for 12V battery. (checked the FAQ section of the www.exide.com.au)

With a RC 100 battery, current of 198 mamp, should last for 12,626 minutes, that is 210 hours approx. (25/.198 x 100)

I think the dealer may be grasping at straws, I would suggest that the battery is dying, particularly as you say it was originally 5 days, then 3 and now overnight. Batteries can die within a few days of installation !!!

I'd try another battery first before doing anything else.

Trust this helps

TS50 · 12-11-2003, 22:27

Thanks for that, but this is the 3rd battery and this one is a 100 amp one, I think they are clutching too, but boy its frustrating when youwant to hear that windsor burble, and all you get is click click click

XR8 Lamah · 12-11-2003, 23:14

Dunno if its on a separate circuit or not, but if the roof is separate, I wonder if pulling the fuse for a bit might confirm for once and for all that it is or isn't the problem ?
Dellboy's idea sounds like it might be a pretty good solution for you . . .

TopGhia · 12-12-2003, 01:17

The first thing you need to do is accurately load test the battery. It's possible you may just have a bad cell in the battery causing it to not hold a charge. To check for a drain you should get a quality digital multimeter with a 10Amp rated ammeter. Disconnect the negative bat. cable (with key removed from ignition) and hook up the ammeter between the cable end and the negative bat. post, this will show any current draw from the battery. You should read almost nothing, anything over 500 milliamps and you probably have a drain (car alarms and certain accessories draw small amounts of current). If you have a drain start removing fuses from the fuse box one by one checking the meter each time, if you remove a fuse and the meter drops you have isolated the circuit causing the drain. Then you need to find how many things are on that circuit and start isolating things. But to repeat, make sure that battery has all good cells.

Good luck.

laminge · 12-12-2003, 01:25

I have the same power drain in my eb, what I have done is purchase one of those loar panels tht plugs into the cig lighter

It trickles enough power durring the day to let the car sit for upto 30 with any power drain

Otherise I had to take her for a spin every 3 days

9psi EB · 12-13-2003, 23:00

TS50,

To check your current drain, get hold of a 10 amp digital multimeter.
Disconnect the + lead to the battery.
Set the multimeter to the 10 amp range, and put the red probe in the 10 amp socket.
Connect the black probe to the + cable that went on the battery and the red probe to the + battery terminal.

The meter will display the current drain, anything over 500ma (0.5A) would be too much.

Next, you can attempt to remove fuses one by one and see if the current decreases.

One car we did last week had a constant 2 amp drain, and it was a leaky rectifier in the alternator. The battery was going flat overnight.
To isolate the alternator, 1st disconnect the plug that goes to the back of the alternator and see what the result is, if there is no change, then disconnect the main cable that bolts onto the back of the alternator.
Also check to see if the ALT / battery light comes up the dash when the key is on, engine off, because if the globe is blown, it could also cause a problem.
(do this with multimeter DISCONNECTED)

One note, do not turn the ignition on, or try start the car, also do not turn on head lights or high beams, as you may draw over 10 amps and damage the multimeter.

EDIT: sorry, should have read more of the above posts instead of skimming through them, i just repeated most of TopGhia's post (great minds think alike)

laminge · 12-14-2003, 02:52

You must have jinxed me

The battery in the EB was dead today :(