Member Since: 26 May 2015
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 74
Battery drain & suspension dropping
Hi all, since christmas and my last saga with the disco the suspension has been dropping overnight, I have now pinpointed this to the front wheels by disconnecting the 3 suspension fuses over night and only the front dropped to the stops so I was going to remove the front valve block when I get a chance and give it a clean as per Bodsy's you tube video so fingers crossed on that....
I also still have a battery drain which drops my new battery (and new denso alternator) down to 12.3v each night which I really want to get to the bottom of. I have bought a cheap clamp meter that got really good reviews on amazon so hopefully the values that it's giving me are correct
As the vehicle is locked the meter spikes up to about 12a then drops to 6a then down to 2.68a, I then left the vehicle with the paperclip in the bonnet sensor for half an hour. When the vehicle had gone to sleep I read the red bjb cable, the meter reads 17ma but did vary a bit while I was watching but didn't go over 24ma so that looks ok? I can't get the meter around the alternator cable as the black cover makes it too wide so not sure how to check this, if I measure the negative then the bjb while its asleep will there be a difference if there is a drain from the alternator or starter?
Click image to enlarge
I have been using the vehicle off road for work this month and it's been great, pulling over 3t of trailer around a very muddy site clearance on AT's without getting stuck once! my06 D3
29th Jan 2017 4:48 pm
JMack
Member Since: 02 Aug 2014
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 1517
How are you measuring the battery voltage in the mornings, and what other symptoms are you getting?
29th Jan 2017 4:50 pm
treeiup
Member Since: 26 May 2015
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 74
Hi, I noticed it with the iid which was reading 11.8 in the mornings but with the two multimeters I have they both say 12.3 so I'm not sure what's up there (both meters are relatively cheap).
No other symptoms, had a fault code relating to the amp which I spotted yesterday b1a96-68
my06 D3
29th Jan 2017 5:11 pm
JMack
Member Since: 02 Aug 2014
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 1517
My IID seems to read a bit low as well.
I've not actually checked the battery voltage with a meter though as I have no real reason to as there are no problems. So I wouldn't worry too much.
Also curious why you have the IID plugged in, "in the mornings"?
Is the fault re-occuring or just a one-of?
29th Jan 2017 8:56 pm
treeiup
Member Since: 26 May 2015
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 74
I had to replace the alternator before Xmas and put an eBay one in which turned out to be a duffer so following fitting of a denso, now I have a brand new alternator and battery and have been doing lots of motorway miles I was expecting the battery to be at a minimum of 12.4...
I also had to replace both headlight bulbs as they had both blown at the same time before Xmas which had me a bit worried
The only fault is the dropping suspension which happens every night and had been happening since the eBay alternator failed which is why I was checking for faults in the morning as I would get out to the car and it was on the stops.my06 D3
29th Jan 2017 9:08 pm
treeiup
Member Since: 26 May 2015
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 74
Do you think I'm worrying unnecessarily? I just don't want to have to replace the battery and alternator again for a few years.my06 D3
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alternator) down to 12.3v each night which I really want to get to the bottom of. I have bought a cheap clamp meter that got really good reviews on amazon so hopefully the values that it's giving me are correct 
