[Jamesb1987]

can anyone help with Astra coupe 2.2 g 2001 with aircon.

I'm trying to trace a fault, or a short, it's eating my battery up in a couple of days.

Things I've done.

Put new battery on, sits at 12.8v when fully charged.

Started car, checked voltage goes up as much as 14.6v, alternator is good.

I've run a meter in series to the battery (so disconnected through meter only on negative pole) and its drawing 0.3a with the door closed and ignition off, key out.

I started pulling fuses and got to f4, a 40A fuse under the bonnet, when that's pulled, the draw goes down to 0.03A a much more acceptable number.. I've read online this is the engine cooling unit but where do I go from here? The car has aircon. I have had problems with the heater inside the cars blower not working.. However I suspect that's a different intermittent wiring connection fault but worth mentioning anyway?

What can I do now I have the circuit drawing power identified?

I'm not an expert but I can work tools and read a meter without a problem, any advice would be helpful..

Thanks

 

[Jamesb1987]

Engine cooling module I think it's called?

 

[g4vvq1983]

Do you mean you have the circuit in question if so can you upload it on here....or carry on form the fuse until you come to the next unit, and unplug that see if the drain goes, keep going back until you can find out whats causing it.....it's not a huge amount...but seems like enough to drain your battery....i would also look and see if the boot light is stuck on..may have nothing to do with it but they do sometimes...Fred in Essex.

 

[Jamesb1987]

This is the info I have.. When I pull f4 - 40A fuse - engine cooling system - the battery pulls 0.03a instead of 0.3a, so that's like 0.4w of power instead of 4w, which seems more realistic to me..

I've been round every bulb etc and it's not a bulb that doing it, all the info I have so far points to this fuse/circuit being the problem. But I don't really know what to do now.. The circuit is pulling power it shouldn't be I need to find a way of stopping it.

 

[Jamesb1987]

I'm going to leave the car overnight or for a couple of days with this circuit broken by fuse removal, just to confirm this is the problem circuit but so far all evidence points to this being the problem.

 

[g4vvq1983]

Yes that sounds a pretty heavy fuse, i think its what they call a fused link....one of those big fuses, is there anything else on that fuse do you know of, i cant really see why it should use any, it could be an electronic module dragging it down, you will have to see with that fuse out if there is anything that doesn't work apart from that...it will probably tell you in the owners manual what all the fuses do...it could be a feed for something else...at that age you should be able to get Haynes manual for that, in my opinion the wiring diagram in those are pretty good...some people wouldn't agree i dont suppose, they cost about £22 i think but if your gonna keep the car i think it's money well spent........Fred.

 

[Valer]

Looks like F4 is the main fuse for the coolant module,not sure if the pic quality is good enough but here's the diag

 

[andyl]

Fuse F4 does indeed supply the engine coolant module. Your Engine coolant module looks like this and is located behind the passenger side front wheel arch, this explains how to remove it....
http://workshop-manuals.com/vauxhal...ntrol_unit_cooling_module_remove_and_install/

 

[Jamesb1987]

Thanks for all the replies.. So it just a case of swap components.. See what happens? Is this thing the likely cause?

 

[andyl]

It supplies power to the relevant fan motors so if it has an internal fault it would drain the battery..is it the fault, thats hard to say over the internet but if the drain stops with the fuse pulled your probably looking in the right direction.. if you do replace it try and get one with the same Ident (WK or whatever yours is) and part number if possible.

 

[g4vvq1983]

Yes what i would do is disconnect the multi plugs from the control unit and see if the drain disappears, it almost certainly will, my gut feeling is its the unit itself that is causing the drain its too little to be much else. The only other thing you could do is disconnect wires separately see which one it is, but that's gonna be pretty hard, you could try disconnecting the earth wire on the module its self see if the drain goes, that would indicate it could be the module....well there my thoughts, i think there are two plugs on there see which one is causing the drain and take it form there, or disconnect the external units see if any of them are causing the drain, if the drain is still there when all the external units are disconnected its the unit itself.........Fred.

 

[Jamesb1987]

Thanks, to think I was going to pay an auto electrician to do this!

 

[g4vvq1983]

Thanks, to think I was going to pay an auto electrician to do this!

It's just a logical approach James lol.........Fred.

 

[Jamesb1987]

So I thought I had this sorted.. I was sitting in the car with the fuse pulled, ignition on, and it flattened the battery in less than two hours.. Only things running were a usb charger through cigarette lighter and the radio.. It's not a massive battery that's in the car but surely it should last longer than this?

The suspect drain fuse was pulled, the ignition was on but the engine wasn't started.

Is it possible I have two separate drains? One through ignition and one permanent?!

 

[g4vvq1983]

Hi James i dont think that is a fair test leaving the ignition on.....there might be things on you dont know about, you would have to measure how much current is going out the battrey with ignition on...i mean the ECU and BCM all might be powered up, i left my sidlelights on for an hour once in Chelmsford in car park, when i came back to the car the battery was flat, i let it run backwards in revers and bump started it, i was lucky it was on a hill, the battery was about 4 years old on that...i changed it, but i always carry a portable power pack around with me now....Fred.

 

[Koicarpkeeper]

Think @marks152 found out the combination of a small battery and having the radio on is not a good combination.
I can have mine on all day but I have a humungous battery.

Having the ignition on too would definitely have pulled the battery down even faster.

 

[g4vvq1983]

What battery have you got on that James, 063 ? 012? Fred.

 

[marks152]

Think @marks152 found out the combination of a small battery and having the radio on is not a good combination.
I can have mine on all day but I have a humungous battery.

Having the ignition on too would definitely have pulled the battery down even faster.

I sure did but in all honesty I knew the battery was an original 14 year old battery and one that was showing signs of struggling when starting so its my own bloody fault . That will teach me to sit in the car with radio on and my phone plugged in. Had the battery been in good condition it would never have been an issue.

 

[Jamesb1987]

I have no idea what the battery is, I'll try and find out tomorrow.. I did have a big diesel battery in previously that would power a small village, for a week.. But then I bought this one.

 

[g4vvq1983]

Well the bigger it is the longer it takes to charge it, and more cranking amps it has. so there are to's and fro's, i think i put an 063 on mine and never had any trouble with it, but there again i dont sit and listen to the radio all day without the engine running, or anything like that....Fred.