Okay, on my way home from work, got off the train, go to my car remote unlock it hop in go to start it and brrr brrr dead, not cranking what so ever, first thing I check is headlights, not on and I have a headlight reminder anyway, so check interior light, not on, switch not on and no doors ajar, open glove box cause wasn't too sure if it was closed properly and light wasn't on so closed that, opened it again a little later and the light came on, boot doesn't have a globe so i know thats not on. Battery is pretty new because I had replaced it because I had a faulty Alternator, new alternator, new battery i can't explain it, the only things I know that would draw power is the stereo time/memory and the immobiliser LED. Where could my power be going! oh and I had driven to work 100km round trip yesterday so not just short trips to the station

check the terminals on the battery. give them a clean with some sand paper. and clean the cable terminals aswell.

I had similar problems a while ago and couldn't figure out what it was. In the end I'd taken it down to a auto electrician and he found out it was the central locking. One of the locks was constantly holding the lock down. Unreal, so hard to suspect.

Thanks will check those out, i do know my central locking is aftermarket and no idea of the quality, terminals are quite new but yeah, ill rip them off and give em a clean

alright I charged the battery up friday and it has since gone flat again, haven't yet checked central locking but terminals were clean, this morning when I popped the bonnet I could hear a relay clicking constantly without the ignition on its the one pictured below 'E.F.I. Power Supply Relay' not sure if this is just because of the flat battery or something to do with the immobiliser? Im stumped! fuse box.jpg (http://www.calaisturbo.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=27887&d=1280630864) changed it with aircon relay and no clicking, might it be a stuffed relay?

Quote: Originally Posted by HTURBO [View Post] I had similar problems a while ago and couldn't figure out what it was. In the end I'd taken it down to a auto electrician and he found out it was the central locking. One of the locks was constantly holding the lock down. Unreal, so hard to suspect. I had exactly the same prob, those auto sparkies are geniuses Yea just get a known good relay that is rated the same as the current one (and the same number of terminals on it too) and replace it. p.s. how quickly does your battery lose its charge (ie if you charge it up, how long before it runs out of juice to start the car up)? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Thats a weird one mate, I would start by putting a multimeter in circuit with the positive and then pulling the fuses one by one and see when the milliamps drops significantly then you can narrow down the circuit the drain is in atleast and go from there.

Left the car from when i last drove it friday night till saturday night without charging it and it was flat enough not to start, reading bit over 9V on the battery. Luke when you say in circuit with the positive where do you mean to put the multimeter?

You can just take the positive terminal off the battery, and then you want to put your multimeter on mA mode in cricuit between that and the terminal. Don't try and start the car or use the lights etc, this is just to see what circuit is puling power while everything is off.

Cool just done this and with everything plugged in and the multimeter set to 20m to be 1.17, pulled all the fuses, got nothing, didn't drop, pulled the relay from the one pictured above and current dropped to 0.02. Does this sound right, is this my current draw? something that is connected to this relays position. oh and found this thanks Luke. How to Find a Parasitic Battery Drain http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain

Yep thats the drain mate, something to do with that relay, but with a relay unless there is a trigger against the coil it shouldn't close the contacts and allow power to draw... So what is the relay for? fuel pump? The trigger comes from the ECU to start the fuel pump for prime....I think

okay got the gregorys out and found what the efi power supply relay powers, with the relay still in place, ECU, AFM, CAS, AAC Valve, so far disconnecting AFM it drops to 0.73, CAS 0, AAC 0, havent unpugged ECU. ---------- Post added 01-08-10 at 17:20 ---------- Quote: Originally Posted by Duke57TT [View Post] Yep thats the drain mate, something to do with that relay, but with a relay unless there is a trigger against the coil it shouldn't close the contacts and allow power to draw... So what is the relay for? fuel pump? The trigger comes from the ECU to start the fuel pump for prime....I think Sorry I labelled it the wrong relay before it's the efi power supply, so I dont know if this is right but if I get the multimeter onto the relay socket which pins should be seeing power or not, as you said if there is power to the coil it will allow the contacts to close, so is 85, 86 the coil and 30, 87 the switch contacts, so if there is power to either 85, 86 it will allow the swicth to close and draw power?

if its a Bosch realy/coil it should have the diagram of how it works on the side.. The the it should have the contacts marked, and the ones with the z's/squiggly line between them in the coil. One side will go to earth, and the other will go to the ECU/Ignition(fark if I can remember now). Test between the side that goes to the ECU(ignition and earth and if you get a voltage its something furhter upstream supplying power

Is it the earth cable to the block from the battery? Sounds that or harness related, undo and re do the plugs under the plenum.

With that relay ^^ I'd replace it with a new one. it possibly may have collapsed internally, I had this happen with another relay on my VL.

Pretty sure the EFI relay should only switch when the ignition is on. One side of the relay coil has battery 12v+ while the other side goes to the ECU which then switches it to earth when the ignition is on. I'd suggest the brown wire on the EFI relay has rubbed through and is touching earth intermittantly. This would cause the relay to switch, which in turn powers up the CAS, AFM, etc and drains your battery.

I am glad someone remembers what the colours of the wires are.. Its been a while since I have really pulled a VL apart. You are right it really only should have positive on it when the ignition is on, so if Deets has the ignition off and it still has 12v on it, thats a bit weird if thats the case. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

got it booked in at the auto elec tomorrow so will eventually find out what it is.

sweet, let us know how it goes mate

Auto Elec just gave me a call, it's the ECU that's faulty and keeping the relay circuit closed, allowing the battery to drain. So it looks like i'm up for a new computer!