Engine Battery Drain and Fuse #8 (Solved)
- Thread starter R88
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That's why I ended up coming onto this forum for help, as I didn't know what else I could test to try and narrow it down further.
I've just had a look at the back of my light switch and it has the smaller plug on it. According to the towbar installation instructions, this means that under the passenger seat they should have connected two of the wires from the towbar wiring loom together, rather than connecting them to any of the vehicle wiring, but I've had a look under the seat and can't tell what's going on. However, I assume that with this setup the towbar module under the bonnet switches the trailer fog light on and off using information from the CAN data system that it is connected to. I'm not sure how any of this would cause a drain through fuse 8 though?!?
@R88 I just read this, we are collecting our van from Rolling Homes next week. Do you think that this is definitely due to the tow bar fitment? We are not installing the tow bar. What other issues are you having with the conversion as you need to go back to them? How are you finding their after sale?
Look, I don't want to go into this too much, as it is not what this thread is about, but the van is going back because the domestic water pump has stopped working and there are some cracks that have formed in a small patch of paint on the elevating roof. Rolling Homes were quick to request that I booked the van in for repair when I informed them of these issues. I don't think I had stated before, but I bought my van second hand from VW and took it to Rolling Homes for conversion, which is why I've had such an issue over the electrical problem, because I've had trouble identifying who's problem it is to sort out under warranty. As I've said in my previous posts, I think I have ruled everything else out and the towbar is the only other modification.
Have you had a chance to investigate this further since your post, and have you got anywhere with it?
I got my van back from the converters with all the other issues sorted, but they insist the battery drain is not their issue and that it must be the van. I've since removed fuses and unplugged cables to isolate the domestic system and removed fuses and unplugged the towbar module to isolate the towbar electrics and the 0.15A drain is still there. It reduced to 0.005A this time when I pulled fuse F8 again. I'm convinced it's either the van or a duff battery causing the vehicle to play silly buggers, as I've read several reports of people complaining about battery drains that seem to disappear when a new battery is fitted.
Last time I did it like that, but this time I popped the latches on the bonnet and passenger door to make the van think they were closed and then locked the vehicle using the switch on the driver's door, then left the van for a while to let it go into standby.
My van is now booked into the dealers to have a look at this issue, amongst other things. Due to the conversion, they are proposing that I authorise them to spend 1 hour at a cost of £100 plus VAT to try and find the issue, and hopefully the vehicle is at fault so they can put it to VW warranty. If they cannot find it in the first hour, then they will ask for more time at the same cost. If they get to a point where the next step is to test wiring and this involves removing panels, then this can be done but only in areas where the vehicle is how it left the factory, as they cannot remove parts of the conversion if the wiring they need is there.
I have visions of this taking more than 1 hour and turning into a money pit with nothing show at the end of it, but if the excess battery drain is removed by pulling fuse F8, then it must be limited as to what it can be that is causing it mustn't it? Unless I'm being stupid, it's got to be something on the F8 fuse circuit hasn't it?
I have visions of this taking more than 1 hour and turning into a money pit with nothing show at the end of it, but if the excess battery drain is removed by pulling fuse F8, then it must be limited as to what it can be that is causing it mustn't it? Unless I'm being stupid, it's got to be something on the F8 fuse circuit hasn't it?
My van went into the VW dealer a little before Xmas to investigate the excess battery drain. They found a tracker unit fitted that neither they nor I knew was attached and this seems to be what was causing the battery drain. It's now been a couple of weeks, fuse F8 is plugged in again and the van appears to be ok. I discussed the issue with a VW tech when I dropped the van off and I think they must have gone straight to the wiring behind fuse F8 and found the extra wiring for the tracker unit, so it was all sorted out quite quickly. Hopefully I'll have no more problems and can get on with using the van as originally intended.
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