VS Statesman, High current draw

[DeanmVS]

I have a 1997 VS V6 statesman which is completely standard. I have a battery which flattens in about 4 days. The battery is new and holds charge well. The battery wires draw about 500 milliamps when the car is turned off. There are two wires from the positive terminal. The larger ‘cable’ draws negligible current – in the order of tens of milliamps. The smaller wire draws the big current. It also pulses at the same rate as the LED on the dash (security). The current varies, on an analogue meter, by about 100mA - it’s hard to say exactly. I have disconnected it at the moment, and of course, nothing works in the car, but the battery holds its charge still. What should I be checking, and where is it located? I have some electrical knowledge, and a friend who has more.

[hako]

At a guess I'd say it is an aftermarket immobiliser which I've heard can cause your problem. Try to contact the previous owner who may have the paperwork on the immobiliser as that will make it a lot easier to disable/remove it. Otherwise you will need to have a look under the dash for the unit. The problem is that you cannot just cut a wire as this will then disable other functions....the unit must be removed and original wiring must be restored.
If the car doesn't have the above, then the other usuals are boot/glovebox lid lights, stereo amp wired into wrong circuit etc. It also helps to have a look at night with no light.
Good Luck.

[moff_man]

easest way is to do a current draw test with a didgital multimeter on the negitive, let the car settle than whilst your drawing the current start to pull fuses till it stops drawing the current. the last fuse removed is the current drawing circut

reasion for the negitive post current draw is all electrical current must come back to the negitive post and it dosnt matter if it touched metal as its negitive (safer)

[DeanmVS]

Thanks for the clue about the negative terminal. I've removed all the fuses and it was still drawing the current. I'll try it again with a Digital meter on the negative.

[DeanmVS]

Thanks for the input. I don't think the immobiliser is after market, but it might be crook. I'll see if I can locate it first. I already checked the lights at night and they're not on - I was hopeful that it would be that simple.

[hako]

It's also possible that the alternator diodes are shorting out - try removing the cable(s) at the rear of the alternator....do this with the battery disconnected....then reconnect battery and see if it still draws high current.

[VSPantha]

Also check to see if the boot light is staying on when it's closed... fold down the back seat and have a look with the boot closed, if the lights on then your boot switch may be faulty or need adjusting.