looking for auto electrician

[kredder]

my cars battery keeps losing it's charge even though it has a new battery and the alternator is quite new too so does anyone know a reasonable auto electrician they would recommend cheers karen

[said]

my cars battery keeps losing it's charge even though it has a new battery and the alternator is quite new too so does anyone know a reasonable auto electrician they would recommend cheers karen

There are various reasons as to why the battery loses its charge. You say you have a new alternator - is this of the right specifications for your car? If it is not - it may not be charging the battery properly. Also -the alternator may not be connected correctly or maybe faulty. You need to get a multimeter, put it in Voltage mode, start the car and use the multimeter to check the battery voltage - it should read around 13V - 14.5V. If lower, rev the engine a few times. If it does not read this level of voltage, the alternator is not doing its job properly.

You could have a leak somewhere. This would mean checking using a multimeter set to AMPS. Turn off all electric power in the car, disconnect one of the battery terminals and use the mulitmeter to reconnect the circuit. If there is no leakage the meter will read zero. If there is a leakage, the multimeter will have a reading, and that could be what is draining your battery.

With the multimeter making up the circuit, remove each of the fuses in the fuse box until the leakage on the meter disappears. This will indicate where the leakage is.

If you do not want to remove the battery connections - you can set the multimeter to VOLTAGE, and measure the voltage at the battery terminals while removing each of the fuses - a rise in voltage will indicate where a leak could be. This is not a sensitive as measuring the current though.

Even if you do not do this yourself - it may help to know.

[kredder]

There are various reasons as to why the battery loses its charge. You say you have a new alternator - is this of the right specifications for your car? If it is not - it may not be charging the battery properly. Also -the alternator may not be connected correctly or maybe faulty. You need to get a multimeter, put it in Voltage mode, start the car and use the multimeter to check the battery voltage - it should read around 13V - 14.5V. If lower, rev the engine a few times. If it does not read this level of voltage, the alternator is not doing its job properly.

You could have a leak somewhere. This would mean checking using a multimeter set to AMPS. Turn off all electric power in the car, disconnect one of the battery terminals and use the mulitmeter to reconnect the circuit. If there is no leakage the meter will read zero. If there is a leakage, the multimeter will have a reading, and that could be what is draining your battery.

With the multimeter making up the circuit, remove each of the fuses in the fuse box until the leakage on the meter disappears. This will indicate where the leakage is.

If you do not want to remove the battery connections - you can set the multimeter to VOLTAGE, and measure the voltage at the battery terminals while removing each of the fuses - a rise in voltage will indicate where a leak could be. This is not a sensitive as measuring the current though.

Even if you do not do this yourself - it may help to know.

thanks very much for your help i will ask someone to follow your instructions because i'm disabled and not very good with tools etc but thanks again cheers rob

[Duke Nukem]

I had a similar problem with a Volvo - battery going flat - bought new battery - no change. Turns out the glove box light was on all the time - the switch that turns it off had failed. I found it because the bulb was hot when I opened the car up first thing in the morning. Rather than replace the switch I smashed the bulb it was useless anyway. Might be worth checking...

[kredder]

I had a similar problem with a Volvo - battery going flat - bought new battery - no change. Turns out the glove box light was on all the time - the switch that turns it off had failed. I found it because the bulb was hot when I opened the car up first thing in the morning. Rather than replace the switch I smashed the bulb it was useless anyway. Might be worth checking...

great thanks duke i will check it out cheers rob

[Little Londoner]

great thanks duke i will check it out cheers rob

Boot lights are another source of battery drain if you have a hatchback drop the rear seats and check the light is not on when rear hatch is closed.

[said]

I had a similar problem with a Volvo - battery going flat - bought new battery - no change. Turns out the glove box light was on all the time - the switch that turns it off had failed. I found it because the bulb was hot when I opened the car up first thing in the morning. Rather than replace the switch I smashed the bulb it was useless anyway. Might be worth checking...

Impressive. If I need any vehicle repairs in the future - I may just bring my car to you.

[Duke Nukem]

Impressive. If I need any vehicle repairs in the future - I may just bring my car to you.

It was a 15 year old piece of junk I used to transport my dogs around in and I couldn't figure out how to change the bulb without dismantling the dashboard. A vehicle mechanic friend suggested breaking the bulb as a quick opt out. It solved the problem for me.