[esse10]

I was doing some Preventive Maitnenance on my Battery the other day and LOOKSIE what I found when I removed the battery Tray holder...SUPRISE SUPRISE (CORROSION CITY). This was a DISASTER Waiting to happen. No wonder people are having Electrical issues with their beetles. What MORON engineer at VW would put a Negative grounding wire strap right beneath the Battery? Glad I found it and fix the problem before it became a real problem. If any of you out there are having electrical issues with your battery or alternator I suggest you check under the battery chassis grounding wire strap. Good luck guys and Merry christmas. Here is my before and after pictures.

 

[PRM502STREET]

Good job! I see battery corrosion all the time, but not like that. I guess it's just the region where I live, it's not really that common

Sent from my ZTE-Z990G using AutoGuide.Com Free App

 

[esse10]

corrosion

Good job! I see battery corrosion all the time, but not like that. I guess it's just the region where I live, it's not really that common

Sent from my ZTE-Z990G using AutoGuide.Com Free App

well if it's on the posts you might want to check under the battery holder tray cause rest assure it'll be there too like mine. Good luck man

 

[dwstrong]

Chasing a Ground - How to proceed.

I am chasing a ground or some drain on the battery of my 2001 VW Beelte 2.0L GLS.

The battery checks out fine, holding >12V charge while disconnected from car. The alternator has been replaced. When the car is sitting, I lose ~3 Volts from the battery over a 12 hour period.
So far I have pulled the aftermarket radio, checked all the fuses and replaced a faulty bulb in the blinker.

I just finished pulling the battery tray and inspected the ground point below. No corrosion found.

A couple of questions for the group.

Where are the rest of the ground points in the vehicle? Are they relatively accessible for someone with neanderthal hands?

What circuits within the vehicle are the most problematic?

What series of checks (Procedures) do y'all go through when chasing a ground?

Any insight advice would be appreciated. Thanks for the help.

D Strong

 

[jfoj]

Strong,

Buy yourself a test light, cheap and easy to use. $10 or less - Amazon.com: Advanced Tool Design Model ATD-5513 Heavy Duty Circuit Tester: Automotive

Disconnect your negative ground terminal, connect the test light in series with the battery. Then look at how bright the test light glows.

Start pulling fuses one at a time until you can find a fuse that will cause the light will go out.

Remember that you will need to turn the interior lights out, if not you may get fooled that the interior lights may be the problem.

Also keep in mind your interior lights may be a problem due to a bad door latch.

 

[esse10]

grounding

I believe there are more than one grounding straps in the car to chassis ground.From your problem description it sounds like you have the opposite of grounding, you have some device draining and drawing too much current and in hand draining the battery down.
Sometimes when the battery itself could have a bad cell and also tends to short out and won't hold a charge anymore or ruin the alternator when folks try to charge up a partially shorted battery. How old is the battery? if it's already 3-4 years old I would replace it and remove that from the equation. Then start pulling fuses as you see a current meter attached to the battery to find which system is pulling too much current. That's basically what an electrical car mechanic will do and charge you a bundle per hour. Good luck man.