Another flat battery

[PBach]

Great forum. Especially when you are the lucky owner of a french car.
My Espace 2002, mrk lll, 2.0 16v (gasoline) have caused me a serious headace.
1) dead battery......oh well, its old, maby it needs to be changed.
2) new battery installed.......two days after....dead again.
3) Charged it overnight.......next morning......fine start up.
4) next Day ....dead again......something seems to eat the power when not driving.
5) local mechanic messured the alternator to work fine.
6) my suspiciousness  koncerns the immobilizer or the carcomputer.
Dos anyone have the faintest idea of What and where to search for failures??
When it haven't been charged, it simply won't start allthou it sounds like there are plenty of power for ignition and startermotor(?) (excuse me My bad vehicle-vocabulary)

Ohh....forgot to mention....when it start....after about 10 sec. the warninglight for airbag-failure turns on with an alarmsound. Afterwards "service" and Then "ok"

[WessexElectricNutter]

Great forum. Especially when you are the lucky owner of a french car.
My Espace 2002, mrk lll, 2.0 16v (gasoline) have caused me a serious headace.
1) dead battery......oh well, its old, maby it needs to be changed.
2) new battery installed.......two days after....dead again.
3) Charged it overnight.......next morning......fine start up.
4) next Day ....dead again......something seems to eat the power when not driving.
5) local mechanic messured the alternator to work fine.
6) my suspiciousness  koncerns the immobilizer or the carcomputer

Does the car have an alarm fitted? Mine made some really strange noises then afterwards, started draining the battery. The only way around it is to disconnect the alarm fuse. Put a multimeter on the negative terminal and measure how many amps (at rest) its pulling. If its pulling 1.5A, then you have a problem, I've been told it should be between 300 to 600mA.

Depending on the fusebox, mine was the facelift III, its one of the bottom 3 fuses to the left hand side:
http://www.renaultforums.co.uk/_User-folders/vBulletinImg/2009/8/%7B2842502F-6C74-4331-A533-2C117C66A748%7D.jpeg

From memory, its the 2 marked alarm, although I can't remember if the one to the car phone had to be removed.

[roy4matra]

Great forum. Especially when you are the lucky owner of a french car.
My Espace 2002, mrk lll, 2.0 16v (gasoline) have caused me a serious headace.
1) dead battery......oh well, its old, maby it needs to be changed.
2) new battery installed.......two days after....dead again.
3) Charged it overnight.......next morning......fine start up.
4) next Day ....dead again......something seems to eat the power when not driving.
5) local mechanic messured the alternator to work fine.
6) my suspiciousness  koncerns the immobilizer or the carcomputer.
Dos anyone have the faintest idea of What and where to search for failures??
When it haven't been charged, it simply won't start allthou it sounds like there are plenty of power for ignition and startermotor(?) (excuse me My bad vehicle-vocabulary)

Ohh....forgot to mention....when it start....after about 10 sec. the warninglight for airbag-failure turns on with an alarmsound. Afterwards "service" and Then "ok"

The electrical drain due to powering the memory in the computers should be tiny and the total drain should not be above half an amp.  You should check the drain first to see how much you have, since if it is going down as fast as you say it must be large.

In the UK the alarm system was the Cobra alarm, and we had a common problem with the internal air movement sensor above the tailgate going faulty.  Try disconnecting that if there is one fitted and see if the amount of electrical drain alters.

If you don't have that movement sensor, you have to try disconnecting the things that are on the permanent live circuits, one at a time and see when the drain drops to normal levels.  The cooling fans at the front are live so that they can continue cooling after you have switched off, and since they are positioned low down at the front, they get lots of water thrown at them on bad days.  Maybe you have some corrosion and a drain there?

Roy

[BrianM]

With the amount of drain you have I would still suspect the alternator. It may have checked out ok but it is often the case with a warm alternator. Often when cold the diode pack can drain when faulty. I would disconnect the alternator to prove it is ok first. I have had this before, changed the alternator & all ok. You can get an ammeter to plug into a removed fuse in the fuse box to see if a circuit is still live.

[PBach]

Thank you everyone. I tried to do as told. And with the result that the problem is placed at the first (light blue)60 A fuse in the box near by the battery. Now, I haven't Got at Wiring diagram for the car.
Can anyone tell me What circuit this fuse belongs to?
I Will try to upload some pics.....
Roy, There's only one fan in my model. I have never seen nor heard the fan working.

[BrianM]

There should be a document in 'the vault'
I think it just supplies the fuse box in the passenger compartment.