Some photo's, and a question

Bill Cutler

Bill Cutler

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The photo's are of my '74 coupe newly registered and on display at the BMWCC show-n-shine in Melbourne recently, where it won second in class with 480 points out of a possible 525, and also the "people's choice" award.

The 2002 is my historic racer.

Once i get this photobucket thing worked out, i'll post more pics...

The clock appears to be draining the battery slowly. Afetr a good drive I have 13 volts, after a few days of rest, I have 10 volts. Not enough to start the car. What I have been doing is turning the battery isolator switch to "off". Any thoughts?

DSCN1763.jpg


DSCN1771.jpg


DSCN1799.jpg
 
Battery drain

Are you just asssuming that it is the clock? If it is, then it's time to rip it out and have it serviced. If you're not sure, then what I would do is try to key in on the problem by measuring the resistance across the fuses with them removed and narrow the problem down that way. Sounds like a short that is drawing a lot more current than a healthy clock. If the fuse panel is okay, then back up and start at the battery connections with them disconnected, then to the disconnected starter related terminals, alternator terminals etc...

Good Luck!
 
I agree with Ed on this one a healthy clock is unlikely to be the problem. having said that it is possible for moisture to have got in and caused an internal short. My advice would be to use an inductive ameter to measure the current drawn from the battery whilst the ignition is swithed off and then pull the fuses one by one, when the current drops to zero you've found the ciruit with the draw. Once you've identified which circuit the draw is on you'll need the wiring diagram to find out what items are on that circuit and go through the same procedure this time disconnecting individual items. If you go through these procedures and you've still got current draw it could be a relay with damp/corrosion inside.
Let us know how you get on.
Oh yes nearly forgot, congrats on having two stunning motors

gazzol
 
Slow electric leak

I have the same problem, and am very interested in what you find. In the interim I have used a little battery-maintenance trickle charger from Sears successfully for a couple of years now. Lazy, but functional.
 
Battery going flat...............

Thankyou Gentlemen for your wisdom. Now all I have to do is find the time to test the wiring as suggested. This could well be an After Christmas task. I'll just add this to "THE LIST". In the meantime I have a solar trickle charger which will top things up nicely...
Best wishes to all coupsters for the festive season.......
 
The fuse method is a good approach; however, there are only a few circuits that are not switched off with the ignition and there are several paths which are not fused. I've had trouble with different light switches such as: trunk, glove, and hood. It's kind of like a refrigerator - how do you know the light goes off without getting inside an shutting the door?

Most of the the unswitched circuits go through fuse #4. Direct from the battery there are five current paths which I would consider before the fuse approach:

1. Alternator (charging path)
2. Starter (main power feed)
3. Horn >> High Beam Relays (cascaded)
4. Fuse 4 >> then Hazzard to Clock / Glovebox, Warning Buzzer (auto only), Dome light, Trunk Light
5. Master Load relay (on to fuses 6 and 9).

From the schematics, it appears that only fuse 4 should be active when the ignition is off. There are also plenty of "complete the ground" circuits coming from fuse 4 (list above) that can cause problems.
 
Suspects in the case are the glove box light, and the trunk light. AMHIK.

If you can find an inductive ammeter (never actually knew anyone to have one) that would work, but before searching, verify the two above suspects are properly working.
 
Unfortunately inductive ammeters only work with AC current

a heathly clock should not be a problem - my 2002Tii can sit for weeks and still start ok (too much salt on the roads now)
Agree with all the other comments, the only other thing that it could be is a diode going in the alternator
Malc
 
Unfortunately inductive ammeters only work with AC current
Click to expand...

Sorry Malc but I'm not too sure about that, I've got one in my toolbox, it's a bluepoint (snap-on) one and it reads positive and negative flow which means it detects D.C.. I also have an inductive clamp (A large split ring) for my multimeter which does the same. They work by reacting to the magnetic field which is present when current is passed through a wire and I can only assume that the simpler type like my bluepoint one which displays with a moving needle would become a blur if it were presented with an A.C. current of more than a few hertz.
 
Painfully slow!
The Dear old bucket is like a tetley teabag, has a thousand tiny perforations :shock:
which as I grit blast an area, I find, fix, and move on to the next
That said last night was spent fixing the holes in the rear LHS floor pan, plus some seam welding

What I really need is a year off work on full pay to get it sorted!

Ha :D
Cheers
Malc
 
We digress. Lets see if we can help Bill.
A stock E9 should not drain the battery to the point of non-starting when it has gone unused for a couple of weeks.
Assuming that no non-original electrical devices have been fitted, it should be relatively easy and inexpensive to trace the source of the problem.
If it takes several days to drain the battery, then the mystery load is not drawing a large amount of current, probably not more than 1 Amp.
An inexpensive digital multi-tester with a 10 Amp scale can be had for as little as $1.99!
If this is too expensive, you can use a test light. I would use a low wattage bulb like a license plate bulb or a glove box bulb. We don't care about the exact current drain, just its presence or absence.
Disconnect the + battery terminal and connect the bulb in series with the lead.
If you happen to apply a large load like attempting to start the car, the light bulb will illuminate to full brightness. No harm done.
If it always glows at something less than full brilliance, then you are in business.
Referring to the wiring diagram in the owner's manual (see Tech Info) disconnect the load paths (start by removing the fuses one at a time) until the mystery load path is found.
 
Yes, it's very interesting. My car is a RHD '74 and the published wiring diagrams, from all the sources I can find, including the owners manual, do NOT apply.
Where you guys have fuse 4 being active when the key is off, mine is fuse 5. I have 10 fuses, but in differnt orders.
The headlights (low beam) are fused on 3 and 4 but the electric windows are not. My heated rear window is on 9, not 8. My ignition switch "accessory on" position activates fuse 7.
I have had to make up a wiring diagram of sorts to suit!
I am about to go out the the "gerridge" and play with the ammeter - my suspicion is one of the elec window circuits. Electronics being my weakest subject, I hope something really obvious jumps out at me!!!!!
Christmas Day tomorrow - best wishes to all..
 
Bill the European and US versions were wired differently so I suspect you may have a US wiring diagram? I don't think (from what I've read) the CS was ever officially improrted to Australia so assuming that is correct you'll have a UK car. I have a set of wiring diagrams which I could scan for you if you get stuck. P.M. me if you need them.

gazzol
 
I have seen different variants of the wiring diagrams. But in any case the lamp or ammeter in lieu of the fuse will detect which circuit is draining the battery. The ammeter in series with battery with all fuses removed will tell you if it is an unfused circuit.

Once you have the culprit circuit you know who lives there by keeping just that fuse out and figuring out what doesn't work.

I can try and look up the other circuits, I think I saved the jpg files.
 
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