car is now dead.

[Alec]

You need to set it to Amps mate not voltage. The Ohms symbols on the multimeter I think (Been years since I have been near one)

[Agreeable Slick]

Change the regulator in your alternator, common source of battery drains.

It's the black block with two screws on the side of the housing (opposite the belt obviously) and swap them it over for a new one. Most autofactors worth their salt will carry them.

[emery1990]

Ok thanks, yer i flicked it other to current amp. the ohms measures resisants, it was only £20 it says dc current, not sure if ifs ac current thats needed to be read. Tried it on a few settings, first time was 10 amps and under which read out 0, but when i did put it on it did spark and read out 5.8 for a split second the  nothing.

Ill get the regulator your on about.

[clipperjay]

When the car is running via bump or jump start put your meter across the positive and negative from the alternator leads it should read 14.4Volts or more if its not then its reg or windings are foobared the battery will always give out 13-14Volts which is why in order to charge the battery the alternator must produce over 14V i.e greater than rated 12V battery!
A/C Alternating current = Magnetic windings motor powered Your car!
D/C Direct current  = T.V's house etc 240V 110V

DC stands for “Direct Current,” meaning voltage or current that maintains constant polarity or direction, respectively, over time.
AC stands for “Alternating Current,” meaning voltage or current that changes polarity or direction, respectively, over time.

Do some reading LOL!

[Alec]

When the car is running via bump or jump start put your meter across the positive and negative from the alternator leads it should read 14.4Volts or more if its not then its reg or windings are foobared the battery will always give out 13-14Volts which is why in order to charge the battery the alternator must produce over 14V i.e greater than rated 12V battery!
A/C Alternating current = Magnetic windings motor powered Your car!
D/C Direct current  = T.V's house etc 240V 110V

DC stands for “Direct Current,” meaning voltage or current that maintains constant polarity or direction, respectively, over time.
AC stands for “Alternating Current,” meaning voltage or current that changes polarity or direction, respectively, over time.

Do some reading LOL!

Maybe he had AC/DC in that head-unit 

[emery1990]

I know what ac and dc current is i didnt say i didnt undertstand it, but on my multimeter its only got direct current for the amp reading and not ac current, dont know if that makes a difference, but as my car in ac id presume my car is ac in ampage, current aswell. How would i have known my car was ac or dc from that quote lol Im only confused about why it wasnt giving a reading when testing for a drain, but seems like it isnt even draining anyway but may be the alternator regulator is nackered! Im trying to read up on stuff but so many varied veiws on forums about what causes a problem that i dont know what to believe.!

[Gloves88]

A/C Alternating current = Magnetic windings motor powered Your car!
D/C Direct current  = T.V's house etc 240V 110V

Wrong way round mate, house is supplied with AC - you get modern high voltage electric power transmission in DC but its always converted back to AC before being supplied to the house. The alternating aspect gives you the 50Hz

All batteries are DC

[clipperjay]

A/C Alternating current = Magnetic windings motor powered Your car!
D/C Direct current  = T.V's house etc 240V 110V

Wrong way round mate, house is supplied with AC - you get modern high voltage electric power transmission in DC but its always converted back to AC before being supplied to the house. The alternating aspect gives you the 50Hz

All batteries are DC

Yeah just reliased it was late last night had a few bevs after footie aswell! LOOL
Emery don't listen to me if its late LOL

[clipperjay]

I know what ac and dc current is i didnt say i didnt undertstand it, but on my multimeter its only got direct current for the amp reading and not ac current, dont know if that makes a difference, but as my car in ac id presume my car is ac in ampage, current aswell. How would i have known my car was ac or dc from that quote lol Im only confused about why it wasnt giving a reading when testing for a drain, but seems like it isnt even draining anyway but may be the alternator regulator is nackered! Im trying to read up on stuff but so many varied veiws on forums about what causes a problem that i dont know what to believe.!

Simple voltage readings should be about 14V+ from the battery if its grounding you might have 12V-13V all you do is get someone to pull fuses to find out if this voltage goes up if it does on a fuse pull, you know possibly that whatever is grounded could be the cause of the drain.
Like I said read and make your decisions for yourself we are here to help mate
The other way people check for faults is the old resistance check OHMS readings which you dont need voltage or power to check. For instance if your heater blower motor is making a noise you can check the resistance of the windings if it reads zero then its fine if it reads low to high numbers it means the small current from your meter going around the windings has resistance and the current is lost via some touching of the fan blower casing going to earth or ground.   
I just think you might have a knackered battery go to halfords they should test it for you to let you know for free LOL!

Jay

[emery1990]

Thats where the confusing was lol. The advise was test for ampage, then pull out the fuses. Not just check the voltage as you say.

If it is nakered then thats the second one the car has killed. I havnt bought two but the ex owner bought one in febuary. It died the day i bought it! so he bought a new one. Took it too halfords but looked like an idiot as it wasnt charged.

Im still not very comfident in making decisions on the car yet dont want to make things worse or buy something that isnt broke. Took me close to a year to fully understand the 1.8t engines!. but the older engines seem much easier.

Ill pull fuses now!.