Battery drain within an hour...help!

[owen191]

Hi,

My battery seems to be draining very quickly, so much so it wont start the car after an hour. This problem has appeared overnight. The battery has been disconnected and seems to hold its charge ok. Once connected back to the car it drains within the hour. I have currently pulled the fuse for the stereo and sound system to see if that is whats draining the power. Has anyone got any other ideas? I dont currently have access to VAGCOM.

Thanks in advance, Owen.

[chelspeed]

No small electrical item like the stereo would pull enough load to flatten the battery in an hour. I would say your battery is toast. It may seem like it's holding it's charge when disconnected but any kind of load and it flattens means it's broke.

A reputable battery seller will have a discharge tester, two insulated handles and a big wire between them, he will be able to test the battery.

[Cuprabob]

If you haven't done anything to the car like retro-fitting a sat nav unit or leave something plugged into the 12V socket then I agree with above it's more than likely the battery or a bad connection at the battery that only becomes apparent at higher currents

The reason I mention the 12V socket is that although it goes off with the ignition there is actually still a lower voltage present
But to be honest to discharge a battery in less than an hour you have to be drawing a significant current. Even the well known battery drain issue caused by fitting the RNS510 to earlier cars without upgrading the Canbus Gateway take a few days to discharge the battery.