[mishranishant]

i have driven from Lonavala to Andheri 120 kms with the charging light on. Immediately knew the battery was not charging. unfortunately, it was during the night and had to keep the parking lights on. had also to use the wiper (about 15 times) as it was raining cats and dogs. I stayed at Borivali. Car just crossed the andheri flyover and then drained off completely. :-)

Moral : - Battery can really last long. Dont remember the make.

[karizma_devil]

@spotty are you sure its the _ve terminal ???

I read few articles after googling .. all suggested +ve terminal of battery to red wire of the meter and +ve battery terminal wire with the black .. ??

Even some suggest if you have a test light connect it to -ve of battery terminal and other to ground on engine.. if light glows .. there is a short somwhere ...

Please help !

[bkishore_77]

Hi ,

It seems even I'm facing similar issue. Here is the brief description. I take my safari and palio in alternate weeks to my office. Couple of weeks back, when I wanted to take out Palio, the battery was completely dead. This is a new exide battery purchased in Jan 09. So I called up the exide help line, who took the battery for charging and returned it the next day.

I assumed I had not closed one of the door properly and due to central locking the battery may have drained. But exactly in 2 and half days the battery got drained again. I took it straight to concorde motors and they saw that there was 1.4 Amperes leakage. This was checked by connecting the multimeter terminal between the negative terminal of the battery and the clamp of the negative wire. They said this is a substantial leakage and suspected the remote locking unit. The SC people refused to check this wirng and asked to take it to the authorised remote lock dealer. Since the make was Silicon, it took me 3 days to find the local contact and get the remote locking unit disconnected.

In the mean time, the battery got drained again and got it recharged from Exide. Now even after Silicon SC removed the control unit of the central locking, they were able to see the 1.4 Amp leakage. I was now at my wits end. This time I took it to Hariprasad, an ex-Fiat service centre. They disconnected the remaining two accessories Head unit and the clock. Still there was 1.4 amp leakage. They sounded disinterested in finding out the issue.

In the meanwhile the battery got drained again. . Exide again took the battery for recharge and I'm waiting for them to return the battery as I'm typing this. I'm planning to take it to concorde again. All the basic checks were made and the alternator is good.

Now to isolate the shorting, I will be asking the SC guys to remove the fuse one by one and check when the leakage is less than 0.5 amps(which is acceptable) and then check that section of the wiring.

I will post the updates here.

Cheers
Kishore

[Spotty91]

Hello Karizma

You can either do it as you have suggested ( on the +ve side) or as I have suggested (on the -ve side). The results will be the same since in both the cases it is a series connection. The current flowing will be the same.

regards,

[bkishore_77]

Well concorde called me saying that there is a problem with the alternator. They reasoned that the battery did not drain even after two days with the alternator wire disconnected from the positive terminal of the battery.(Out of three wires connected to Positive terminal of the battery, the middle one is the alternator and starter wire). It would approx take 2 and half day for the battery to drain completely otherwise.

They suspected a faulty regualtor. So they said they would be giving it to authorrised Bosch dealer for repair for which I agreed. In the evening they called me saying that the issue is with the regulator and two bearings and repair cost would be 7200. 6k for the regulator and bearings and 1.2k for the labor at concorde.

I did a quick search in this forum and saw that the regulator price was 1700 - 2k max. I confronted the Concorde SS with this info. He agreed the cost is on the higher side. The concorde levies 30% extra as the handling charges on the amount charged by the Bosch ASC. I really got annoyed and demanded them to replace it back and said I'll take it myself to Bosch.

Then I realised they had not given this for repair with authorised Bosch dealer. He was just a vendor for all makes of alternators. Now I've taken back the alternator and would be giving it to Prasad Agrwal trading co who are supposed to be authorised dealer for Bosch here in Banaglore.

Please let me know if the above info is right. I shall update on the progress.

I thank this forum for being so informative which helped me in not losing the money.

[bkishore_77]

I'm happy to share the news of alternator issue being resolved now. I took the alternator and gave it for service at Prasad Agrawal at JC road who is the authorised Bosch distributor . They found it is an issue with a faulty regulator and was replaced for 1600 and Rs 350 Labour charges.

[karizma_devil]

Ok Mad max is back on road.. painting the town yellow !

Cant tell you guys how it feels to have the car back !!! Pheww !!

Well after visiting unsuccessfully 3-4 " electrical Specialists " , doing all shorts of poking , getting even 10k quote for the repairs , atlaast i went to " Best Auto Electrical s opera house Mumbai.

First impression - Honest owner - Shekar Bhat.

Very Very competent mechanics he has.

OK now the story -

After fixing appointment for 2 cot 09, 9 in the morning .. I started from my place 8 in the morning, filled up to the brim ( Normal Petrol). Finding the place was very easy, its just 3 mins drive from Charni road station, just before the Kennedy fly over to your right , a small shop. Parking the car infront was a tricky business and the passing traffic was scary ( someone could have easily scraped past my car)

Now I was greeted by Mr. Shekhar, his mechanic all ready with the Bosc diagonistic tool. Hood was pooped open, tool connected to the battery terminals, it gave Battery 12.3 odd, charging 13.9 full load !! The mehanic was bit surprised coz, the battery not chrging light was sitting pretty on the console !!!

He ran around the car checking for any loose wires or anything he could nail as the culprit , but to his utter dismay nothing !!

He again took off the -ve battery terminal, connected a bulb attached with two wires to the -ve of the battery and the negative of the terminal wire - the bulb lit up pretty bright - conclusion parasitic drain. But a faulty alternator diode could also lead to reverse from from the battery.

After 30 mins of hit and trial - nothing.

Suddenly i heard a tick-tick-tick from a black metal cover , just behind the battery. Before i could point the mechanic was already hafl way unscrewing the cover. Behind it sit some 3-4 relays . The one heating up badly and completely rusted was making that sonund, it was the Fuel Pump cum alternator relay !!!! ( Fuel Pump and alternator share the same relay !! )
Now the mechanic was smiling after 2 tense hours , replaced immideately !!

Wolha !!!!!! no alternator light !!!!! Mechanic - " Sir ye ligiye , ho gaya !!!!
He then sprayed electrical contact fluid in the other fuse box and relays. The left rear power window fuse was replaced too.

Now comming to the sweet part - Relay Rs. 75 , labour - Rs.225. = Rs. 300 !! yes my friend Rs. 300.


Now total hit was Rs.3500 = Petrol Rs 600 ( 105 KMs up and down). + some shopping for car !!

PS; I put in Sytem G with Normal petrol, now the car is stalling at lower RPM and i got the injector light flashing 3-4 times . Is it normal when we put System G from 30-40 Kms ????

[planet_rocker]

no it is not normal. get it checked.

keep the revs a bit high and drive for few more kms and see if it is still coming on.

does the car stall while idling / stop-go traffic?

[karizma_devil]

@planet - I just came back from a 40 km high speed-high rev drive .. it seems fine now .. idling at 900 RPM.

Car stalled yesterday 3-4 times in low rev traffic...initial i though may be i left the clutch suddenly...but no it was stalling indeed. When i was at about 40km/hr the car died and injector light came on. I had to crank it 3-4 times to get it back. But now issues today morning , the RPM has been rock solid at 900. Hope it was just a 1 off incident. Keeping my fingers crossed. ay be the car is a bit moody !

[genesis]

Originally Posted by karizma_devil

@planet - I just came back from a 40 km high speed-high rev drive .. it seems fine now .. idling at 900 RPM.

Car stalled yesterday 3-4 times in low rev traffic...initial i though may be i left the clutch suddenly...but no it was stalling indeed. When i was at about 40km/hr the car died and injector light came on. I had to crank it 3-4 times to get it back. But now issues today morning , the RPM has been rock solid at 900. Hope it was just a 1 off incident. Keeping my fingers crossed. ay be the car is a bit moody !

The stalling could be the beginning of the end for your crank sensor. Nothing to do with system G.

[karizma_devil]

Originally Posted by genesis

The stalling could be the beginning of the end for your crank sensor. Nothing to do with system G.

Am i looking at something Major ???
How big a hole in the wallet ?
Would cleaning injectors help ??

[planet_rocker]

Crank sensor at FASS - 1895/- it is located somewhere below the engine bay (accessed after jacking up the car - 1.6). the same is located near the engine cover in the 1.2.

i got it changed in Jan'09.

The system G will slowly clean the injectors - keep using it for the time being.

[gigy]

i think you will have to get the fuel supply checked, did you do anything about the fuel relay connection, i guess it was corroded or pitted. you must be loosing fuel flow as pump might be failing without enough power supply.

[karizma_devil]

Originally Posted by gigy

i think you will have to get the fuel supply checked, did you do anything about the fuel relay connection, i guess it was corroded or pitted. you must be loosing fuel flow as pump might be failing without enough power supply.

Yes the fuel pump relay , which sits behind the battery was completely corroded and swollen, it was causing the "parasitic drain" it was completely replaced .

Could it be the fuel pump
????????

[sudharma]

Originally Posted by karizma_devil

Yes the fuel pump relay , which sits behind the battery was completely corroded and swollen, it was causing the "parasitic drain" it was completely replaced .

Could it be the fuel pump
????????

It could be the Fuel pump. when the engine stalls, the light isgoing to come on. BTW Do you have a seperate Injector warning light or its the System malfunction light that lights up when the engine stalls.? Forgive me for asking. Mostly it could be the pump/relay.
Also vacuum in the petrol tank could starve the engine.