Battery amp drain problem CRDi LS

[PaulDavies]

Hi
I picked up my Cee'd at end September-ish. Great car, very pleased in general.
I have noticed that after a long journey (I travel home at weekends 100miles), the following morning it starts (wait for the glowplug light to go out) easily, quite chirpy in fact, nei-nei-nei-vroom!
After a few days of short journeys, or if left unused (sad ) for 2 or 3 days, that the engine is quite sluggish, and today (on the way to the dealer) it took about 10-12 seconds of slow-ish turning over before it started.
At same time all dash lights just go out, until engine starts!
yesterday I turned on rear wiper before starting engine and it was also slow, not like a little puppy dog's wagging tail at all (sorry, wrong car advert).
(After a long journey, battery is charged up and we go through the same weekly cycle... starts well first day, gets slower each day after that).
Dealer asked me if I had left usb-stick or CD in the unit - answer - absolutely not!
I checked amps and there seems to be a constant 1.5-2amp drain, even when nothing on at all. This is almost certainly the problem.
Has anyone else seen this? Hopefully, dealer will sort it, but I am just waiting for them to say, 'cant find anything wrong'.
It really does not inspire confidence in the vehicle and I could not leave it with my wife in case it failed to start when she was alone.... Yeah I know - call Kia Assist!

[tedwards]

Not had this with mine, I have left it for over 7 days between use, a couple of times since buying the car. Always starts first turn, once the glowplug light has gone off.

[tim_p]

Originally Posted by PaulDavies

Dealer asked me if I had left usb-stick or CD in the unit - answer - absolutely not!
I checked amps and there seems to be a constant 1.5-2amp drain, even when nothing on at all. This is almost certainly the problem.

leave a CD in? why on earth not tell them!! If I had a changer would they expect me to empty that all the time? I think not! Personally, I leave a USB stick in there too as according to my iPod the power goes when ignition is off - exactly as I would expect. Methinks your dealer is talking carp!

I've not checked for battery drain as I don't know how to disable the alarm - I assume the alarm would go off if you disconnect the battery?

Show 'em the 2 amp drain and ask them how this is OK - it aint and it explains the problem. I'd have expected any drain to be milliamps, not amps FFS!

[ahlinj]

A have not seen this with mine. If the battery is drained if you have a CD inserted mine would be dead. I put in a CD the first day I got the car and have never removed it. I ejected and inserted the CD 50 times one day to help test a problem for another member on this forum but the CD player got obsolete when I plugged in my memory stick. I have about 8km to work (5 miles) and have left the car for a week without a problem. I don't notice any difference when I make longer journey's either.

[tlama]

hey there,im new to the forum...i was reading your post and i have the same problem and i have a sorento 2005,everything almost perfect,but the same problem with battery discharged...im just about to buy a new battery tomm but it seems that many eople have this problem

[PaulDavies]

Hi - thanks for your comments.
My dealer checked and THEY say that the EMU stays on for a munite or two before shutting down. They say they only get a 0.3 amp drain....
Hmmm, 0.3amp is 12vx0.3a = 4watts, that also seems excessive. They ask nicely if problem still exists (when I took car back for new radio unit re the I-pod problem!!). I am monitoring it and maybe will attempt to narrow it down by putting my ammeter inline and then removing each fuse in turn - doing dealers work for them!! maybe I should charge (sorry - pun!).

[richs]

It's a lot of effort but if it gets the dealer to do something....

Next time you are going on holiday, try get a friend or train or something to the airport so that you can leave the car at the dealers. Invite them to start the car when you get back, and see the problem.

Alternatively, video the problem. I had tremendous problems with BT trying to convince them that I had a virtually unusable broadband connection due to it cutting out all the time. Kept getting the indian call centre talking me through a set script, with the mind set that I was the problem. Finally video taped the router as it disconnected etc and sent that off. That did the trick and got an engineer into the exchange to replace a faulty port there.

[tim_p]

Originally Posted by PaulDavies

Hi - thanks for your comments.
My dealer checked and THEY say that the EMU stays on for a munite or two before shutting down. They say they only get a 0.3 amp drain....

Whats the rated capacity of the battery? If it's say, 50Ah then by my (admittedly flakey) calcs the battery would be flat after a week - that certainly doesn't sound normal - I've often left cars for longer than a week and they've always started, even in winter months.
(If my guessed capacity of the battery is waay out then obviously I'm talking utter rubbish!)

[ceedman]

Sorry for the late replay to this thread I have only just discovered this forum so you may know the answer to your battery drain problem, If not go to your dealer and ask them to check if your vehicle falls within the chassis range for the radio recall. Some Ceed radios have a software problem and they do not switch off completely thereby draining your battery if you do not use the car for a while, other symptomes are radio freezing or not ejecting cd.

[FrEaKZoIdE]

ceedman,
You rulle!
Some of this inside info is really useful!

Just hope my Pro_Cee'd doesn't have any issues, (according to my math, in probably 2 months!)