vn power drain

[vnv6 wagon]

hi guys i have a vn v6 commo and i am wondering why its draining the power everynight when i stop driving it. its strange i have no idea whats doing it so i put a multimeter on it to see if anything was draining and nothing was . does anyone know why my commodore is doing this??? and where its comin from / how to fix it
cheers

[Tim Smtih]

How long between drives? Could be a dodge battery. I was driving on a battery that was a year and a half passed use by date and the only reason it lasted is because my VN is used as the daily driver, that and the alternator is still in good running order.

[vnv6 wagon]

its drivin daily i use it every morning and every night and the altenator and starter is brand new. although if i leave it at work all day it will drain too

[strgas]

Any dodgy alarm system fitted by dodgy fitters or stereo ???

[PRAVX II S]

[QUOTE=vnv6 wagon;1460138]hi guys i have a vn v6 commo and i am wondering why its draining the power everynight when i stop driving it. its strange i have no idea whats doing it so i put a multimeter on it to see if anything was draining and nothing was . does anyone know why my commodore is doing this??? and where its comin from / how to fix it
cheers[/QUOte

Did you put the multimeter inline with the battery on amp mode?.
If you did and there was no drain then it would be your battery not holding charge.
How old is the battery?

[vnv6 wagon]

umm na no dodgy car stereo fitted i did do mine myself though i have a pretty good one and im not too bad at fitting them i have no alarm at all .
the battery i have in there is a bit old but it doesnt matter which battery i put in there it keeps goin flat i took the brand new battery out and put this one in it so it didnt kill my new one.

[PRAVX II S]

There must be a drain.
Something must be left on over night. Check all the simple stuff first like glove box light,boot light thingd like that. Could be a relay left on.

[Vt-Brrrlina]

i would start by pulling the most suspect fuses over night and put back in the morning to drive obviously .... and then over a series of nites.. replace em one by one and see where the drain could be...

[vp_commo]

feel the back of your alternator, if it is warm then its yur regulator draining the battery.

cheers

Dan

[vnv6 wagon]

hey vp commo cheers for that although just wondering would it be the altenator because it still charges batteries when i drive????

thanks

[vp_commo]

The regulator, if it dies it drains the battery overnight, a tell tale sign of a regulator draining a battery overnight is a warm alternator the next morning.

The drain must somehow allow energy to dissapate through the regualtor and this heats the alternator (well at the rear at least).

The alternator itself can be working well and charging the battery but if the regulator is stuffed it will just drain all that charge overnight again, the alternator only charges when the engine is running.

So there is a possibility that the alternator is good but the regulator is stuffed.
I have replaced a regulator many times, and the alternator has not needed replacement.
The regulator is attached to the rear of your alternator and works with your alternator.

Just see if the alternator is warm after the battery drains overnight.

Or maybe you can test it with a multi-meter, but I do not know how.

Dan

[greenfoam]

feel the back of your alternator, if it is warm then its yur regulator draining the battery.

cheers

Dan

That's a good tip, I've been fighting a losing battle with a power drain on a Cherokee for years, I'll try this

[vp_commo]

That's a good tip, I've been fighting a losing battle with a power drain on a Cherokee for years, I'll try this

Not sure if it would go on for years..the regulators usually die eventually.



a drain for years sounds like a bugger though, could just as easily be somthing else but worth a try anyway, it does happen
and has happened to me on the Vp and my old vN.


Dan

[PRAVX II S]

You can check if it is the regulator or not.
Put the amp meter in series and disconnect the regulator plug on the back of the alternator and see if the reading on the amp meter goes away. On some alternator you might have to disconnect the power wire as well.

[vnv6 wagon]

thanks everyone for helpin me out i found out today by disconnecting the head unit it works fine now it turns out the head unit i had was staying on and was a little bit too old so it was draining the power ill fit another tommorow and see how that goes. could it be something in the wiring loom itself that drains the charge?? and not the stereo.

[Shearer]

Have check the boot light isn't stuck on while the boot is closed? I've heard of a few VN/VPs with this problem.