Hi, my L322 has developed a fast battery drain when standing for a couple of days. The battery is virtually new. Please can some kind soul please advise me how to check the fuses one at a time with my multimeter without disconnecting the battery ? Thanks in advance !

You have to disconnect the + terminal of the battery, put your meter in line with the + post to read amps drawn, then remove fuses one at a time until you find the one that has the drain. Make sure the meter can handle the amps and whatever you do don't start the car or even put the ignition on, it will fry the meter...!!

Be very careful removing and replacing the fuses, where there are blank holes, its easy to return a fuse to the hole next door...!!

Good Luck...  Pete

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2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Much easier and safer to use a clamp meter that goes around the battery lead, lots of items take a while to go back to sleep when the power is restored, a clamp meter being non invasive stops the wake up and false readings. BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

Thanks for your suggestions. I was hoping to do this without disturbing the battery and losing a lot of settings as a consequence. I'm sure that before I did this from inside the car by the fusebox but can't remember how or what I'm looking for in multimeter readings !!

With the car parked up for a while, bonnet open etc, put a clampmeter around either battery lead, look at the discharge current. If it's excessive, start to pull fuses one at a time until the drain disappears, you've then found the culprit.

Ive just helped someone with a Focus ST with a random battery drain issue, it turned out to be the dashboard staying awake which was a software issue in the standard Sony Radio.

J BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

He said with a multi meter not a clamp meter, agree one of those is more ideal...

What settings do you think you will lose because apart from radio channels and seat memory you don't lose much else..!! Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

The problem with a multi meter approach is that as stated the modules will wake up and be taking current for quite a while, another major problem is the power on surge is highly likely to be sufficient to blow the fuse in the meter, most multi meters max current is circa 20 amps. The Focus I looked at a couple of days ago it's power up surge was in excess of 100A recorded on the clamp meter.

I notice in your earlier post you suggest disconnecting positive, much safer to disconnect the negative if going down the meter route.

J BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

I presumed that if he was clever enough to use a multi meter he could handle a dangerous 12v lead......  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Accidental touching the bodywork with the spanner on the positive terminal is the issue. Much safer to disconnect negative. BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

It can't be that hard even a total idiot like me has done it hundreds if not thousands of times in the last 45 years of working on cars. I have never touched the body with a spanner that was touching a positive post and back in the day the negative one on really old cars.

Thanks for your health and safety lecture...  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

its nice to see a few sparks now and again..  ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic47332.html?highlight=drain .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

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Haylands wrote:

It can't be that hard even a total idiot like me has done it hundreds if not thousands of times in the last 45 years of working on cars. I have never touched the body with a spanner that was touching a positive post and back in the day the negative one on really old cars.

Thanks for your health and safety lecture...

No need to disconnect battery, use one of these below.
Simply pull a fuse, insert that fuse into handle bit of device, plug into space where you removed the fuse and read current flowing through fuse position.
Assuming everything is off any current will be to earth.
You have to wait until the car goes to sleep before you start and when plugging in device be patient to allow current through fuse to stabilise if required.
Just work through each fuse in turn.

Haylands wrote:

dangerous 12v lead......