Battery drain and melted fuse

[mackat]

Thought I'd post two problems in one thread to see if people have an idea.


Start with the easy one - Melted relay:

Orange relay - I'm correct in thinking the relay is for "Heated rear window timer relay"
How easy is it to replace the melted socket and what would be the common causes for it to fry itself?

Now the fun one - Battery drain

With the key out of the ignition the Battery light stays on. I've run through the fuses and to get the light to turn out completly i've had to remove:

Relays:
1- Electric window relay - front/sunroof motor relay
7- Electric window relay - rear

Fuses:
F27 (15A)- Hazard warning lamps, interior lamps, rain sensor, vanity mirror lamp - passenger, reading lamps, in-car temperature sensor
F28 (15A)- Alternator warning lamp, clock, rear electric windows, heated seats, front electric windows, sunroof

Having a scout around on the net, I'm thinking it's all to do with the melted orange relay and maybe the rear wipers?

What are peoples thoughts?

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...and what is going on with uploading photos..?!?!

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[attachment=23820]

[Piggy]

yeah. Sort WHY its melted first.

LIKELY is a door loom, or a motor implosion. But looms between chassis and doors are most common.

start there.

[Niall]

Right firstly the relay socket. Chances are its melted due to either a bad relay or more than likely, a loose connection for the relay. That is just a standard relay socket and the spade connectors just pop out so pop them out, pop them into a new socket and either clean up or replace the burnt spade connector. Also tighten them all up just so you are getting a decent connection.

The rear wiper on the 306 causes major issues when it gets wet. It was a recall years ago to seal the relay in the boot lid in a bag. If i was you, replace the relay, check for any corrosion etc on the socket (clean up if needed), replace relay and seal it in a bag.

Come back to us then and let us know if you still have issues

[mackat]

I've just replaced the drivers door and loom and the problem is still there - Will check the passenger side though.

Relay 7 is a bit odd considering it's a 3-door!?!

Oh and if I drop fuse 28 back in the blowers start up

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The rear wiper has never worked.. again one of those jobs on my to-do list. Will have a mooch and report back

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Oh and while i was having a mooch for the orange connection, came across this:

[attachment=23821]

any ideas?

[mackat]

Well just want to take the car for a spin and the battery was dead, looks like the fuse pulling didn't work.

Onto the rear wiper, heated window and passenger loom.

[mackat]

Well my feedback on the problem is this... I'm really beginning to hate this car! Whether it's my lack of knowledge or generally it's buggered.

/rant over

Both door looms unplug, rear wipers, heated rear window, radio, rear heater button - none had any effect.
Left them all unplugged and started on lights front and rear - still no joy.

Then onto the engine loom - aha..now we're getting somewhere!

With the main loom connection (bottom right, bigger of the two) unplugged battery light is off, but then again half the sensors aren't working.

I'm beginning to think it could be the alternator and belt?
Is there a way to test the alternator and how easy is it to replace and tension the belt up?

[Seb_Ryan]

You mean the big connection downnby the rad? If so itll be that.. And get it sorted asap as its caused a few firess..

Pull if it off and see if you can see any corrosion and clean it up

[Paul_13]

^ could be the culprit

As said sort it out quick, been known to cause fires

[mackat]

Great!
yeah the bigger of the two engine loom connectors which connect through the o/s frame.

I've left it off last night, but was cleaned up when I dropped the engine back in.
Weird thing everything was good after the engine change and tootling around back/forth shops etc, only on this slight longer run of 40mins that the problem started.

Gonna have a go at testing the alternator this evening, worst case I swap in the alternator from the previous engine

[mackat]

Managed to test the alternator with my voltmeter, with the car running the volts across the two battery terminal leads are reading around 14.64v - jumping up slightly when rev's are increased.

If I where to start unplugging the various sensors until i find the drain would that work or is it a case of replacing the whole loom?

and what fires??

[Seb_Ryan]

Managed to test the alternator with my voltmeter, with the car running the volts across the two battery terminal leads are reading around 14.64v - jumping up slightly when rev's are increased.

If I where to start unplugging the various sensors until i find the drain would that work or is it a case of replacing the whole loom?

and what fires??

That engine loom plug on inner wing..has caused a fair few fires over the years

[mackat]

Aha.. great!

[Piggy]

yeah bet that loom plug has gone green, or bent pins in there!

[DeeTurbo]

I've got a feeling it's the alternator that's got the issue. You say you have a spare, swap them over and see how that works.

[toseland]

Voltage reg on the alternator probs..

[mackat]

yeah bet that loom plug has gone green, or bent pins in there!

Shouldn't be the pins as everything was working until I went on the 40min drive.

"gone green" thats a new one?

Will test at the alternator before pulling it out.

[mackat]

So whoevers bright idea it was to leave less than a 2" gab to work in... I hate them!

Was pulling the alternator out and the spindle was hot, and I do mean hot. I'd only had the battery connected up for 5-10mins while running some tests, but yup hot.
Dropped the spare in, connected up to the battery and we have success! Battery light is off with ignition off and with first click battery light comes on now.

Ran out of light to put the belt back on and test properly, but this looks like the cause.

I put the multimeter on the old alternator with ohm's set and i was getting no reading.

Thanks everyone