Re: The Audi gods strike!!

[ti@amb.org (Ti Kan)]

Jim Griffin writes:
> 1. What should I do first? Buy a battery charger at Sears (or wherever),
> and recharge the battery... in the belief that a 40 minute drive home
> would not be enough to recharge a COMPLETELY DEAD battery?
> 
> 2. Should I try replacing the battery? It's not very old (i.e. only two
> years), but it does have about 70k miles on it. Is it that time again
> already? Why wouldn't I get some warning?

Don't bother with charging it at this point.  If 40 minutes worth
of driving didn't do it, the charger won't either.  Just get a new battery.
Does your battery have a warranty?  You may be able to get a pro-rated
credit on a new one.

> 3. I hate to think about it, but there probably is something draining
> the battery. Where do I begin? I'll check the doorjamb switches... and
> the wiring for the Hella XLs... but what else? There are an awful lot of
> wires in modern day automobiles... :-(

If you have a multimeter, set it to measure DC current and connect
it in series with the battery.  Note the current draw.  Should be
in the small milliamps range.  Don't worry about looking for current
drain if you pass this test.

If you don't pass this test, then note the current draw, while you
remove fuses one at a time to try to isolate the draw to a specific
branch of wiring.  Then trace down to the components on that wiring
branch...

-Ti
96 A4 2.8 quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
-- 
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