My mk3 Battery problem...

[sutoban]

hey guys, i'm new to the forums recently bought an mk3 and currently getting it fixed.

Just wanted your opinions on something.

so pretty much my car is at the mechanics getting a rwc, the cars all fixed now, but now his come across a new problem, pretty much, the battery has been draining overnight when the cars off...

now i dont know what could be causing it as it is in the mechanics hands right now, but 1 thing i know is the headunit has been wired to stay on even if the cars off, just gotta take out the headunit to power off...

List of things fixed:
front drive shaft
engine mount
windscreen
putty muffler
rear disc change
standard service, oil change etc.

now would any of them things affect say the wiring of the car in anyway? or could it just happen to possibly be the battery just went dud?, because when i brought it to him, my battery was fine.

how should i go about this problem? mechanics fault? self replace battery? wiring issues? what battery to replace with?

your opinions would be much appreciated

[badgerboards]

what sort of battery is it? i know when i bought my mk3 it had a not so good battery and drained if i just had accessories on for a short period. i got a new battery listed for the make,model, etc and it hasnt had any issues.

you just need to change the accessories wire from the headunit to the accessories wire from the ignition that way it will only turn on when you put the key in.

is the mech leaving the key in the ignition overnight? cause power to accesories is active when the key is put in, unlike other mke cars where you have to turn it one click for accesories.

[sutoban]

Hey there

Im pretty sure its just the stock battery that comes in the golf mk3 gl 2.0 models.

ill get right away on switching the wires, quite annoying, since i always forget to pull the headunit out

i'm not sure the mech is leaving the key in, i doubt it though, but hey who knows....but yeah didnt know that about the golf .

what i mainly worried about is the fact it was fine and now its dead after i brought it to him.... even if i change battery, if it is something he screwed, a new battery wont make a difference, and i have no way of telling whose to blame

[badgerboards]

who wired the head unit? their fault?
how old is the battery, they should be replaced every 3-4yrs.

[sutoban]

cars head unit came wired like that, previous owner...tsk tsk...

dunno how old battery is but had alot of battery acid on it which turned green :S, so i presumed maybe time to replace.

[badgerboards]

definately tsk tsk to previous owner.
can you operate the HU with the key in? cause maybe your thinking its wired to that way, cause you didnt know accessories came on when the key is put it.
next time you get in it. put the key in halfway, you can feel the switch click inside the ignition barrel.

[sutoban]

not sure actually cause never came to my attention that accessories turned on with key in , will check it out tomorrow, i get the car back then, then ill investigate the carand interrogate the mechanic .

thanks for your help dub84 ill post the results in tomorrow

[Ben J]

When i bought my vr we drove it to the maccas literally next door to were we bought it to organise insurance etc. Went back to start it and nothing. We just had a dud battery which the dealer kindly replaced. But yea could probably be something to do with that headunit or like dub84 said. Or maybe a door/the boot/something wasnt shut properly or they were listening to the radio and didnt know about the headunit problem?

[The_Hawk]

There is nothing wrong with wiring up the headunit to permanent power if you need or want it like that for some reason, although last time I did something like that (in an old school VW that didn't have an accessories function) I used a lit switch. The idea being that there was a big light to tell you the radio was on... helped to ensure you didn't leave it on

As for draining. I wouldn't have thought that you would get overnight drain with just the radio if the battery was in decent nick... although the next question is how far do you drive the car? Far enough to give it a decent charge?
I know if my case I do have a little battery drain which can flatten the battery if I leave it sitting for a couple of weeks, most of this is because I don't drive far enough to keep the battery charged properly. In my case I just hook it up to the charger once a month or so to top it back up