Vauxhall Corsa Battery Drain?

Question

Vauxhall Corsa Battery Drain?
Has anyone experienced a battery drain on a 95-2001 ish Vauxhall Corsa. I replaced the battery on mine but i think theres something draining the current as it discharges when left over night.. Any suggestions?? Thanks

No aftermarket parts.. Everything else works fine....There is a spark when reconnecting the battery but not a huge one. Car runs... No lights staying on... Thanks

Answer 1

could be an earth problem have you checked to see if corroded?

Answer 2

With everything turned off, do you get a spark when you connect the battery up?
To have discharged a brand-new fully-charged battery overnight suggests quite a high current drain, which would show when you connect the terminals as a noticable spark.
I presume when you initially connect it after charging, everything is fine & the engine starts promptly?
If you use a multimeter, be aware that they can usually only measure up to 10Amp DC before fusing. There may be more than 10 Amps flowing here.
I would connect a charged battery, wait 30mins & check if anything has become warm to the touch eg Stereo amplifier, ignition coil. Most things don't receive power when the ignition is off anyway, but still check (if you find things are working when they shouldn't be, perhaps your ignition relay is faulty).
Is everything operating normally eg central locking on all doors, interior light goes out, car stereo, alarm. If something doesn't work then it could well be near-shorted/stalled & draining a lot of power, but not enough to blow it's fuse.

Answer 3

The safe way to test for battery drain is to connect the newly charged battery on the earth side only and use a lamp (bulb) of 12 volts to test. If the power drain is great enough the lamp will light up. You will then have to go round the car looking for the component that is shorted out. Where is the courtesy lamp door switch, these are sometimes to blame especially when the connector falls off inside the box section and is therefore invisible.

Answer 4

Hi Check that nothing has been left on or is staying on overnight such as the boot light, which is a favorite for flattening batteries overnight. You can check this by shutting the rear hatch and then checking via the rear seats. Other than that, your alternator diodes could be leaking to earth. Disconnect the battery negative lead (there will probably be a spark but don't worry), disconnect the big live lead from the alternator and insulate it with insulating tape, and then reconnect the battery negative. If the battery is not flat the next morning then your alternator is the culprit. Cheers Geordie

Answer 5

You want to put a multimeter in DC Amps mode in series with the battery with the ignition switched off. Then find the culprit by elimination taking out and replacing all of the fuses until you find the one that reduces the current indicated on the meter to next to zero.

Answer 6

I had this problem and I found the light in the booot was stuck on. Try it and see, or remove the buld and see how it is then in the morning. If the fault still persists it could be the alternator is faulty.

Answer 7

Most likely a bad earth or light in boot, also watch for after market extras such as neons, alarms, stereo etc

Answer 8

had the same prob but different car.unfortunately its proberly going to be a process of elimination,battery alternater starter motor or a bad earth some where.it might be cheaper to go to a auto electrician they will suss it in no time. are you in rac green flag coz you could call them out,act dum,just to pick there brains.good luck.

Answer 9

suggest you refer to my answer and owners comments in resolved questions relating to a vauxhall cavalier with the same problem.

Answer 10

have you checked the obvious like making sure the boot lights out