Battery drain ?

[linkman72]

When I bought the car and left it at my parents house the battery went flat after 3 days, the car seems fine if you start it every day but as soon as its left 48hrs or more the thing was going flat. New battery fitted and all seemed fine but again after 2 days its ferkin done it again. Now i have played the battery/alternator which one is at fault game and lost before (intermitent faults that hide when a mechanic is in the car).

Now the dash lights up fine but the starter just clicks when you turn the key on a £250 battery fitted 2 weeks ago, I dont have a Vag Com but there was a test run on the car to investigate a TV tuner fault and all seemed fine. I could just fit an ebay solar panel charger but that wont solve the issue and I would rather fix it proppa like.

I hate cars, I am buyin a horse

[BlingBling]

If you fitted a new battery and that has gone flat then the only culprit is the alternator

[linkman72]

I thought the same but when the car is running you can run anything and its fine, just once its left its going flat again. I have read a few mentions of the starter motor but I am not sure if a bad starter can drain a battery

[cobraBLACK]

£250 for a battery is a bit over the top. I paid £100 for a Bosch one.

[linkman72]

In all fairness it has a 5yr warranty and that was fitted

[adsgreen]

I doubt there is an alternator fault as you'd get undercharge warnings on the dash when driving the car.

3 days on (assuming) a full battery is a fair amount of drain. Guessing the RS4 battery is about 100Ah so 3 days is circa 1.3amps. At 12v thats like 15w so something fairly substantial. Could be the tech note on the RNS-E not powering down properly or a faulty light switch (always worth checking the courtesy lights).

Whatever it is its *not* normal and may not even be picked up by Vag Com. The best way to locate it if it's not obvious is to grab a mk1 multimeter and hook it up to the battery. You should see a decent amp reading or 1-2 amps. then start pulling fuses until you see it drop. That'll at least help you narrow it down a bit.

[adsgreen]

If you fitted a new battery and that has gone flat then the only culprit is the alternator

[cobraBLACK]

In all fairness it has a 5yr warranty and that was fitted

Snap.

[Ian_C]

In all fairness it has a 5yr warranty and that was fitted

Snap.

Where was that from? Fitted thats an excellent price. This is the most likely job on mine next which I'm really not looking forward to. June 2003 car 77k original battery! I only use the car once or twice a week which probably doesn't help.

[cobraBLACK]

Halfords.

My battery died so I was desperate and bought what I could from Halfords - it was a Bosch one that was just over £100 with a 5 year guarantee.

The only thing was that it's slightly too tall so the battery cover is a pain to get back on.

[Ian_C]

B6 B7 S4 V8 is an odd size I seem to recall

[linkman72]

Yes the S4 battery is a special order size, it took 3 of the lads to get it in properly so I wont complain. Interestingly the battery fitted that they removed was not the correct battery either
( common thing with S4's ? )

[cobraBLACK]

It's more rectangular than the usual square shape.

It's also effing heavy.

I think it's this one.

I can check mine tomorrow if necessary.

[xyber]

I've just replaced mine and the one taken out was a woefully inadequate piece of <beep> that some cheapskate had slung in and though, that'll do. Paid £75 I think

Start up is loads better now.

I had an issue once where it seemed the fan control module was stuck on and the after run fan wouldn't switch off, it fixed itself though and hasn't done it since.

[xyber]

It's more rectangular than the usual square shape.

It's also effing heavy.

I think it's this one.

I can check mine tomorrow if necessary.

Check out the EXIDE equivalent, from what I could tell it was the same just a different colour and cheaper. TPS mine was from