Battery drain

O.A.P

My petrol Mazda 6 is leaking electricity from somewhere but I have no clue where from .
It is parked up all week and might only do 20 km over the weekend and some weekends 200 or so.
I bought it last November and it had a new battery fitted as part of the deal but I noticed only after a few weeks that it was getting weaker starting the engine.
it has refused to start twice so far and I had to but the battery on charge each time and its low now again so I'm expecting it to let me down again soon.
Do I put a multi meter on the battery and pull fuses until I find the culprit or is there an easier, better way to find out ?
Thanks for any help.

The Sidewards Man

Are you definite it was a new battery fitted?

greasepalm

very common issue on google with a lot of models through the years,multimeter with amps draw when connected between + lead removed and + terminal with car switched off ,depends on how many amps drawing out will depend how quick battery goes flat.

O.A.P

A good video greaseplam thanks, I wasn't sure how to set up the meter .
Ill put the battery on charge now and work on the fix in the morning.

iamtony

I would say its not getting driven enough. Only the 200k drive would charge it. Its only driving 20klm a week and lying up the rest of the week using a small amount of power all the time which is normal.

greasepalm

agreed its not getting driven enough but why have so many reports on mazda battery draining been reported,i remember old fit punto and faulty radio draining battery.

biko

Disconnect battery when not in use.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

greasepalm

what might that do with that method re entering codes for radio every time battery is disconnected,and cars for keyless entry,or battery hidden in some stupid out of the way places.

O.A.P

greasepalm wrote: »

what might that do with that method re entering codes for radio every time battery is disconnected,and cars for keyless entry,or battery hidden in some stupid out of the way places.

Programing the radio every time and setting every thing up every time the battery is out is a pain.
The car it replaced had no problems with the same usage, anyway Ill have a look at it now with the meter .

O.A.P

No luck with that anyway my multi meter is different than the one on the video and I'm sure I have it connected up wrong.
Here it is if anyone knows what should be plugged in and where also where to turn the dial to. (I'm off to watch the match now anyway like everybody else )

crasy dash

Put the black lead of your meter into the middle terminal marked common and the red into the left terminal marked 10a

Switch the meter to about 3pm on the scale the one marked 10a just make sure to put the meter in series when connecting it or you will blow the fuse.

Disconnect one side of the battery join one lead of the meter to the connection that goes onto the battery terminal and with the other multimeter lead put that onto the battery terminal you removed .

If its a big draw you might see it on the meter if its a very small milliamp drain your meter may not be accurate enough.


Hope it helps and enjoy the match

biko

greasepalm wrote: »

what might that do with that method re entering codes for radio every time battery is disconnected,and cars for keyless entry,or battery hidden in some stupid out of the way places.

We're talking one particular case here.
If OP is ok with disconnecting battery as suggested then fine, if not that's fine too.

O.A.P

crasy dash wrote: »

Put the black lead of your meter into the middle terminal marked common and the red into the left terminal marked 10a

Switch the meter to about 3pm on the scale the one marked 10a just make sure to put the meter in series when connecting it or you will blow the fuse.

Disconnect one side of the battery join one lead of the meter to the connection that goes onto the battery terminal and with the other multimeter lead put that onto the battery terminal you removed .

If its a big draw you might see it on the meter if its a very small milliamp drain your meter may not be accurate enough.


Hope it helps and enjoy the match

I enjoyed the first half anyway


I did set up the meter as you said but got no reading at all so its either not a good enough meter or I might have broke it not sure what you meant in the text I've highlighted ?

punisher5112

Is there after market alarm or Led flashing that will drain the battery.

crasy dash

Sorry about that didnt explain myself too well if you don't connect the meter correctly you will blow the internal fuse in the meter.

I'm on my phone at the moment but the series bit is you have to actually break the circuit and put the ammeter in it to read current.

If you did it the way I explained your grand .

magentis

Is the battery the correct size for the car op?
Sometimes garages cut corners and put a smaller,cheaper battery in.
Is the battery a recognized manufacturer?

If it is the correct size,you may be able to overcome the problem by fitting the biggest battery the car will take.

O.A.P

crasy dash wrote: »

Sorry about that didnt explain myself too well if you don't connect the meter correctly you will blow the internal fuse in the meter.

I'm on my phone at the moment but the series bit is you have to actually break the circuit and put the ammeter in it to read current.

If you did it the way I explained your grand .

I did so I think I need a better multi meter for this job:-/
I might get one cheap on line, the one I have is handy for most stuff and it wasn't cheap.

O.A.P

magentis wrote: »

Is the battery the correct size for the car op?
Sometimes garages cut corners and put a smaller,cheaper battery in.
Is the battery a recognized manufacturer?

If it is the correct size,you may be able to overcome the problem by fitting the biggest battery the car will take.

That was my first thought but when I typed in the car number into sites like micks garage it came up as the correct one, but just about its the cheapest and lowest cca of anything other battery they offer for my car.

Tea drinker

Put the rear seats down, see if the boot interior light goes out when the boot is closed, sometimes the switch goes.
BTW I wouldn't be running huge amounts of electrics when the car is only getting short drives.... e.g rear de mist, fan, headlights and AC on will prevent charging :-)