Flat Battery - yet another electrical issue...GOD HATES ME

[X5-D-Sport]

OK, here's the facts...
6 month old 1000 Crank Amp Battery...
All its levels are good, no weak cells & battery stays charged if disconnected.
New alternator 6 months ago too.
When jump started, the battery will re-charge, and the Alternator is dumping 14 volts back in.
When engine off, the battery holds about 12.5 volts when I leave the car.
I have got NOTHING new fitted recently.

If I leave the vehicle a day without running, the battery ends up as flat as the tits on a witch...

I did notice this evening when parked, that the Webasto pump motor was running at full bore for several minutes after the car was switched off locked.... & kept running.
I unplugged the Webasto power plug & refitted it, and the motor didn't re-start...

As I've never heard this motor ever run before, even during the snow a year ago, I'm wondering if it is coming on during the night & flattening the battery ??
I also checked the boot cavity for water or leaks..... but bone dry in there, so it's not a liquid water short circuit.

Additionally, I have noticed that whenever the vehicle is started after about 30 mins idle... the sides & rears & indicators & & reversing lights flicker & do a little 15 second flickering light show for some reason...
But this always stops after about 10-15 seconds & does not re-start.

So, re
1- the battery drain &
2- the light show, and
3- the Webasto after running

any one got any ideas where to start looking ?

[Steamyrotter]

Are your lights LED??

If so that is 'normal' as it is the car doing cold lamp check.
LED only take a small current to operate and so will flash, whereas normal filament lamps won't flash on that small current.

Unplug the webasto and see if that helps

[X5-D-Sport]

RE LED Lights - yes, you're right... ALL my lights except the headlights are LED's...
So that answers that one 

If the battery is OK in the morning with leaving the Webasto disconnected all night, then that will mean there is some kind of sensor or relay for the Webasto is playing up I guess...
Any ideas where this sensor would live ?

[X5Sport]

Webasto definitely suspect.  Is it 'as built' or has the auxiliary heating option been tried?  The Webasto in normal operation (no Aux Heat function) should only run for a few minutes after the car is first started and is cold, and the outside temp is around 5°C or less.

The Webasto is supposed to shut down if the battery volts get to around 12.5-12.7V (I think) to prevent it going flat.

After the car has been locked, check to see if the little tell-tale LED beside the P mark on the gearbox remains on.  It should go off after 16 minutes.  If it stays in then something is preventing the car going into 'sleep' mode.

Finding a parasitic draw is a pain!

[X5Sport]

[quote="X5-D-Sport Salisbury"]
Any ideas where this sensor would live ?
[/quote]

On the Webasto control board I think.  Inside the unit 

There are a couple of threads covering DIY fixes that may help.

[X5-D-Sport]

Re Webasto,
It has never run-on after switching off the engine that I've noticed, but I'm usually in a hurry escaping rain or just rushing about - so may have not hear the motor whine.

It is a stock unit & has not got any wizzy functions.

I'm wondering why it needs to operate when the car is running hot & has been driving for an hour ?
The outside temp is 4 degrees according to the car, which is accurate & correct according to the weather report currently in our area.

Will check the Park led and see if its off now I've been out of the vehicle for an hour.

[X5Sport]

If it is running on after that long then something is wrong.  It should only run until the coolant warms up as that's what it's for.

It might be failing to start so it's running on.  When operating you should here a steady tick....tick....tick....tick from the passenger side, and have warm air from the exhaust under the passenger side.

[X5-D-Sport]

Yeah,
I've heard the Tick before, on start up, as if from under the passenger glove box area....

and the latest Motor noise is similar in sound to a screen washer motor running at full-chat with an empty washer bottle.. and this was running for long after the vehicle was switched OFF and locked...

[X5-D-Sport]

Mr X5-Sport..
any chance of a PM & number swap to chat & ask a few questions about this Webasto contraption ?

[X5-D-Sport]

Is every thing that controls the Webasto actually inside the unit ?
In which case, I will get one & strip down my own unit & see what's in there..

Is the unit meant to have a high speed motor inside ?, because the only noise mentioned by any one is the "tick-tick-tick"..
Mine definitely has a fast electric motor sound coming from it....

[X5Sport]

This help?

Service Manual

[R515]

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/s ... bh&page=10

Try this link from the Rover 75 forum as these had Webasto heaters fitted when Rover was owned by BMW, the Rover units seem to be slightly different to the ones in our cars but there’s enough similarities for this site to improve your knowledge base, that said, most of the info there is about non-functioning heaters as opposed to ones displaying  your symptoms. After a journey, yours should definitely not be running as already stated.

Also as stated, you need to ensure the vehicle is going to sleep properly, when in this state, mine only draws 20 milliamps. Before I sorted the aftermarket rear headrest DVD’s wiring, it was pulling over 100 milliamps and draining the battery after a couple of days. This test is best carried out using a multi-metre set to amps and connecting it in series with the battery neg lead and the neg post and checking the current draw after 20mins

Good luck

[X5-D-Sport]

Update...

The vehicle sleeps after about 10 minutes, & the "P" LED goes out.


Re the Webasto again, I've heard it tick before... and when I heard it was Late Summer evening of about 18'C...?

This particular noise this evening from the Webasto was NOT a tick, but a high revving eleccy motor... sounded like a screen washer pump & definitely turning several thousand rpm by the sound of it.
When id disconnected the pair of power cables in one plug at the unit, the motor spooled down & stopped.
It didn't restart when the power was re-connected immediately afterwards...
So I left it disconnected for the night at 5pm...
Just gone out to the X5 - 9:15pm , battery holding 12.3 volts & an instant start within 1 engine revolution...

It would have been sluggish or dead as a nail by now, based on the last few days history....

[X5Sport]

The noise is the burner blower fan inside I would hazard a guess at.

[X5-D-Sport]

X5-Sport - Richard, If I remember...

You're right, there is a fan motor & also a water pump motor according to the manual you sent the link to...

****It also shows a timer display with some buttons..... not seen this on the vehicle, unless it's under some cover plate some place ???????

****Also, the manual makes a clear note about bleeding the coolant.... but I've not seen any bleed nipple point on the Webasto unit at all.... ?????

As I recently changed the thermostat housing, is it possible that the Webasto has an air lock & is messing up it's sensing as a result ? hence it comes on for ages when ever it wants ??

The fan over run is apparently normal, as part of the shut down process... where by the coolant has not reached 60'C & the outside ambient is less than 6'C... God knows why, but it's supposed to do this...

Also it appears, the Webasto has a burner chamber & pump unit to accelerate the water heating to warm the water up faster & get the engine up to temperature faster when the ambient is less than 5 'C...

Any one know if this is supposed to happen ???

Will anything bad happen, If I simply leave this Webasto contraption disconnected ?

Any way, the car started after 4 hours stationary & turned over INSTANTLY & started...

See what tomorrow morning brings....