Fiat Punto flat battery

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Tue 20 Jul 2004 15:13
Fiat Punto flat battery - Zaphod
My son's Fiat Punto 1.2SX (1998) battery keeps going flat after a week or so if he doesn't use it, its a new battery as the old one exhibited the same problem and was 'tired' anyway. The alternator is charging OK, the car exhibits no other problems. I've checked for the usual things like interior/boot lights or radio left on. Are there any known faults that drain current such as central locking or other areas that I could check or isolate by removing the fuses?
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Tue 20 Jul 2004 16:07
Fiat Punto flat battery - Mapmaker
Remove fuses one by one, and stick multimeter across where the fuse used to be. Thus you can narrow down the cause of the fault.
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Tue 20 Jul 2004 16:36
Fiat Punto flat battery - Zaphod
Thanks very much for this idea. I would have tried this next as you suggest, however, the boot light kept bothering me so I just checked this out thoroughly AND, with the hatch shut, sometimes the switch was off, sometimes on. A very blackened bulb seems to confirm its been on when it shouldn't; I've just removed the bulb for the time being to see what happens overnight.
Amazing how a 5 Watt bulb can suck out the juice of a battery over only a few days (10 Amps per day by my reckoning...)
A new switch shouldn't break the student finances!
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Tue 20 Jul 2004 20:09
Fiat Punto flat battery - FP
Had this very same problem with a Punto 55. In this case, the radio was on even when you thought you'd switched it off. You needed turn the volume/on-off switch really hard.

BTW, I notice car dealers seem invariably to remove boot light bulbs when cars are out on display, presumably so they will actually start when required!
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