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Hi my Meriva has a battery drain issue that is proving tricky to resolve. The battery and alternator are apparently fine but the battery is being drained when the vehicle is off. It is currently with the garage but they are scratching their heads after checking all the fuses and relays to no avail. Does anyone have any experience of this that could point us in the right direction, please?
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Don't think I have ever had a drain issue on one of these. Any aftermarket equipment fitted? How much drain is being measured?
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The car has no after market modifications or equipment fitted. It is draining at 0.5 amp which isn't very much but is not used every day so has failed to start a few times.
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A drain of 0.5 amp , or 500mA is much too high . It needs to be less than 100mA and ideally around 50mA . Finding the problem can be very time consuming . I would disconnect the alternator , radio and power steering system first , to see if that improves the situation. As a last resort, you could put an isolator switch on the battery , but it’s not very convenient.
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what about HJ's old favourite the internal light or door courtesy light, anyone with battery drain advised to remove the bulb as first resort!! I used to enjoy the Saturday Ask HJ, the DSG and Left foot Braking!
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what about HJ's old favourite the internal light or door courtesy light, anyone with battery drain advised to remove the bulb as first resort!!
Boot light is another possibility, maybe less obvious ?
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Many thanks, I'll try these suggestions.
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I have a VW with a similar issue. I connected an ammeter and pulled fuses one by one and logged the current. You have to make sure the car is locked and all doors and bonnet closed then wait for 30 seconds or so otherwise in my case the car wouldn't shut down and arm the alarm and the current would remain high. Turns out it was the alarm not arming ever anyway - I couldn't find out why -I'm guessing a sensor somewhere or the alarm itself so I bought a solar panel fron FleaBay to plug in the the fag lighter which is always on.....:-(
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The auto electrician couldn't find it so we opted for the solar trickle charger in the end. Fingers crossed it will keep us going. Thanks for all replies.
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We finally sorted this. Fitting the battery maintainer worked but the a couple of weeks later the power steering went which is common in these cars. When I got the steering sorted the mechanic mentioned that this was the second Meriva that had a parasitic battery drain which couldn't be explained and then the power steering went. I can only assume that if you have an unexplainable drain expect your steering to go very soon - and possibly at 70 mph on the motorway! Just to mention that Western Power Steering were the best deal for the steering pump. Vauxhall had to put me 42nd in the queue!
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Did you get the power steering fixed under warranty ? A friend had his pas fail on a 2006 car and Vauxhall repaired it foc .
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Your steering won't fail,it will just get heavier.
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