[GHALL01]

Hi

I am new to this forum

I have had my car sice February and every so often the battery used to go flat if i left it without driving it for a couple of days. Now its actually every few hours it goes flat when its left. Its got worse! Literally I have to bump or jump start it every time I need to get back into the car I have had 2 brand new battery's!!... Now... When I drove it yesterday it came up COOLANT STOP and there was smoke coming from the coolant. I left it over night and called the AA out and they topped it coolant for me but they said my Fans were not kicking in and the car would overheat if it gets too hot so they said I had to take it it to a garage.

The garage are saying that because the fans are not working properly this has been draining the battery down, but that does not sound right to me? They have also conned me into having another brand new battery!

Help and any ideas on what it could be or if anybody else has had this prob would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in adavnce

 

[mikerphd]

short circuit in the wiring for the fans??

 

[Rybky]

I would not be accepting a replacement battery, a new battery comes with some warranty so if it has failed it should be replaced for free. If it is just getting drained by a short circuit somewhere then that should not have damaged it.

It is easy to check this, just needs a multimeter to see if there is current draw from the battery when the ignition is off, there will be some as some circuits remain powered but it should be low.

Good luck!

Adam

 

[GHALL01]

Thanks for both of your quick replies really grateful!!

@ Rybky: There is current draw from the battery when the ignition is off and it is very high!!

Could the fans circuit really by taking that much power from the battery that it wont start after a few hours? Im not convinced!

My local VW dealer have had the car since Sat and this is all they have told me so far! They said they are going to replace the cooling fans and battery and go from there!

Thanks

 

[123-slowman]

Just a point here any petrol car with a catalytic converter on it should not be bumped off raw petrol will kill the cat.

 

[nail-z-gull]

I don't suppose the previous owner has changed the stereo have they? I know a lot of the newer VW stereos will drain the battery on the older EOS, even with the ignition off.

 

[SiJ2000]

re the Radios, the 3rd gen ones (RND310/315 RCD310, RCD510... RNS510 is ok with firmware 1100 and below. Above 1100 has the issue)... It's to do with compatibility with the CAN Module in older cars...

 

[Barry C.]

I would have thought that a short circuit that can drain the battery in such a short time would be causing a component, relay or something to get pretty hot, hot enough to catch fire!.