1995 854 T5R Battery drain

[Cameronian]

I was tempted to tag this onto an existing topic about similar symptoms but they all seemed to be about '96 cars and one post claims that the '95 electrics are fundamentally different and Vera340's problems seem different so here I am...

My car intermittently drains the battery while it's just sitting for a few (2 or 3, perhaps) days. Not every time and sometimes it will survive a week or more perfectly happily. My mechanic has tried measuring all of the voltages around the battery and alternator, even over a weekend while on its own in his workshop, but has never actually discovered a drain in the act. He has replaced batter cables and has generally fiddled about. We've looked at the boot's lamp and the cubby hole lamp. I've always carefully checked that the interior and the red door lamps go off after the appropriate delay. No luck so far and it still often drains the battery so that it's sluggish or, more often, absolutely impossible to start - even down a hill.

The other day the cubby holes locking linkage failed so I had to cut the little stirrup that holds it shut. It's hot here so I had to keep the car door open while trying to fix it so I switched the courtesy lights off "auto" so I wouldn't risk the already low battery. Needless to say I forgot to reconnect the lights to the doors when I finished, leaving the switch by the mirror on "absolute off". It was two weeks before I remembered. In fact it was the fact that the battery didn't go flat in all of that time which made me think about it and remember about the switch.

I am as reasonably confident as I can be that the interior lights had been switching off automatically after the appropriate delay when the doors were locked because I wait for them to turn off. I am of an age where these things make me smile because my previous cars never did that and I've had this one since new - more than twenty years! That the discharge problem hasn't returned in the three months since disconnecting the courtesy lights makes it seem clear that the fault is there somewhere. Could it be the relay or the switch by the mirror, perhaps?

The red lights on the doors continue to work exactly as they should so I don't suspect the little switches on each door. The central locking and remote control is fine and that uses the same relay but all of the while the relay turned the interior lights off and on as it should too. Could the relay still do its main jobs ok while at the same time causing an intermittent loss to earth? Does that switch by the mirror have a bad record or is it something else entirely?

I'd be really glad of some advice because chasing this has cost me a lot of hours of mechanic's time, three new batteries and more small stuff. I gave up using the car because I couldn't park it anywhere and count upon it starting again afterwards - very embarrassing indeed!

[abscate]

It sounds like you have a short in the courtesy light wiring which occasionally grounds and thus the erratic current drain. Turning off the circuit solves it.

My karmic response for a 20 year old car from new, would be to accept this as its new operating mode.

...and thats from someone who enjoys current fault tracing.

[Cameronian]

Thank you abscate! Until two or three months ago I was all fired up with the idea of a V60 Polestar to replace my T5R. I knew it was too small inside and I knew my golf bats wouldn't go in the boot with my electric trolley etc. but, still, I just wanted one - even though they are not homologated for sale in Spain so I'd have been signing up for a pain in the arse of a process of importing and registering one. Then I came to my senses. My T5R is great and nothing is wrong apart from the battery drain and the broken cubby hole lock and the inevitable odometer gear (the metal replacement from the States has never worked, even at the ridiculous price of $50 plus p&p) so I ought to fix it and keep it - for another twenty years, perhaps. So I want to fix it and I have tried, I really have....

What about the relay or the switch, what do you think?

[abscate]

I think it is a worn spot on your wires that occasion signally shorts. It's going to be tough to find,

These cars are known for having trouble with the wiring harness in the boot lid hinge