Member Since: 08 Sep 2020
Location: Buckley, North Wales
Posts: 1150
Doing fuse test:
Beeps on mA socket but not on 10a socket.
Tried bridging both fuses with metal to do a test and see if 10a fuse gone but still no sound beeping from 10a port testDisco 3 SE Manual 2005 V6 2.7
Buckley, North Wales
14th Dec 2022 6:12 pm
Pete K
Member Since: 15 Jan 2016
Location: GL
Posts: 10735
Yeah 10A fuse has blown. So you can’t use the 10A terminal.
Do the test with the ma socket.
And if that fuse blows as well, well u need 2
Fuses then!
Use the bridge method as before. Bridge meter across battery connection and then open the battery connection so all current goes through meter.
If that blows a 250ma fuse or whatever it says on the front then somethings not right! and that’s where the drain is
14th Dec 2022 6:16 pm
Pete K
Member Since: 15 Jan 2016
Location: GL
Posts: 10735
Maybe part of the meter to 10A terminal has blown too.
14th Dec 2022 6:19 pm
Pete K
Member Since: 15 Jan 2016
Location: GL
Posts: 10735
Sorry. The right lead should be in the red V socket.
Try again.
As you have got the back off now you could remove a fuse one at a time and test continuity the normal way.
14th Dec 2022 6:23 pm
cmb2020
Member Since: 08 Sep 2020
Location: Buckley, North Wales
Posts: 1150
Still no sound if test done this way as image attached
Even with bridged fuse
Disco 3 SE Manual 2005 V6 2.7
Buckley, North Wales
14th Dec 2022 6:30 pm
cmb2020
Member Since: 08 Sep 2020
Location: Buckley, North Wales
Posts: 1150
Just did exact same test as in YouTube video and getting 0.0 reading
Red in mA black in COM and dial set to 200m on DCA
Locked car and asleep. Red to positive black to fuse box then remove red chunky wireDisco 3 SE Manual 2005 V6 2.7
Buckley, North Wales
14th Dec 2022 6:33 pm
Pete K
Member Since: 15 Jan 2016
Location: GL
Posts: 10735
That meter path has blown then.
Hopefully you can get some results out the terminal in the first video, if you are careful
14th Dec 2022 6:34 pm
Pete K
Member Since: 15 Jan 2016
Location: GL
Posts: 10735
Arh. I understand the issue.
Need to move away from fusebox
Remove Disconnect the 2 bolts ontop of Red battery terminal.
You should now have 3 wire paths.
1 Fusebox which you have already tested.
2 Split charge wire
3 terminal with thick cable.
You need to put the meter between 3 and the battery terminal itself so the meter measures the current going down that wire path.
Record value
Repeat with 2
14th Dec 2022 6:35 pm
cmb2020
Member Since: 08 Sep 2020
Location: Buckley, North Wales
Posts: 1150
My multimeter isn’t reading anything at all mate
Just tried my other yellow one also
Confused as I’m doing it the same way I was on the video to a TDisco 3 SE Manual 2005 V6 2.7
Buckley, North Wales
14th Dec 2022 6:48 pm
Flatlander
Member Since: 20 Jul 2015
Location: Here
Posts: 575
cmb2020 wrote:
I did spit this faulty earth wire on the starter. I high has been cleaned and insulated now.
Just locked car up bonnet open 12.85v. I’ll check again in 2 hours. And again morning. I’ll know if it’s gone down it’s not been fixed.
Battery stayed at 12.80v for 3 hours while disconnected. But as soon as I reconnected it and completed work… the voltage went to 12.55v. So it seemed to have an immediate drain in minutes.
...
Flatlander: my image you sent me was not the settings used in the YouTube video. Using the settings image you sent, I got nothing. Using the settings on the YouTube video, I got readings.
I’ll try the settings again tonight on each cable. But I’m thinking I should expect to see the voltage not drop fast while the starter ground wire damage has been repaired.
A couple of points - a bad engine earth won't cause battery drain, it may well cause starting, charging & running issues, but not battery drain. Worth repairing, but it won't be the cause of your issues.
The battery voltage dropping from an open circuit voltage of 12.85VDC to 12.55VDC isn't necessarily an issue, it's an open circuit voltage and as such won't really drop much over a few hours, bar significant temperature change. Once the battery is reconnected to the vehicle, all the base systems will draw current as they 'wake up', then gracefully close down, also remember that a normal quiescent current draw will cause the voltage to be pulled down from open circuit voltage.
I'm still not at all confident in the connections on your meter - in some photos it appears to be a 'hump' over the COM between the mA and the V terminals, in other views, it looks like the COM terminal is to be used in all measurements. if you have a spare 12V lamp you could test to see which connection is correct using the meter leads to complete the circuit in each configuration, the one where the lamp lights (and you see current draw on the meter) will obviously be the correct way to connect & measure.
14th Dec 2022 6:51 pm
Pete K
Member Since: 15 Jan 2016
Location: GL
Posts: 10735
Does this help.
Consider the bulb as your starter motor
14th Dec 2022 6:52 pm
Moleshome
Member Since: 15 Oct 2020
Location: Wokingham
Posts: 412
cmb2020 wrote:
Doing fuse test:
Beeps on mA socket but not on 10a socket.
Tried bridging both fuses with metal to do a test and see if 10a fuse gone but still no sound beeping from 10a port test
There seems to be some confusion around how the meter works. The black lead always needs to be in the 3rd terminal (Common) and the red lead goes into the appropriate terminal to match what you want to measure and have got the dial set to. If you're doing a continuity test then the red lead needs to be in the 2nd terminal, the continuity test will not work with the red lead in any other terminal.
To test the fuse take it out of the meter and with the test leads in the 2nd and 3rd terminals clip them together to confirm that you've removed the correct fuse. Assuming you got a beep clip the leads across the fuse you removed. If you didn't get a beep by clipping the leads together you took out the wrong fuse.
14th Dec 2022 6:54 pm
cmb2020
Member Since: 08 Sep 2020
Location: Buckley, North Wales
Posts: 1150
I think I’ve had enough for today
After over a year of trying to diagnose, I think it’s time to give up on this fault
Spend my time looking for other near by indies who can fit me in
Thank you for the help guys genuinely appreciate it and have at least learned some lessons.
CheersDisco 3 SE Manual 2005 V6 2.7
Buckley, North Wales
14th Dec 2022 6:58 pm
Pete K
Member Since: 15 Jan 2016
Location: GL
Posts: 10735
I think you very close.
It’s either the split charge or alternator I think.
You could try the trial and error method and see if flat in morning or do your volts measurement.
It’s easy to disconnect split charge. So why no do that tonight
14th Dec 2022 7:01 pm
cmb2020
Member Since: 08 Sep 2020
Location: Buckley, North Wales
Posts: 1150
I disconnected my split charge last week for several days as part of my checks and it wasn’t that
Also alternator is charging 14v when in use and I don’t understand how that could be draining battery when shut down?
My brain is fried and body frozen must be doing something wrong with multimeter but alarm kept going off if locked and locked / unlocked both gave reading of 0.0 even with settings as YouTube video when it did workDisco 3 SE Manual 2005 V6 2.7
Buckley, North Wales
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