Electrical power drain in an XJ '98 turbo diesel

[smoke]

Hi all, I am having a major power drain in my jeep. Battery checks out OK as do the leads etc. There is very little power to the dash with weak interior lights wipers and windows and it will not start. It would be appreciated if someone out there may have a solution before I pay a small fortune to take it to a mechanic to locate the problem. Thank for your time, Smoke.

[Dustbowl]

Check your earths in the kick panel, behind the battery and on the dipstick... Wire brush them the spray with WD, I'd try that first ;)

[layback40]

Hi all, I am having a major power drain in my jeep. Battery checks out OK as do the leads etc. There is very little power to the dash with weak interior lights wipers and windows and it will not start. It would be appreciated if someone out there may have a solution before I pay a small fortune to take it to a mechanic to locate the problem. Thank for your time, Smoke.

This sounds like a poor connection. As well as earth connections, clean your battery terminals/connections.
What happens if you turn the head lights on? ~ often this will cause everything to go out.

[mud_slut]

i was having the same problems and replaced my battery terminals for the very low price of $4. a bit of wire brush on the battery posts and the problem was fixed.

[layback40]

i was having the same problems and replaced my battery terminals for the very low price of $4. a bit of wire brush on the battery posts and the problem was fixed.

hot dry weather caused any corrosion to dry out. Quick temporary fix is to pour a bit of boiling water on the terminals. It works for a week or so. You then know what the problem is as well.

[junglejuice]

The most common source of vehicle electrical issues is GROUND related.
An easy way to check is to grab a multimeter, set it DC V and measure the voltage on the battery posts, right in the middle of the posts, make sure they you a getting a nice clean connection to the post.
If the voltage at rest is around 12.5V then you have a GROUND issue, if it is lower, say around 10V then you have a drain issue.
To test for drain make sure that there are no added extras hooked up the the battery terminals and then remove all the fuses from the PDC under the bonnet, grab your mulitmeter again, this time set to DC A and then insert the probes of the meter into the receptacles that hold the fuses, ensure you make a connection on both leads.
Any readings over around 0.010A would be worth making a note of for further investigation of that particular circuit.

As for the battery terminals/posts what I do is to clean them well with a wire brush and then smear a coating of Vaseline or similar over the posts, fit the cleaned terminals and then smear another coating of Vaseline over the top to "seal" it all, should keep them in tip top shape for a long time to come....

Let us know what you find...

[XJeepers]

The most common source of vehicle electrical issues is GROUND related.
An easy way to check is to grab a multimeter, set it DC V and measure the voltage on the battery posts, right in the middle of the posts, make sure they you a getting a nice clean connection to the post.
If the voltage at rest is around 12.5V then you have a GROUND issue, if it is lower, say around 10V then you have a drain issue.
To test for drain make sure that there are no added extras hooked up the the battery terminals and then remove all the fuses from the PDC under the bonnet, grab your mulitmeter again, this time set to DC A and then insert the probes of the meter into the receptacles that hold the fuses, ensure you make a connection on both leads.
Any readings over around 0.010A would be worth making a note of for further investigation of that particular circuit.

As for the battery terminals/posts what I do is to clean them well with a wire brush and then smear a coating of Vaseline or similar over the posts, fit the cleaned terminals and then smear another coating of Vaseline over the top to "seal" it all, should keep them in tip top shape for a long time to come....

Let us know what you find...

Haven't seen anyone else use the old vaso in long time JJ :). Good to see someone still using the old school methods.

[mud_slut]

hot dry weather caused any corrosion to dry out. Quick temporary fix is to pour a bit of boiling water on the terminals. It works for a week or so. You then know what the problem is as well.


thanks again layback ;)

[junglejuice]

Haven't seen anyone else use the old vaso in long time JJ :). Good to see someone still using the old school methods.

When it works so well why not???

It is a harsh environment for electrical connections so anything you can do to help has gotta be a good thing.
I have a homebrand container of the stuff in the garage that I use just for this purpose as well as sealing ground connections and the like, silicon grease also works well....