8 replies to this topic

[paultrell]

Hi i have a battery drain of between 0.1 and 0.3 Amps. It alternates between these readings when I measure it using a multimeter. I have pulled each fuse out in the engine bay to see which circuit it relates to. And from doing this the drain is no longer there when i take out the 2nd fuse the one that connects 3 and 4. I noticed when removing the fuse that is was pretty much knackered so replaced it but the drain is still there. I have tried disconnecting my radio and the drain stayed at a constant 0.2 rather than jumping between 0.1 and 0.3, disconnected my interior light and this seemed to solve the problem for a few seconds but then the drain came back and finally I disconnected my alarm which is not turned on anyway and the drain again stayed at a constant 0.2 Amps. Weird!!

So know I have 2 problems:

1 - Now i know which fuse it is how do I check which component is draining?
2 - From checking all the fuses I noticed that the wrong fuse was in at the top as this was only 13A and my Haynes says it should be a 35A fuse, I have since replaced and checked the rest of my fuses but could this of damaged any of the components the fuse was supposed to be protecting?

Cheers in advance for any help its greatly appreciated

[nicksuth]

Do you have an alarma and\or imobiliser fitted? These beggers do contunualy drain the battery!!!

[paultrell]

Do you have an alarma and\or imobiliser fitted? These beggers do contunualy drain the battery!!!

I have a laserline alarm and immobiliser fitted but not armed, even when i unplug this there is still 0.1 amps being drained by something. Is there also a factory standard immobiliser fitted? My mini is a 1994 Mini cooper SPI

[Sprocket]

Pull the Hazard warning relay and then check battery drain

Seriously 0.2amps is F**** all

[paultrell]

Pull the Hazard warning relay and then check battery drain

Seriously 0.2amps is F**** all

Cheers for that sprocket, where abouts is this located? I have checked behind the dash but cannot seem 2 locate it

[bananaman]

0.2 Amps is negligable. You may find that it's your ECU and factory alarm causing this, I believe that it needs a constant supply for the built in immobiliser. One thing to check is your earth cable from the engine steady. Mine started corroding and caused me all sorts of electrical problems, mostly me thinking I had something draining the battery when in fact it was acting as a big resistor when the engine was running, not charging the battery properly. Mine is a 96 Spi.

[Sprocket]

The hazard warning relay is behind the dash in the center up by the top dash rail.

I went through all this and eventualy found it was either the dim dip relay or the hazard relay that was causing this small drain. Cant rmember now which was which ,lol, but if you see a big orange relay up there as well, pull that, I think that is the dim dip relay.

[paultrell]

The hazard warning relay is behind the dash in the center up by the top dash rail.

I went through all this and eventualy found it was either the dim dip relay or the hazard relay that was causing this small drain. Cant rmember now which was which ,lol, but if you see a big orange relay up there as well, pull that, I think that is the dim dip relay.

Cheers for the suggestions will give them a go and get back to you. If it is the relay do i simpl need to replace it?

[Sprocket]

If you replace it you will replace it with one that draws 0.2 amps