Tracking down a battery drain

TooManyAudis at aol.com TooManyAudis at aol.com
Tue Sep 28 10:26:48 PDT 2010


I've been befuddled lately by what appears to be a battery drain on my 95  
A6q 5-speed.
 
The alternator appears to be putting out sufficient charge -- 14.0 to 14.2  
depending on the load, but I've had to get jump starts on several occasions 
 lately.  Most often it's been a jumpstart in the morning before work,  but 
last Friday I needed one before I could drive home.  I charged the  battery 
on Friday night (sears Craftsman automatic deep cycle charger), used the  
car several times on Saturday, drove one mile to watch the Giants self  
destruct on Sunday and before the fourth quarter was halfway over, I needed  a 
jump to get home.
 
Again, I charged the battery up and went on a couple of appointments on  
Monday morning.  Around 2:30 in the afternoon, I drove about a mile to a  
store and when I got back into the car, there wasn't enough juice to turn the  
motor.  Battery read 11.36v, which I would think would be enough to turn  the 
starter motor, but what do I know?  
 
So, I got a jump, drove home and disconnected the battery (I did not put it 
 on the charger).  It read 12.6v when I got home last night, and 12.36v 
this  morning when I reconnected the battery and it started fine...  While this 
 is a bit shy of the scientific method, I'm going to take this anecdotal 
evidence  to indicate that the problem is most likely not in the battery.
 
The question is, where else do I look, and how do I track down a parasitic  
drain on the battery (if that is what's happening)?
 
Any ground points to investigate with this car?  Is there a splice in  the 
positive cable like in the Type 44s?
 
Any other words of wisdom?
 
Thanks,
 
Tom
Charleston, SC
 
 
1995 A6q  5-speed (up for interesting offers) 249k
1988 80q (sold, and still going  strong!) 250k+
1991 200q20v towed away in the middle of the night by a VW  diesel pickup 
275k+
1985 4kq a freakin' beast of a car! 275k+ and presumably  still going
1987 4k died in a hit and run 250k+
1983 4k Very first Audi 35  to 38 mpg.  Victim of crank key failure  300k+


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