Quite a long story so will try and be brief...
GF is selling her 99(P) Fiat Cinq but we are having a little problem with it.... when left overnight after a run, the battery is flat the following morning and car won't start....
To check the battery, I disconnected the battery, left it for three days, reconnected and it started first time so the battery is obviously holding the charge ok and can't be the problem...
Now this weekend I intend to use my trusty multimeter to measure the drain on the battery when the engine is off and then if its higher than it should be, i'll pull fuses till it goes down and that way I can isolate the circuit that is draining the battery.... someone stop me if i'm going down the wrong path with this...?
Now the car has an alarm on it, not sure if it was FF or aftermarket, suspect it was the latter but not sure how to check...
A while back the alarm would go off randomly (driving down the road or just sat on the drive) and one day it just stopped and no longer worked..... even the blipper to turn it on and off didn't make it give the "pip pip" signal....
What I suspect is that the speaker on the alarm has gone but the alarm is still going off constantly or at intervals but because the speaker is knackered we just can't hear it anymore....
My questions after this long story are:
1. How would I be able to tell what fuse circuit the alarm is connected to if it doesn't work anymore?
2. If it is the alarm going off constantly that is draining the battery, can I just snip a wire to break the circuit to stop it working to fix the problem, without this having any affect on the car (i.e. it wouldn't be connected into the immobiliser and do something to that would it - I would assume not since if the alarm went off while the car was driven but not effect..... but don't want to send a car i'm hoping for £400 / £500 for ending up worthless cos I knacker it....)
Sorry for the long yarn, hope someone can help...
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 11/01/2008 at 10:24
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Is the speaker/horn integrated into the alarm unit or is it separate? Tou could check the power to the horn/speaker.
Most alarms continue to take a current until they have properly armed - likely to be a minimum of 30secs after the car is locked.
What you can or cant do will depend on the alarm and how its wired.
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As far as I am aware (will clarify at the w/e) the horn and the alarm speaker are seperate.....
How would I check the power to the speaker?
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It sounds like there is no immobiliser on the car as it should have stopped the car when the alarm went off.
If you cut the live feed to the alarm control unit, whatever you do make sure the bare end on the car loom side is properly insulated and taped up. I almost lost my old mk2 Cavalier to fire because of this. Some fool had wired an aftermarket immobiliser up using an unprotected live feed which came off and shorted against one of the dash brackets. Acrid white smoke pouring through the heater vents when driving along are not a pleasant experience, especially when they are illuminated from within by flickers of flame / sparks
I would start with finding the circuit causing the drain and go from there. No sense disturbing the alarm unless you have to.
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