[tomwonnacott]

Hi

I have a 156 Lusso 2.4 JTD, After leaving the car over christmas i returned to a dead battery (to be expected) so i jumped started the car, used it for then day only to return to it the next morning and it was dead again....

After a few days of constantly jump starting the car in the mornings i took it to a local garage which said there is a massive drain on the battery and they have narrowed it down to one fuse which from what i can work out controls the radio, blowers, air-con, remote central locking and interior lights.

As its only really a local jimal fix it garage they said sorry but they dont have the experties to diagnose the fault propperly and fix it. So just wondering has this happened before and is there a quick fix or does anyone know anyone close to me who isn't going to charge me the earth to put it right? (i live in Letchworth which is just North of Stevenage)

Cheers Tom

 

[naddy]

Battery drainage problem

Hi Tom,

I have the same problem with my Alfa 156 1.6 Twin Spark. I have been suffering from this problem, without a clue, for a while. I have also had it diagnosed at a garage who could find no fault with the battery as such, although they did acknowledge a drain in the battery but without any clue to the cause of it.
I have narrowed it down to the car stereo as it was installed by the garage owner when I bought it. The stereo is not connected to the ignition switch, as a result it does not switch off and on with the ignition key. I haven't had time to get it checked at a stereo shop and re-installed professionally, but I am hoping that it would solve the problem. I will also have the fuse (that you mentioned) checked.
I have just come back from my winter holidays of three weeks and haven't even bothered starting the car coz I know it wouldn't. I will need to jump start it once this Siberian weather warms up a bit.

 

[tomwonnacott]

Naddy

Thanks for the input. My stero is the same i have to turn it on and off with the power button it wil not come on with the ignition. But i have had this stero in the car for about 8 months now so seems abit random for it to suddenly start being a problem?

Plus i always turn it off and remove the facia over night. . . this fuse has been removed and the car has been parked for two days now so i am going to try to start it tonight to see if removing that fuse has sorted it.

 

[CJO]

There are a couple of threads in the "ICE and Blue&ME" section which explain that Alfa do not use the "normal" ISO pin set up (now where have I seen that before) the switched live and the perm live need switching round - if you have made this change then the ICE will shut down on turning off the ignition.

The standard Alfa stero can be set up to continue to work for upto 15(?) minutes after the ignition is switched off.

 

[tomwonnacott]

Its not standard its a Alpine unit. Ok so if that is my problem and i switch the perm live and switched live around will it solve the problem ?

 

[CJO]

Hopefully yes

 

[tomwonnacott]

Brilliant thanks for the heads up i will try that this weekend..

 

[David156]

Almost certainly is your problem, both my cars did exactly the same thing with aftermarket unit, swapped wires and now all is well!!

 

[roeburndale]

Have you guys checked your rear lights for a permenantly dimly lit bulb caused by a fault in the rev counter, it's a common fault, i had it on my 1st Alfa with the same symptoms as you, you only tend to spot it if you look for it. The cure is a replacement from a breaker @ £20ish, only takes 10 mins to fit, couple of screws and a plug :thumbs:

Also check the earth point for the rear lights.

Do a search for "faulty rev counter" plenty of threads on it.

 

[tomwonnacott]

Wehey !

Thanks guys.... right radio is definatly the culpret. I jump start it last night and took it for a run to give it some charge. Put that fuse back in so everything worked again and then removed the radio.

Left it over night and it started 1st time this morning and hadn't lost any charge! SO question now is i dont have a multimeter so is there any other way i can suss out which wire is the switch live and which one is the permenant live ?

Cheers Tom

 

[redstu]

Whilst I dont currently have a problem with a flattening battery in my 156 I have one of these

Solar-Powered 12V 1.5W Battery Trickle Charger : Solar Battery Chargers : Maplin

Permanently connected to the battery, I used it in my BMW 5 series which used to have a battery drain problem and it worked well. I also have on in my VW passat , again it doesnt have a problem but is there to keep the battery topped up.

The only problem so far is that the 156 has quite a curved windscreen and dash so fitting it on is a bit of a pain and I may have to make a bracket.

the current maplins prices is £20 but they often have them at £10 during sales.

 

[CJO]

try this thread for details

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/ice-...ftermarket-headunit-guide-147-156-and-gt.html

 

[naddy]

I have finally figured out the problem with my car battery drainage problem (and how relieved I am for that!).
When I parked my car in a not so well lit area, I accidentally noticed that the brake light on the driver side is dimly lit. My first thought was that it was a reflection but on closer inspection it turned out that there was definitely a light. The next day I had it checked at the auto electrics who confirmed that it was indeed a very faintly lit brake light. I had the car further inspected at the auto electrics who narrowed down the fault to circuitry in the rev counter/ tachometer.
Now I am looking for a cheap rev counter (brand new one costs over £200) to replace the faulty one. It's an easy replacement job (unscrewing three screws and plugging the new one in) and I should be able to do it myself.

Hope it helps others with similar problem.

 

[rgwm]

I have finally figured out the problem with my car battery drainage problem (and how relieved I am for that!).
When I parked my car in a not so well lit area, I accidentally noticed that the brake light on the driver side is dimly lit. My first thought was that it was a reflection but on closer inspection it turned out that there was definitely a light. The next day I had it checked at the auto electrics who confirmed that it was indeed a very faintly lit brake light. I had the car further inspected at the auto electrics who narrowed down the fault to circuitry in the rev counter/ tachometer.
Now I am looking for a cheap rev counter (brand new one costs over £200) to replace the faulty one. It's an easy replacement job (unscrewing three screws and plugging the new one in) and I should be able to do it myself.

Hope it helps others with similar problem.

Very common problem - the fix is mentioned in a post above.....which rev counter do you need - black faced or silver? I'm getting short of them at present but I might be able to help.

Alternatively if you do a search on here I'm sure someone advises on how to replace the faulty resistor at a cost of pennies if you are confident in electronic work....