Battery Drain

[g-black]

My battery isn't holding charge. After about 4 days if sitting it's struggling to start. I fully charged it the other day, and it lasted about 2 days. Is there any common faults or something to look out for before I replace the battery at £90?

[Delboy]

Have a look in the car when it's dark about 29mins after you have locked it up,

Is there lights on in the interior like the gear stick position lights etc.

If there is something is keeping the bus awake and there has been a few cases that I ah e seen recently where the instrument course is the guilty party.

[limoncello]

Originally Posted by g-black

My battery isn't holding charge. After about 4 days if sitting it's struggling to start. I fully charged it the other day, and it lasted about 2 days. Is there any common faults or something to look out for before I replace the battery at £90?

maybe this
http://www.audi-resource.com/faq/con...?highlight=10%

[g-black]

I was hoping someone was going to say something about the lights around the gear stick. I have noticed them staying on after I have locked the car. I was sat in the car for a period of about 20 minites the other day, ignition off etc, and it would randomly light up. Didn't touch the brake pedal, but the car wasn't locked either.

[mannyo]

After 1/2 hour locked or unlocked the car should be fully asleep. Nothing should be on in the interior, or switch on/off by itself. Another tell tale is the hazard light switch, once locked this should go out after 10mins or so. If something is going on/off then the car is being kept awake as it thinks something is being used. Keyless door handles are a good one, if it thinks someone is touching a sensor it will keep looking for the key. If you have VCDS you can check the status of each handle by looking at the measuring blocks.

I've been through a lot of pain with battery drain, but it sorted itself out and been ok ever since. However mine was a persistent 0.4amp drain, and to this day I still suspect the alarm Siren. But my car systems did fully shutdown, except for the 0.4amps.

[g-black]

I'll check the door handles then next. All four handles unlock, but only drivers side handles will lock. Sometimes the car won't unlock though unless I use the key. Might be cause the battery is really low.

Had the engine running for 20 minites earlier then turned off. Had the ignition and fog lights on for 5 minutes without the engine, and the battery died completely. I recon could be a combination of battery drain and a few dead battery cells. Think it's gonna need replaced either way.

Thanks for the pointers

[David's8]

It would be worth getting the battery condition checked out. A simple test with the right piece of kit will establish whether its capable of holding a charge. Halfords, for all their faults, will do this for free.