[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by sachinkudva

I own a 2012 Punto 90HP Diesel and in mid-2016 I replaced the stock ICE with a Pioneer Head Unit....

Meanwhile, the local Amaron person also told me that the replacement battery I purchased on the highway was that of a low end Indica, and mine being a top end Punto with ABS, Airbag etc, I need a bigger battery.

Funny - the battery drain is a similar issue I faced about 10 years back on my Palio - after fitting Pioneer HU replacing the original Fiat cassette player.

The connectors of Pioneer HU did not have a perfect match with those in the car and this was the culprit. If my memory is right, the red and yellow wires on the HU need specific connections - there was a warning on the user manual about this (as mentioned by R2D2 there is no ACC on the Palio - there is a MAR position where are all electricals are ON and we have to turn the key to AVV position to start the car; is it the same on Punto?). Let me see if I can dig it up.

Why don't you run a quick check by disconnecting the HU and confirm whether the battery continues to drain?

I think the Punto Diesel needs a 55Ah battery and Amaron has batteries rated 60Ah for Punto, which is permitted for fitment as per owner's manual.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

The connectors of Pioneer HU did not have a perfect match with those in the car and this was the culprit. If my memory is right, the red and yellow wires on the HU need specific connections - there was a warning on the user manual about this

If it helps, yellow wire is generally constant 12V + supply which keeps memory for clock, user sound settings, track settings while turning off etc. Hence, this wire is constantly fed with 12V positive line. The red wire is also 12V + supply but routed through the ignition, which gets cut off with the ignition switch when in off position.
If these wires are reversed, the stereo would still play but fail to keep memory once ignition is switched off. Also, the stereo will play even when ignition is turned off. You will have to manually turn off the stereo.

You can try disconnecting the stereo and check if it stops the drain.

Regards,
Saket.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

Yes, I did wait for a while before initiating the tests. Although I have to admit, I am an absolute n00b in matters of DIY in general, but then this issue does not seem to have any solution.

I'd rather pay someone to have this done than try it myself and do more damage to the fuse box. But now I understand the concept of debugging this and hopefully would be able to instruct the FNG electrician to get this done.

No harm done so no need to be ashamed buddy. We all make mistakes when learning.

Just save yourself the frustration of working on the car and take it to the dealership or an experienced electrician to get this fixed. Also, the fuse that broke needs to be replaced. The plastic body on a fuse is an insulator and aids in removing it when it has failed.

@saket77, @vrprabhu - I too have a Pioneer HU in the Palio 1.6. The absence of power control via the ignition mandates a separate on/off switch to prevent battery drain. The stock battery in the 1.6 GTX is a 50 AH, in the 1.2 petrol it's a 45 AH (both DIN format). The Palio Adventure possibly takes a DIN 55 AH.

[captrajesh]

A friend of mine has a 2003 Santro which has a peculiar problem: It drains off the battery; be it new or old. So each charge is worth just one ride.

Thinking that it could be the battery, he changed it to new but the issue persists regardless. Out of frustration, he has covered it with Tarpaulin and let it die in his farm.

What could be the reason and how can it be resolved? Any pointers would be of great help.

[akshaymahajan]

Originally Posted by captrajesh

A friend of mine has a 2003 Santro which has a peculiar problem: It drains off the battery; be it new or old. So each charge is worth just one ride.

Thinking that it could be the battery, he changed it to new but the issue persists regardless. Out of frustration, he has covered it with Tarpaulin and let it die in his farm.

What could be the reason and how can it be resolved? Any pointers ould be of great help.

Seems like a cut wire that is earthing the charge through the body.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by captrajesh

A friend of mine has a 2003 Santro which has a peculiar problem: It drains off the battery; be it new or old. So each charge is worth just one ride.

What could be the reason and how can it be resolved? Any pointers ould be of great help.

The usual culprit is a faulty alternator since the vehicle is a bit old but old wiring also can cause a short circuit draining the battery.

Battery drain issues sometimes takes a while to figure out, sometimes its easy. But for making the car useful, please buy a battery disconnect switch and fit it. This way you can isolate the battery while car is not in use.

You need to take it to an electrician and patiently wait until they figure out what is wrong. The battery voltage, Alternator output, current draw when car is locked and running, all needs to be checked.

I know of a similar case where a faulty door switch was draining the battery, but it took many visits until an experienced electrician was able to figure it out.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by captrajesh

What could be the reason and how can it be resolved? Any pointers ould be of great help.

Hook up a multi-meter in series to the battery at the negative terminal and start pulling one fuse at a time.

The fuse which when pulled out ends the parasitic draw is the cause of all your worries.

Cheers.

[captrajesh]

Thanks for chipping in folks. Those were helpful for sure. He's been told to replace the wirong harness which, he's not prepared to as it's costing him about 30k. I'll advise him to investigate on these lines.

[govigov]

I was looking for an all in one video that can help, but instead giving you a search result that closely matches what you are looking for. Basically it is called a parasitic draw test. There are a couple of principles on how to do the test, like locking the car with the door open etc.. waiting for the car to sleep, then starting the test.

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...parasitic+draw

Watch atleast a couple of videos to get your basics right.

[Durango Dude]

Originally Posted by captrajesh

Thanks for chipping in folks. Those were helpful for sure. He's been told to replace the wirong harness which, he's not prepared to as it's costing him about 30k. I'll advise him to investigate on these lines.

It would be better for him to exchange his Santro for the new one. When one issue is set right another may crop up and prove up keep expesnive in an old car, as the car would be up for reregistration since its 15 years old.

[dhanushs]

What is the terminal voltage when the battery is idle, and when the engine is running?

[captrajesh]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

What is the terminal voltage when the battery is idle, and when the engine is running?

Will update when I visit the farm with him to check out the suggestions.

[captrajesh]

I have something to add; not sure if it's useful:
I work for a Bank where, they do electrical audits periodically. They use some gadget to see the current flow through thermal imaging. I think that the same device can be used to identify the cable that's conducting higher flow and locate the fault. I'd be glad to hear from some knowledgeable FMs in this regard.

[truezealous]

I am starting this thread to share my experience with fellow car owners who wish to install a GPS tracker.

I installed the GPS tracker SinoTrack mini ST-901 in my car, I chose a powered fuse to provide power to the Tracker and now I am thinking that was the big mistake I did!
After about a month of installation, the car suddenly refused to start. I gave 2-3 attempts but all in vain. Went to FNG and arranged temporary battery to start the car and keep my car’s battery in garage for a full day charge. Next day went to garage to put my battery back in car. Till this time, I was under the impression that the battery might have drained and charging it for a full day will resolve the problem. But the car refused to start even on the fully charged battery. I observed that while cranking, the lights on the instrument console were going off, all acc points remained powered though. FNG person concluded that one of the battery cells might have gotten damaged hence it is losing power quickly and the battery is unable to provide the required power to the car to get it started. He suggested me to go for replacement of battery.

My question is, what causes a two and half year old battery to malfunction? Or battery life was over? I drive daily to office and never faced starting issues, car starts in single crank but in the end suddenly stopped working.

Tracker has builtin battery of 150 mAh and with my initial setup, its drawing power continuously from car battery. Now I changed the wiring of tracker to take power from ACC fuse, hope it will not trouble car’s battery.

Note: I am not 100% sure of real cause of damage to my car’s battery, I am suspecting tracker only because after a month of installing it, car’s battery got damaged.

[anupamjain2k]

I have been experiencing serious, unexplained, un-detectable (so-far), extremely rapid battery drain issues in our Chevrolet Optra (2007, Petrol 1.6).

Current State (TL/DR Version): Had a fresh, replacement battery (Fully Charged, Amaron - Correct Ah, Manufactured 02/20) installed about 36 hours back. The car is fully stock, no modifications, no additions whatsoever. Further, at this point, the factory-fitted stereo system is disconnected (The fuse for it taken out from the passenger compartment fuse-box). Going to the car, the battery was completely dead. Checked to see, if any lights had been left on by mistake. None! This comes off the back of a long history (Read below).

History: The car, since bought, has always had battery issues. In the beginning, it was about 2 weeks of non-running, leading to failure to start through battery. We regarded it as a nuisance, but thought of it as just a case of higher than average battery drain (Our other family car is Baleno, 2006, and has never had this kind of issue whatever). We lived through it. Fast forward to 2018. Got the battery changed (Regular replacement). And the problem escalates, causing the battery drain period to come down from 1.5/2 weeks to ~3/4 days (2 months' back or so). In the last 2 months, this deteriorated to less than 18 hrs. Along the way, on the suspicion of leakage from the stereo its fuse was taken away, so to disconnect the system. In this period, the battery was fully charged by a battery guy many times.

The last sequence of events date back about a week. The battery was drained. It was got charged completely, and in about 12 hrs time (Essentially overnight), it was drained to death. Took the battery to the battery guy again, and he said, it may be a manufacturing issue and promised to get it replaced under warranty (Had 2 weeks left to go in battery's warranty). True to his promises, he gets us a fresh new battery, that we install back on Thurs evening (At this point, we checked and everything was working well, with cabin lights shining brighter than we had seen them in a while), and today morning (Sat), when we went upto the car, it was drained complete.

In my mind, there could be a variety of issues - Bad battery (Now, possibly eradicated), Leakage circuit (Stereo circuit having been taken out, I don't know if there's anything else there), Alternator circuit issues (May be an issue, but ruled out in the last 36 hours of events), Starter issues leading to heavier current drain (May still be an issue, considering the age of the car, but again irrelevant in the last 36 hours of events).

So, I am at my wits end on this. Do any of you have had a similar experience? In Optra or another car? Does Optra have this as a generic issue? What did you do to diagnose and solve the issue?

Tech Gurus on the forum - Anything that you can advise/recommend in this scenario?

Appreciate your advice and inputs here.