Battery drain from unusual headlight problem
10-12-2011, 12:03 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Battery drain from unusual headlight problem
Story in two parts:
Part 1. A couple of weeks ago my alarm went off in the middle of the night a few times, and the following morning the battery was always dead. Since the battery is <2 yrs old and the charging system is in good shape, I suspected the favorite villain (it seems) the alarm module. I removed the box and jumpered the pins on the connector, but the battery still went dead. I was about to take it in to have a load test, figuring the several drains might have killed the battery. Meanwhile I just disconnected the ground strap when I stopped for > 1/2 hour as an expedient until I could back to diagnosing the problem.
Part 2. I rarely drive my car at night- when we go out my wife wants to ride in her Civic (big arg). But a couple of weeks ago (significant!) I had a meeting in the evening and found when I left to go home my headlights wouldn't raise. The fogs got me home (even past some LEO's) and I was thinking loose connection and kept trying them. Finally, on the washboard road near our house they popped up, ergo connection made, all is good, just look for the problematic connection asap. Another meeting came before asap did, and again, no headlights. This time I tried the manual method but the mechanism was jammed solid. Dimly I started to think about the coincidence of the two failures, alarm and headlight (Freud said, there are no accidents, he could have added coincidences too.) The next day I found that one of the headlight holders had shifted on the shaft, and had run into the fender opening so the assembly could not rotate, no doubt a result of all the vibration from our local washboard. Readjusted for proper clearance, and:
Fixing that fixed the dead battery issue, of course. Interesting.
Part 1. A couple of weeks ago my alarm went off in the middle of the night a few times, and the following morning the battery was always dead. Since the battery is <2 yrs old and the charging system is in good shape, I suspected the favorite villain (it seems) the alarm module. I removed the box and jumpered the pins on the connector, but the battery still went dead. I was about to take it in to have a load test, figuring the several drains might have killed the battery. Meanwhile I just disconnected the ground strap when I stopped for > 1/2 hour as an expedient until I could back to diagnosing the problem.
Part 2. I rarely drive my car at night- when we go out my wife wants to ride in her Civic (big arg). But a couple of weeks ago (significant!) I had a meeting in the evening and found when I left to go home my headlights wouldn't raise. The fogs got me home (even past some LEO's) and I was thinking loose connection and kept trying them. Finally, on the washboard road near our house they popped up, ergo connection made, all is good, just look for the problematic connection asap. Another meeting came before asap did, and again, no headlights. This time I tried the manual method but the mechanism was jammed solid. Dimly I started to think about the coincidence of the two failures, alarm and headlight (Freud said, there are no accidents, he could have added coincidences too.) The next day I found that one of the headlight holders had shifted on the shaft, and had run into the fender opening so the assembly could not rotate, no doubt a result of all the vibration from our local washboard. Readjusted for proper clearance, and:
Fixing that fixed the dead battery issue, of course. Interesting.
10-12-2011, 12:34 PM
#2
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Site Sponsor
I think that the major lesson learned (for all of us, not just you) is that the first effort should be to get all of the many complex systems working as designed. It is sometimes pretty difficult to see the interactions...
10-12-2011, 12:38 PM
#3
Nordschleife Master
I had a similar tale with the headlight motion, though not a battery drain.
Had lights up with ignition off. Was applying some sealant because of slight condensation on drivers side. Had bulb housing out allowing things to dry ( used a hairdryer as well). Forgot, and for some other reason I turned the ignition on. Headlight retraction ensued, but motion caught up for the bulb housing was out (thankfully no body injury). Immediately turned ignition off, but the headlight motor still wanted to 'seat'. I freed up the obstruction, and afterwards the motor would not engage but lights would stare up. Ended up burning the double relay.
Had lights up with ignition off. Was applying some sealant because of slight condensation on drivers side. Had bulb housing out allowing things to dry ( used a hairdryer as well). Forgot, and for some other reason I turned the ignition on. Headlight retraction ensued, but motion caught up for the bulb housing was out (thankfully no body injury). Immediately turned ignition off, but the headlight motor still wanted to 'seat'. I freed up the obstruction, and afterwards the motor would not engage but lights would stare up. Ended up burning the double relay.
