UKPOC forums

Went to start car up today & battery was flat, haven't used it since the 16th, but it has a new battery on it, & not had this problem before when its stood for several weeks, so batteries on charge now, but any ideas why it should go flat ?

Hi Paul,
Did you get any lights on the dash but nothing else?
It might be the boot light staying on, or the interior light being left on for some reason?

It will drain, but it shouldn't that quickly.

Cant remember what year your car is, but the early models had a engine light under the bonnet, that sometimes stays on, if its a early model remove the blub, it's useless anyway.

Do you use the car alot ,once running check the voltage from the alternator
should be up to 14.v/14.5 if your alternator is giving a good charge to your
battery

If nothing is obvious, just disconnect the earth off your battery each time you park up,at least that'll determine if the new battery is iffy or something draining it.

Thanks for the tips guys, my car is a 1997 model 24v. I charged the battery overnight & took it to local garage who has a fancy electronic battery tester, & he said the battery was good & had about 90% charge in it. Unfortunately i didn't finish work until it was dark today so haven't had chance to put it back in the car yet, but should get the chance tomorrow, when i'll check the interior light & the one in the boot, hopefully it'll be one of them & then the mystery will be solved. It's going to Rustbusters on friday to be treated & will be standing next week until the friday when i can pick it up again so hopefully this will be sorted.

cpt black wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 01, 2022 2:59 pm

Do you use the car alot ,once running check the voltage from the alternator
should be up to 14.v/14.5 if your alternator is giving a good charge to your
battery

I have checked the dial in the dash whilst driving & it sits about central so i believe that's in the normal charging zone.

Managed to refit the battery today & guess what, the interior light was on , schoolboy error i'm afraid, but at least i found out the reason, one thing i did notice when refitting the battery, was the battery holder was full of water & i wondered if it was ok to drill a drain hole, anyone done this ?.

paulp wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 02, 2022 3:20 pm

Managed to refit the battery today & guess what, the interior light was on , schoolboy error i'm afraid, but at least i found out the reason, one thing i did notice when refitting the battery, was the battery holder was full of water & i wondered if it was ok to drill a drain hole, anyone done this ?.

oops
As they say, every day is a school day

As for a drain hole, just be mindful as to where you drill, you don't really want to drill through any metal

Good news its sorted easy fix