I’m new to this forum and certainly not a mechanic. I would be grateful of any help.
I have a 2002 1.9DCI Laguna with a battery discharge problem. If I use the car daily it is OK, but if I leave it for 3 days it will not start (battery dead). This has happened twice over the last month (the car is usually used daily)
The battery is 6 months old and below is the series of tests that I have carried out since the car would not last start - Monday 29/01/07.
Monday: Would not start and tested the battery voltage = 9.17V.
Tuesday: Jump started and drove 12miles to have battery/charging tested. Battery voltage after engine stopped left 30 mins = 12.68V. Voltage while engine running = 14.45V. Drop test OK. I found these results very surprising considering the battery had been charged from dead over a 30min drive? Put the battery on charge overnight.
Wednesday morning (today): Took the battery off charge and measured the voltage = 12.96V. Tested for parasitic drain using DMM on 10A scale connected in-series with the negative terminal. The reading was initially 1.5A but fluctuated for approx 15secs to read a constant 30mA (could the initial fluctuation be the computer switching on with the resistance of the DMM?) I suspect this reading is acceptable, but wonder whether it is accurate as the reading settled without fluctuation. Would you expect the DMM to give an exact reading as this, or should it fluctuate slightly?
Anyway that is the limit of my knowledge and would appreciate any help on how to fix this problem.
Kind regards,
tommo