Mk3 gti battery keeps going flat ...

[Gti_3]

Hi i am very new to this forum, came on to get some advice 

Recently purchased a golf gti, 1995 reg, had it for about 3 weeks and never had a problem starting it. It has a factory fitted immobiliser and a after market clifford alarm for some reason (absolutley hate it)! I took the old cd player out about 4 days ago and swapped it for one i bought cheap off ebay, next day went to start the car and the battery was flat.. thought nothing of it so had someone jump start it and it was ok the rest of the day.. next morning comes around and same problem it was flat again! so yesterday i changed the cd player back to the original one that was in when i bought it, and thought problem solved! .. go to start it today and surprise surprise its flat!

It is really starting to annoy me now, the charge doesnt seem to stay for that long, because after a few hours of leaving the car i go to start it and flat battery!

Can anyone help ?? Im wondering if its the stupid fob immobiliser or if its something else ?! 


ps i also went to halfords to have a battery test, and the guy said that something was left on constantly but as far as i was aware everything was off! there is a switch in the glovebox that turns the light off in the centre console which is a clifford light, and so i turned that off and he tested it again and said that it was then fine and i had a good battery... this is so confusing please help! 

[RainVonBee]

Try a different battery could be a dodgy one, had the same problem with the other halfs car recently. Stick a different one on, start it. If it starts first time it's a bad battery. I've actually had this problem on a mk2 and mk3

[RainVonBee]

The battery was coming up as I good battery every time it was charged but it just wouldn't hold the charge. Although it had 12v it didn't have enough ampage to spark

[itavaltalainen]

same old story.... how did you connect the radio up?

[Gti_3]

I just removed the old stereo, took the connector wires away that went with that stereo, got the new one which came with its own connection wires, connected them to the ones attached in the car put the stereo back in and thats that .. i read somewhere that the red wire should be with the red wire and the yellow should be with the yellow and when i checked the red was with yellow and same with the other 2.. so thought that could be the problem so swapped it too red/red and yellow/yellow but still had same problem .. when i put the old one back in i just used the connection wires that came with that one and connected it to the connections in the car but when i went to start the car this morning it was flat but i didnt change anything with the stereo to how it was before .. :s 

( hope all that rambling makes sense lol )

[Gti_3]

Try a different battery could be a dodgy one, had the same problem with the other halfs car recently. Stick a different one on, start it. If it starts first time it's a bad battery. I've actually had this problem on a mk2 and mk3

Thanks will give that a go at some point 

[Gti_3]

 it's definitely not the stereo causing the problem as that's been out all day and went to drive home about 45 mins ago to find car has flat battery again!!

Something new that happened on way back though was a loud screeching noise when I stopped at some traffic lights and started to pull off .. Think it's the belt ?? Not sure as I'm a woman haha but could that be the problem or is that something totally different I need to fix .. ??

[madsb]

The screeching belt could be - and most likely is - the alternator belt, which is a serpentine belt (or multi vee)

Try going to your nearest gas station and ask if they have some silicone spray that you could borrow (or just buy some yourself) and spray it on the ribbed side of the belt (you can identify it by the noise - it's to the left in your engine bay). That should rid you of the noise. btw the easiest way to spray it, is by crouching down and doing it from the bottom of the car, by the wheel.

If this fix doesn't last, buy a new belt

That the belt is running properly is essential for the alternator generating power. It won't fix your power problem though. Make sure stuff like the lights and other stuff isn't what's drawing power contantly.

[Gti_3]

I've been told to buy a new battery so doing that today .. Nothing is left on in the car so don't know why it keeps going flat ..

[itavaltalainen]

Have you done any measurements?

What voltage do you have with engine off and with engine running??
Does the voltage with engine running go below 13V when you switch lights and rear window demister on?

have you measured the current that the car uses with everything turned off, car locked and so on?
if this is over, say 30mA, then start pulling fuses (and put them back in) and see when the current drop significantly, this then would be the culprit....

why spend £££ on a battery if you don't know it's the cause??