Desperate for help with battery drain. Someone save me

[flappybaps]

Hi guys. Really desperate for some help here in the electrics area. It's a bit of a long story to get all the details in there but I really appreciate anyone who has to time to read it and give me a fighting chance. Something is draining the battery within a few hours (tried two new batteries). ESP warning light is present when a put a new battery in. Also after sticking in a new battery and turning the ignition, the dash lights and headlights go crazy for a few seconds.. is this just the car rebooting or something?

First sign of anything weird was after I went to start the car but my fingers slipped off the key as it was turning over so it didn't quite start, and the clock reset to 00:00. The engine started straight after that though. But 3 meters down the road, engine bogged out and lights flickered and everything went out. I turned ignition off and poked in the engine bay but couldn't see or smell anything funky. So I turned on the ignition and tried starting it. Started fine. Drove fine. For two days. Then after 3 short journies, same thing happened and it was completely dead. Battery was drained to the point where the hazards wouldn't work and boot wouldn't open.
Battery terminals aren't sparkly clean but they're pretty good. Ground from the battery is good. Checked the diodes on the alternator with a multi tool and that's normal. I thought it could be something shorting out. Could I have damaged something when I slipped off the key? Tried the multimeter inline with the bat and lead but I couldn't get a reading on the multimeter for any amps at all. I know I've got it wired up correctly, and it reads the from the battery voltage just fine. No major aftermarket mods, led number plate bulbs, -!: it could be tuned with the BSR plug in tuner it came with when I bought it. I'm dreading any serious problems because I saved up so hard for this car, thinking it wouldn't need much work.
Again, appreciate any help you can give

[pezgoon]

I would look into it being the alternator or there being a bad ground/short somewhere

The key thing is weird though

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[Okedokey]

Surface test test the battery.
Load test the battery.
Resistance test the battery leads and earth points.

[mtroxel]

^^^Okey he says he's tried two batteries.^^^^

ESP warning light is present when a put a new battery in.

That's normal fappy.

First sign of anything weird was after I went to start the car but my fingers slipped off the key as it was turning over so it didn't quite start, and the clock reset to 00:00.

This doesn't seem that weird. You've got a huge draw in the car, then you add the load of turning the starter and its not hard to believe your voltage is dropping enough to make some really weird things happen...like the clock losing its memory. I've had times when I was working on mine with too much powered up, and when the voltage drops to about 9.5, the instrument cluster gets pretty weird.

Tried the multimeter inline with the bat and lead but I couldn't get a reading on the multimeter for any amps at all. I know I've got it wired up correctly, and it reads the from the battery voltage just fine.

This is the part that's hard to believe. You have an enormous draw in your car, it has to show up when you put your multi-meter in the circuit. Shoot a healthy B7 shows 200-300 mA. You sure your meter is set right?

[pezgoon]

Since he had nothing showing up that's why I guessed the alternator is intermittently failing


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[mtroxel]

Since he had nothing showing up that's why I guessed the alternator is intermittently failing

Possible. Last time I had an alternator with bad brushes and intermittent failure, I also got an intermittent battery light. But I wouldn't rule out your idea either.

[flappybaps]

Thanks so much for the comments guys. I would've replied sooner but I've not been getting notifications. I'll check more regularly!
And thanks mtroxel for the reassurance on some of the worries I had.
I've tried the multimeter on another car that's running fine and also getting 0.00 amp draw so it's either the multimeter at fault or an error between the steering wheel and drivers seat ;-) but im sure I follows the steps correctly for measuring the amps. Could the multimeter be damaged even if it reads voltage accurately? It's brand new. I've had hardly any experience with it so I could be to blame.
I've used it to get the diodes in the alternator. I was getting a reading of 650 and I've read that's a normal value. Haven't tried to see what it's charging the battery at because I figured that can't be the problem..?
I guess you guys can't really help anymore until I work out the multimeter. It's not a fancy one but I would think it should be able to take a reading.. it's a UNI-T ut33t if someone can say if it should work.
Is there a way to test the brushes in the alternator? And would that cause such a serious draw?
Of course I get this problem when I'm halfway through changing a timing belt on my second car and waiting for a part to get it all back together again! D'oh!

Thanks again guys

[mtroxel]

Is there a way to test the brushes in the alternator? And would that cause such a serious draw?

Bad brushes don't cause a draw. But when they go they tend to make the alternator put out intermittent power...so that maybe you don't charge back up. But...in my experience you also see an intermittent battery light also. Can't say that's always the case.

But I'd say you need to figure out your multi-meter first. If there is any voltage in that battery, you would have to see a draw. If you have that multi-meter set right and there's a dome light on, you have a draw of some sort.

[rocket1420]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0

^This should help you determine if something is draining your battery. However, if your multimeter isn't measuring amps, then you need to get one that will. I've heard bad things about the Uni-T models. Are you changing your lead to the amp side of the meter?

This may also be of some use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTGz0PKIl84

[4rings5stars]

I just bought a UNI meter. 139C, iirc. Their meters are actually pretty decent, especially for the price.

OP, are you certain you're changing the positive lead on the meter to the spot for measuring Amps? It's not the same port on the meter for measuring voltage and resistance. If so, you could have a blown internal fuse. Most likely a 30A

[flappybaps]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0

^This should help you determine if something is draining your battery. However, if your multimeter isn't measuring amps, then you need to get one that will. I've heard bad things about the Uni-T models. Are you changing your lead to the amp side of the meter?

This may also be of some use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTGz0PKIl84

Yea I watched both of those prior to starting the investigating. Nice clear guides. I haven't been able to have another dig at it yet (it's in the in-laws garage). Hopefully I can attach a photo of the mulitmeter. It only has 3 ports. COM, unfused 10Amax, 200mA fused. I can't figure how to upload a photo from my phone but here's the model I got https://goo.gl/images/abGkPw
It seems like a nice little tool for the price. I wasn't expecting wonders from it though

[rocket1420]

Yea I watched both of those prior to starting the investigating. Nice clear guides. I haven't been able to have another dig at it yet (it's in the in-laws garage). Hopefully I can attach a photo of the mulitmeter. It only has 3 ports. COM, unfused 10Amax, 200mA fused. I can't figure how to upload a photo from my phone but here's the model I got https://goo.gl/images/abGkPw
It seems like a nice little tool for the price. I wasn't expecting wonders from it though

You need to be in the two outer ports.

Edit: You can't attach pics here for some reason. Makes it great when you're reading older threads and all of the pics are gone. You have to use photobucket or something similar.

[flappybaps]

Ok dudes. Poked it again with the multimeter and got a reading. I've got it on the 10A scale and when I initially complete the circuit it shows 1.00 for about 30 seconds then drops to 0.11 and then after another 30 secs it drops to 0.05-0.07.. Hmmmm. Is this normal? I don't understand 'lectrics and it's units.. It's witch craft to me.
Hope you guys can figure something from what I got. Cheers

[rocket1420]

Ok dudes. Poked it again with the multimeter and got a reading. I've got it on the 10A scale and when I initially complete the circuit it shows 1.00 for about 30 seconds then drops to 0.11 and then after another 30 secs it drops to 0.05-0.07.. Hmmmm. Is this normal? I don't understand 'lectrics and it's units.. It's witch craft to me.
Hope you guys can figure something from what I got. Cheers

Sounds normal. Like ETCG said, things can run on initial powerup.

So the good news is you don't have a parasitic draw. Something is likely wrong with the alternator. Did you do the tests in the second video I linked? How much voltage is it putting out?

[80sGuy]

Could you give us a little history of the car - are you the original owner? If not, what mileage when you bought it and has it been heavily modded by the previous owner?

[flappybaps]

Yea I watched the videos. Started the test by taking the 'surface charge' off the battery like the guy said. I just left the ignition on for a couple of minutes. The battery was reading 12.67v so I proceeded to start the car aaaand same problem as before. The dash lights were very dim, no hazards etc. I turned the ignition off and back on and no dash lights apart from a barely visible esp.

In regards to the history, it's had a few owners and a few big jobs done on it. Clutch was changed on it 4 years ago and then an engine change last year. I've only owned it for a few months, with no problems until now. I believe it has been chipped/tuned with a BSR made tool that plugs into the obd port. Not entirely sure what it's been used for but the box says 'tune your car in minutes!'. Also it has a load of led lights fitted that threw bulb-out lights and beeps every time I turned the ignition on. But I've since replaced those with halogens, apart from the number plate ones and interior as they didn't caused any warning lights.

All the earth points and connections I can see appear to be fine. There's a bit of a mess of conduit and wires wrapped up behind the engine, but I can't see any faults along there.

The thing that gets me confused and thinking is it happened after I slipped off the key.. but I have no answers for it

So currently it's dead

[flappybaps]

Ok so thinking about it a little more.. it seems there's a serious fault some circuit somewhere. So I guess the help I need is to know where to start looking. Could it be a short circuit? I'm still worried it's the ECU or some other mega expensive part. Aaaalll advice is greatly appreciated!

[Okedokey]

Check the ignition switch.

[flappybaps]

Check the ignition switch.

Thanks for the tip. I found a good guide on here on how to swap it out. Is there something I can inspect on it? Or should I have to buy a new one and swap it out?

[pezgoon]

It's had an engine swap... I'd start with that. Meaning that there could easily be loose grounds or something or even wires that rubbed through or something and are shorted out somewhere, but that's just what I'm guessing


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[flappybaps]

Howdy folks. Unfortunately not found the fault yet. Still trying though. I've checked over all the wiring in the engine bay. It was kinda messy around the back of the engine, but no damaged wires and I've tidied it all up. All the grounds that I can see are good. Not sure where to look for the other ground points.
Regarding the ignition switch, that wouldn't cause the interior lights/hazards to not work?
I thought because it's almost a total power loss (just a very dim ESP light), then I should trace the positive lead from the battery. It splits into the ecu box and from what I can see the connections are good, and the fuses are good. Where should I look in the main fuse box? Did I read somewhere that the problem could be behind the fuse box?