Page 1 of Another car help thread

Or more of an opinion needed. My old Mondeo keeps draining its battery in between the weeks I use it. Going into the garage tommorow for an alternator/battery/starter check, but tonight I realised that the drivers side vanity mirror has a light and the cover has come off. I managed to break the spring one day and whilst trying to fix it I broke the little plastic lugs that kept the cover in place. I think the cover activated a switched that would turn the light off when it closed. 

So the question is, could that be enough to drain the battery over a period of about 2 weeks if the light was always on. I wouldn`t normally notice it on if the visor is pushed up, like I normally have it.
The battery is less that 18 months old, but came with a 3 year warranty so if that is the issue it should get replaced foc. And i can`t test if the light is always on as the battery has been dead for about a month now, since I last tried to use the car, and is currently trickle charging so I can get to the garage.

I would think it could drain the battery over a 3 week period. If the battery is in bad condition it could be a lot quicker, but you say yours is not too old.

If you aren`t using your car every day, possibly!

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Thanks. I dont know if it stays on once the ignition is off at the moment. I will let them test the battery and alternator and take the bulb out the vanity mirror and see what happens.

It`s feasible. We left our old 306 in the garage for 4 weeks when we went to Oz for our honeymoon. I made absolutely sure nothing whatsoever was left of, but when we came back the battery was flat. Anything that might make a short would drain it quicker

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Possible, feasable and even likely.
However on my wee Rover that`s currently on a SORN i only start it every so often to check it`s ok and keep it turning over.
I left it about a month and the battery fully drained on it so if your battery wasn`t fully charged in the first place (short start/stop runs etc) then it might have been a bit low and it could just be natural battery drain.

Bit of luck it`s either that or the mirror light and won`t cost to fix :)
You could also tape shut the wee switch that activates the vanity light if the bulb is difficult to get out.

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I don`t drive the car much, the odd day every few weeks. Most of the time I walk or get a lift to work , but when I am on a 9pm finish I like to drive home. Used to be ok to leave for a few weeks, had the battery replaced winter 2008 when it died in the cold weather. But hoping to buy a house soon and at current prices that means moving 5 or 6 miles up the road and walking wont be an option, so hopefully it is easily fixable. I just know how these sorts of problems on cars can be a pain to find if it is a short.

A occurance that happened to my mates down at Donyatt garage in dere ole Zummerzet, was a car that continually had a battery that was running down, they stuck a ammeter on the battery when it was off & found at times it was drawing a current of 3amps, then by removing fuses they tracked it down to the lighting circuits with the lights off & only by climbing into the boot found it to be the boot courtesy light switch turning intermittently ON when the boot was closed.



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Quote:
I don`t drive the car much, the odd day every few weeks.Which may be the bigger problem here ;)
If you`re going to use the car regularly then you may find that such a small light drawing current is just an annoyance and not a major problem.
It`s probably draining due to the long periods between use.

Still worth getting it stopped by removing bulb/taping switch or similar though just don`t pay any daft high garage prices as we can probably talk you through most checks on here to find the problem :)

Jimbo : oÞ

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If you only use your car that infrequently make sure you turn it on and let it run at least every couple of weeks. Even better if you can go for a short drive say 20-30mins once a week it helps.

Cars are meant to be used, not using them and urban only use actually makes them less reliable and prone to more faults.