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I am new here so forgive me, if I am not too clear on what I have got it is I think a SSRX 1996 3.0 litre diesel.
It is a flat battery problem, which looking through the past posts others seem to have shared but no satisfactory diagnosis seems to have been arrived at.
We bought it in September last year & then last December one coldish day the battery couldn't deliver enough oomph to turn it over. AA man 'tested' the battery which was considered to have failed, but as far as I can see may merely have been flat. A new battery was purchased. I wondered whether it was charging properly so put a meter on & up went the volts as I reved a bit.
All was well until a few days ago, battery very weak & no starting. Now we have retired it might be several days before it is driven & then for only short journeys. So perhaps it doesn't get a chance to get charged up fully.
But the same was true in the summer, but of course in this cold weather the colder engine needs more oomph to turn it over & there is the drain when we go along with the lights on & the heater blower.
I charged up the battery & all is fine again, except on a cold morning it is a bit touch & go if it will manage it. But yes the alternator is still charging it.
Looking at the previous threads there seemed to be two main avenues of thought.
Some people have considered it was the poor contacts on the starter motor or resigned themselves to buying a new battery after a year. But nobody seems to have considered if the was anything causing the battery power to slowly drain away, which would be particularly evident if the thing is only being used a couple of times a week.
With everything turned off, I disconnected the -ve batterry terminal. Inseted an ammeter & was surprised to see a current drain of about 200ma ie nearly a quarter of an amp! This is quite a significant drain & surely can't be right?
So I decided to pull fuses in turn to see which circuit was draining the battery. The fuse box under the bonnet revealed that removing one fuse it removed the major drain leaving just 30ma which could be explained by the alarm circuitary & the memory back up on the radio & is acceptable. Now the fuse I pulled supplies "DOME" now what an earth is the dome?
Unlike most people we seem only to have one battery. It seems to have been suggested that this was for all the gizmos & accessories that Japanese drivers like. But I think it is to do with the cold whether spec for the vehicle. We used to have a Pajero (sorry), most of them I saw had only one battery, but there was a higher rated version for owners who lived near the mountains ie colder, had two batteries in parrallel to help with the extra demands of turning of a stiff & cold engine.
So does anyone else get a continous drain on their battery or can explain what circuits are run off the DOME circuit & what that does?
Thanks
Clive
It is a flat battery problem, which looking through the past posts others seem to have shared but no satisfactory diagnosis seems to have been arrived at.
We bought it in September last year & then last December one coldish day the battery couldn't deliver enough oomph to turn it over. AA man 'tested' the battery which was considered to have failed, but as far as I can see may merely have been flat. A new battery was purchased. I wondered whether it was charging properly so put a meter on & up went the volts as I reved a bit.
All was well until a few days ago, battery very weak & no starting. Now we have retired it might be several days before it is driven & then for only short journeys. So perhaps it doesn't get a chance to get charged up fully.
But the same was true in the summer, but of course in this cold weather the colder engine needs more oomph to turn it over & there is the drain when we go along with the lights on & the heater blower.
I charged up the battery & all is fine again, except on a cold morning it is a bit touch & go if it will manage it. But yes the alternator is still charging it.
Looking at the previous threads there seemed to be two main avenues of thought.
Some people have considered it was the poor contacts on the starter motor or resigned themselves to buying a new battery after a year. But nobody seems to have considered if the was anything causing the battery power to slowly drain away, which would be particularly evident if the thing is only being used a couple of times a week.
With everything turned off, I disconnected the -ve batterry terminal. Inseted an ammeter & was surprised to see a current drain of about 200ma ie nearly a quarter of an amp! This is quite a significant drain & surely can't be right?
So I decided to pull fuses in turn to see which circuit was draining the battery. The fuse box under the bonnet revealed that removing one fuse it removed the major drain leaving just 30ma which could be explained by the alarm circuitary & the memory back up on the radio & is acceptable. Now the fuse I pulled supplies "DOME" now what an earth is the dome?
Unlike most people we seem only to have one battery. It seems to have been suggested that this was for all the gizmos & accessories that Japanese drivers like. But I think it is to do with the cold whether spec for the vehicle. We used to have a Pajero (sorry), most of them I saw had only one battery, but there was a higher rated version for owners who lived near the mountains ie colder, had two batteries in parrallel to help with the extra demands of turning of a stiff & cold engine.
So does anyone else get a continous drain on their battery or can explain what circuits are run off the DOME circuit & what that does?
Thanks
Clive
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