Craptastic door sensor is killing my battery

[deegingerkid]

I've read the entire $3 door fix thread, so please don't send me there. I don't have the downtime to fix my own car. I drive it every day, and having a non-functioning car in his garage drives my father insane.

I need to disable the sensor in the door so I can return to a normal life without having to need a freaking jump everywhere I go. I'm seeing red in a big way, here. I'll take any cheap advice I can get.

Not worried about locking the car. I take all electronics with me wherever I go.

Please don't assume I don't care about my car, because that's not the case. I just need an easy solution as my budget doesn't allow for a long and drawn-out and/or expensive fix.

 

[40X40]

Disconnect the battery when you park the car and you won't need a jump start.

Tell your father exactly what is going on and show him what the 3$ fix entails. You might be surprised at his reaction.....
Caring about your car and properly maintaining it are two entirely different things as you now know.

Not preaching, just able to see the obvious because I am not personally involved.

Good luck,

Bill

 

[Vince Waldon]

Are you 100% convinced it's your door sensor that's killing your battery, and if so, how?

 

[turbocharged798]

The lights shut themselves off if the door is left open after a certain amount of time.

 

[Shouse]

Not sure why your battery is draining, assume because the interior lights are staying on and the alarm goes off constantly...? If that's the case, you're battery probably isn't in the best of shape either. Anyways, I currently am living with the door lock issue myself. Like you, I just don't have the time and it's lower on the fix-it list.
My current workaround is to set all interior lights to forced off and I unplugged the horn so people wouldn't hear it at night. This is a separate horn than the driving F-U horn. IT can be found under the windshield wiper cowl. It's a black cylinder. HTH.

 

[patscc]

Just out of curiosity, looking at the schematic, it looks like the door control module gets it power from S37, a 30A fuse on the auxiliary relay panel. What would happen if you just pull the fuse ? (Assuming I read the schematic correctly)
patscc

 

[Vince Waldon]

Both the lights and alarm will shut themselves off, and you can manually turn the dome lights off permanently.

Which is why I'm confused about a door switch causing an overnight battery drain deep enough to drain the battery to the point that a boost is required.

 

[dan kerkstra]

Hey guys,not wanting torain on deeringerkid but I have the same issues with 2002 NB 160,000 need to jump start each morning, new battery last month, new alt 3 months ago, very small draw 02 when sitting no lights coming on afer it sits a while yet the battery is down, HELP HELP going 10-96 with this one can anyone shed light on this? thanx

 

[Vince Waldon]

Best to start a new thread, as you issue's not door sensor related.

Having said that... if you search a bit you'll find the TSB on tracking down parasitic power drains... there's a specific factory procedure to measure the voltage drop across each fuse in the fuse block which prevents some off the modules from waking up and yielding false results. That same TSB might help the OP as well.

 

[patscc]

If you really want to track the leak down, you can always use a circuit tester like this one from Harborfreight, item 67724, measures current draw and voltage across a fuse & plugs right into the blade socket.

patscc

 

[Vince Waldon]

I have one of those too, but unfortunately it won't work very well for tracking down rogue current drains. The issue is that as you remove the fuse and install the current probe you interrupt various modules that are sleeping. Waking them up distorts your findings.

The TSB and a standard multimeter are all that's needed...here's a thread with a link to the TSB:


http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=335670

 

[patscc]

Vince Walden said

Waking them up distorts your findings.

That's true, but they go back to sleep after a while, and you can leave the tester in for a while. It would be nice if the dohicky had a min/max function, or a logger.
Of course, you can just do what I do, and that is take it apart (three screws), unsolder the harness (two wires to PCB, red & black), and hook the harness up to a proper DMM or scope, and then you can leave the whole thing in-circuit for as long as need be.

I just discovered that my Bentley DVD, while it has the TSB, doesn't actually have the voltage drop matrix. Can anyone point me towards one ?
Thanks.

Edit
Forgot to add, if you jumper the fuse before pulling it, you avoid the whole wake-up issue. Of course, don't forget to remove the jumper before testing, or you'll just read nonsense.

Another edit
This should go without saying, but don't jumper a dead fuse.
patscc

 

[Vince Waldon]

The matrix is on page 5 of the TSB linked in the first post of the thread I reference above... or am I missing what you're asking?!

 

[patscc]

Sorry, my bad. I didn't even follow the link, thinking it was just the TSB, and instead went directly to the Bentley, which of course doesn't have it( the chart, it has the TSB). I have it now. I guess it's just way past my nap time.
patscc

 

[Vince Waldon]

No worries...

 

[patscc]

This thread got me thinking about something. When everything is good, how long does it crank before turning over ?
deegingerkid said

without having to need a freaking jump everywhere I go

Vince Waldon said

Are you 100% convinced it's your door sensor that's killing your battery, and if so, how?

deegingerkind, how long can you go between jumps ?
Your battery IS good, right ?
Have you checked voltage at the battery with ignition off, and engine running ?
patscc

 

[deegingerkid]

I'm starting to think it's another issue....I am hard-starting like it's nobody's business. The first start in the morning goes really slowly...it "chugs" before it wakes up....takes about 5 secs to actually starts. Once it's warm, it starts up like normal. Battery is holding a charge.

Starter? I just had the alternator replaced a little over a year ago. Or could this be a dying relay 109? I may try replacing it and seeing what happens. I replaced my dead one in october of last year.

Color me confuzzled.

 

[patscc]

Could you measure battery voltage in the evening, and then in the morning before you start the car for the first time, and post the results ?
patscc

 

[deegingerkid]

I'll do that tonight.

 

[deegingerkid]

Now it won't even turn over without a jump....replaced the relay 109, didn't help. When I have a jump it starts right on up, so I seriously doubt it's my starter.

Buying a 150 dollar battery tomorrow. Starting to wonder if I make enough money to justify keeping this car.

 

[Vince Waldon]

Before throwing more parts at 'er, a simple test:

1) key off, measure battery voltage at the terminals, should be around 12-12.5

2) turn key on and start motor (sounds like you may need to boost 'er at this point) voltage should rise to 13.5-14ish.

No voltage rise...problem is alternator not battery.

Proper voltage rise... alternator is fine, problem is battery or large current draw. Can't see in the above thread if you ran the diagnostic steps looking for a current draw?

 

[Gilty_one]

Before throwing more parts at 'er, a simple test:

1) key off, measure battery voltage at the terminals, should be around 12-12.5

2) turn key on and start motor (sounds like you may need to boost 'er at this point) voltage should rise to 13.5-14ish.

No voltage rise...problem is alternator not battery.

Proper voltage rise... alternator is fine, problem is battery or large current draw. Can't see in the above thread if you ran the diagnostic steps looking for a current draw?

Another check if your multi-meter can read - is a fluctuating a/c voltage ~ as if the rectifier fails.

 

[Black00Jetta]

Could be something as simple as dirty battery posts.

 

[deegingerkid]

Battery was dead, dead, dead. I had the fellows who replaced it yesterday test it, and they said there was virtually no voltage between the posts (like someone earlier in this thread suggested I do).

So, 160 bucks later, the car starts and runs like a champ again. Thanks for all your advice!!

 

[Vince Waldon]

OK, but did your battery have "no voltage between the posts" because it was dead or because it wasn't being charged?

In other words, we may hear from you in a week. Hope not!

 

[deegingerkid]

See me next week, how? The alternator is one year old. I replaced it last july. I don't have a voltmeter and couldn't measure it in the car. Is there something I missed?

Hope I didn't disappoint...?... I got the car a year and a half ago, and the guy who owned it before me owned it for only a year and never replaced the battery. It had to have been 3 or more years old and likely in need of replacement. Although it hurt my pocketbook, I think it was 160 bucks well-spent.

 

[deegingerkid]

And I had been trying to charge the battery for the week before I replaced it with a charger...and it wouldn't hold fir more than an hour. I tried.

If I have a power draw, it's huge, its somewhere and it'll rear its ugly head. For now, the new battery is doing well. I'm crossing my fingers, trust me.