Battery Drain?

ewen1605

Active Member
Jan 17, 2016
253
1
Sheffield
What kind of charger are you using? The specification etc. Also might be an idea to disconnect the battery and charge it.
Needs to be charged overnight at least.

So I wasn't convinced that the charger I was using was actually doing anything, and managed to source a second one.

Its a 6A charger with an indicator on it.

Left it running for a few hours. Now I seem to have electrics that aren't flickering but the car won't start. Just getting lots of loud clicks when I turn the ignition key :help:
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,820
996
South Scotland
Even a 6 amp charger needs a lot of time, if you take that battery to be 90Amp Hours capacity, at 6 amps it will take a good 20 hours or more to "refill" it. Charge it until the charging current drops to an indicated nominal zero amps.
 

ewen1605

Active Member
Jan 17, 2016
253
1
Sheffield
Gave the car 6-7 hours on the charger yesterday afternoon, and managed to start the engine. Left it running for another 90 minutes or so on the engine.

This morning the car is completely flat again. Trouble locking/unlocking, warning lights, flickering screens etc. and no engine turnover.

Earliest I can get into a dealership for a dignostic is the 11th June - certainly not ideal when I'm expecting I might have to go back into the office shortly. Not really sure if there's any other way of remedying this that isn't going to be a cost to me :(
 

Seriously?

Active Member
Apr 20, 2018
1,246
837
Do you still have SEAT Roadside Assistance on your car, or has that now lapsed? Or any other breakdown cover?
 

cupra14

Active Member
Aug 31, 2017
336
63
England
Ideally you'd figure out if it's a bad battery or if there's a drain (granted, a drain can cause the battery damage).

I think someone already posted how to go about measuring the tiny voltage drop (mV) across a fuse if there's power flowing through it. Yes you may have to defeat door open switches etc but this way does work.
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,820
996
South Scotland
TBH, if you need the car, at this stage I'd be thinking about just getting a new battery for it and arguing the toss with SEAT later.

I agree, make sure that you retain the original battery just in case it does turn out to be the root cause of your problem, so head for a proper battery place, request a battery test and take it from there, do make sure that if they fail your battery that they fit an identical type of battery - ie EFB with same or better capacity in amp hour rating and same or better CCA probably they use DIN rating, look at your present battery and find these raring out before hand.
 

Marko70

Active Member
Jul 6, 2019
107
44
you need a multi-metre really to check the condition of alternator and battery, given the car is only 2 years old it's more likely to be battery, it's shocking a battery can only last 2 years these days.. having said that my car isn't even a year old and I've never been impressed with battery! I don't have any drains but still the voltage drops daily more than any other car I've ever owned!!
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,820
996
South Scotland
you need a multi-metre really to check the condition of alternator and battery, given the car is only 2 years old it's more likely to be battery, it's shocking a battery can only last 2 years these days.. having said that my car isn't even a year old and I've never been impressed with battery! I don't have any drains but still the voltage drops daily more than any other car I've ever owned!!

Better to call it DMM or DVM, funny that you used the wrong spelling for that, I usually use the wrong spelling when writing length/distance, but there you go.

These EFB are designed to be used in the well the car uses/treats them - but it seems like many do fail early if the car is not used frequently for longer journeys - my daughter's end of May 2019 SEAT Leon Cupra EFB is in a much lower level of condition/health than my wife's August 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI EFB - and that I feel is down to the length of normal journeys used and auto Stop/Start being left on in the case of the Cupra, together with that Cupra being pre-reg'd in May 2019 and only brought to the selling dealer's compound in August 2019 with "low battery" faults logged - it does not look good for it length of life wise, she does have a CTEK charger to take care of it better now.
 

Marko70

Active Member
Jul 6, 2019
107
44
Better to call it DMM or DVM, funny that you used the wrong spelling for that, I usually use the wrong spelling when writing length/distance, but there you go.

why is it funny? I can spell, it was simply a typo.. now if I'd have got bought and brought mixed up you would have every right to shoot me with sh!t!
 
Sep 19, 2020
1
0
Unfortunately not :( Just over two years old, but I didn't get my last service through a SEAT main dealer.
Ewen, how was yours left in the end?
I picked up my Cupra 300 barely 10 days ago and I've suddenly had the exact same issues as you when planning a day trip out today. No issues beforehand but the whole dash flickered and now there's no power at all. I've contacted the RAC who are on their way out but after reading this useful thread it does seem like my battery too is knackered. 18k on the clock, 67 reg.
 

Mtailor

Active Member
Aug 9, 2018
245
136
London
Take a quick look here. We had battery issues and finding a place (other than Euro Car Parts) for battery.

I went with the updated battery, as did the OP


Any issues to watch out for changing the battery?


 

Woody_72

Active Member
May 10, 2020
502
251
Northwest England
I just had a few dashboard lights come on. You clear the steering warning light by turning the steering lock to lock and the traction control light went out by itself after a few hundred yards. You'll also need VCDS or OBDeleven to program the new battery. I just amended the Ah value of the battery and entered the last 10 digits of the serial number and it was fine.
 
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