HELP! Flat Battery ALL THE TIME!

I own a 156 and I love it to bits. I have noticed that the battery completely runs flat if not used for 24-48 hours. I've replaced the battery but it still happens . Another thing that seems odd is that my cd player (after market), constantly has power to it. Could this be whats draing the battery? Any advice or suggestions would be gratefull and would save me some cash! Thanks, Mikey P

your winding us up, right?

flat battery - radio on 24/7 , and you think it MIGHT be connected

answered your own question buddy

if you cant turn the head off then there is a re-wiring fix for this - try a search

I guess I did but glad someone confirmed it for me. Any ideas why this has started tho?

Just browsing the fora and stumbled across this.

I'm not sure your radio IS the problem You say it 'constantly has power to it'. By that I infer that you mean it is, for want of a better term, on 'stand-by' as opposed to actually being turned on (I assume you have some kind of a power light on it).

My Alfa is the same (155). When I turn the engine off, the headlights go off and the radio stays on (which is the reverse of most non-Alfa's), but that's what they're supposed to do.

My radio is aftermarket aswell, and the guy who installed it said that my car was wired in such a way that power was always available to the radio, not that it was using any of it and never to worry about wastage. My car has yet to use a single battery in 7 years of driving. My radio identical to this
http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/4...kt+RDM+168.jpg
has the power button turn orange when there's power going to it (regardless of whether the radio is turned on or off) and it goes dark if you disconnect it. It is always orange.

So your power drain may very well be coming from elsewhere. Of course it could be a faulty radio.....

The way to find excess powerdrain from the battery is to connect a 10A multimeter inline with one of the battery terminals and it's connector. Then start pulling fuses until you find one that significantly reduces the current being drawn. You will then narrow down the suspects to the electrical items supplied by that fuse.

Now I'm not convinded by the radio theory, it's plausible, but there is a very common problem on 156s that can cause this....

The Bulb Failure Circuit, that annoying warning light in the rev counter, when the circuit is damaged it illuminates your tail lights dimly, this draw could drain your battery in this timeframe, so with a charged battery, pop out the tail light holders and see if there is a dimly lit bulb. If so then it's a rev counter change, if not the it could be the radio, starter or alternator IMO.

i can use my radio without the ignition key turned, by pressing the power button on , and it doesnt drain my battery, sounds like the alternator not charging the battery to me

Originally Posted by angeleye

i can use my radio without the ignition key turned, by pressing the power button on , and it doesnt drain my battery, sounds like the alternator not charging the battery to me

If your driving round with a battery light on then yes, but do take a look at the lights, 2 secs to pop out the tail light holders.

I had the same concern after fitting an aftermarket head unit,swapping the constant and switched feed wire positions cured the battery drain.

I suggest you follow smaky's advice first about the lights and if it's not that then do a test over the next few days by pulling the fuse that supplies the stereo whenever you leave the car. This will confirm or eliminate that as being the cause and if it is you can then investigate further. I see no point faffing around with stereo wiring unless you know for sure that the drain definately is the fault of the stereo.

I'd also check the earth connection on the negative side of the battery. If that is loose the alternator light won't come on but the battery wont charge.

some styles of radio DO drain the 156 due to a diff way of wiring - but as i said a wiring fix is out there for it - as stated above.

i had this with my 1.8TS, took a while to track down and as said before it was the tacho/speedo that was replaced- one rear light would stay on after you turned off the ignition.all fine now.

Originally Posted by P7ERK

I have noticed that the battery completely runs flat if not used for 24-48 hours. Another thing that seems odd is that my cd player (after market), constantly has power to it. Could this be whats draing the battery?

My 156 is fitted with a Sony Radio/CD. In order to turn it off completely it is necessary to hold the off pressed button for at least two seconds, just pressing the off button momentarily just puts it into standby.

Cheers guys, I have eliminated the radio now so I know its coming from somewhere else. I'm gonna look at those tail gate bulbs today, if they are 'dimmly' lit what do I need to do? Thanks

Hi, had the dim light problem with mine when i bought it, check rear lights for a dimly lit bulb with ignition off, if you find one you will need to replace the rev counter with one from the same spec car as yours. remove the circular plastic trim around rev counter to reveal screws, remove and simply unplug rev counter and refit... simple 5 min job, good luck

Thats great guys, just ordered a new rev counter so should be sorted soon. Does anyone know while i'm here what error code '02' means? I've swapped my 1.8 engine with a 2.0 and it runs okay when warm but the engine management light stays on with this '02' error. Any ideas where we're going wrong? Thanks

i have a similar problem with my 156, trouble is im going away on holiday tonight and will be leaving the car for a week in the car park. my question is- can i remove the earth strap from the battery to prevent the battery running flat and re-conect when i return or will this cause problems.

You presumably will not have an alarm any more, but if the battery were to run flat it would be the same as disconnecting the battery. Also the radio code will need re-entering.