16v GTI battery issues

[robbie_d]

Hi all,

I purchased my mk2 16v GTI a month or so ago, and while I'm loving it I do have one problem, namely the battery.

As its a second car I can often go a few days without driving it, and twice in the last month I have got in it only to find the battery completely dead.

Now, I've checked I'm not leaving an lights on, stereo is switched off (& front removed), etc. The one thing it has got is an after-market immobiliser, with a red led fitted into one of the dashboard switch blanks. Under neath the led is a metal connection which I have to touch with a keyfob mounted device to deactivate it. It reactivates automatically on engine cut-off.

Could this be the problem behind the flat battery, my immediate thought was it couldn't be draining enough power to do that, but now I'm not so sure. Or is it simply a case of putting a new battery on it?

I'm just a little worried that I'll spend money on a battery only to find the same thing happens again. If that is the case, given that my car isn't driven every day, would I be best off removing the immobiliser?

Any advice would be much appreciated, I'm sure some of you will have experienced a similar problem.

Also, where is the best place to order batteries from, and am I better off going for a Bosch or something cheaper?

[AdamMk2]

I have exactly the smae problem mate sometimes, what immobiliser/alarm do you have??

[sidecarphil]

get the battery tested by a GOOD reliable garage we have a midtronic's battery tester and this digitaly test's the battery (some how)

it will tell you if it is knackered or not and how knackered it is

[danny_p]

a pikey way to test battery is to leave the headlights on for an hour,  it should start after  if it dosent  battery is junk, 

if you don't drive the car much   getting a small float charger and putting a ciggaret lighter plug on can save much agro

[sidecarphil]

in my old mini i had a solor panel in the rear window ( i know the uk don't get a lot of sun but i worked all year round ) connected to the battery and that stopped it going flat 

[robbie_d]

Thanks for your reponses guys, gonna get the battery tested this weekend.

Adam, not sure the make of the immobiliser, not paid much attention to it previously. How have you got round the problem?

I've seen those solar trickle chargers advertised, may give one a go.

[AdamMk2]

Ive literallty stopped using the interior lighting, made sure my glove box light switch is stiff, as my other one used to come on with a slight nudge of the switch when getting a cd out or something.

Ive basically had the rest to bits really! Checked all the earthing and whatever else, I really cant see what the problem is, its also definately not the battery, thee is something that seems to randomly drain it once in a while.

My alarm/immobilisers a Scorpion one, I thought that could possible be the source of my problem  haha

Id say the best bet on testing your battery is get it full charged, then disconnect it from the car and leave it for a few days because then you will get an "accurate" reading on the battery as to if the cells are dead rather than one when youve stumbled the car down to Halfords after just being dead flat drained to which they will tell you it is knackered! However it would show that because the car would have flattened it!

So basically take the battery in for a test once fully charged and sat for a few days and see what the result is mate 

[sidecarphil]

an other way of checking if the car is draining your battery is to close all the door's and make sure every thing is off and disconnect the battery then insert an multimeter (set to A (amp's) setting) between the earth terminal of the battery and the earth wire you have just disconnected , your looking for less than half an amp (ish) deped's on accesory's you have