Why does my car battery go flat if left for a week

sylvia.beau, Feb 4, 8:49pm
Can anyone advise me on what is up with my car. Its a Toyota Will 2000 (yes i know they are funny) Japanese import (bought 6 mths ago) but battery says NZ so presume its new! Anyway if you leave the car unused for a week or more the battery is dead flat! I left it 4 days and when started it yesterday just managed to kick it over.any ideas would be appreciated.hope this isnt an expensive job.
Cheers
bitsy_boffin, Feb 4, 8:51pm
Boot light sticking on!
sylvia.beau, Feb 4, 8:54pm
How would I check that! would it show on the dashboard
bellky, Feb 4, 9:00pm
sometimes there is a drain on the battery when the vehicle is left sitting due to faulty electrics (timers etc) and you need to go to auto sparky to get fixed
kazbanz, Feb 4, 9:02pm
Oplets KISS(keep it simple stupid not I wanna kiss you)
1) look for any lights on inside the car that could cause a power drain.
2) If its fitted with an alarm it WILL slowly drain the battery so theres a possible cause.
3) MOST LIKELY -You bought a car with an old battery due for replacement.
4)if used iregularly and for short trips the charging system isn't getting long enough to charge the battery.
sylvia.beau, Feb 4, 9:10pm
Thanks looks like a trip to auto elect to check battery as none of the others causes apply .prob faulty battery though it looks new!
kazbanz, Feb 4, 9:11pm
What brand is the battery! Ie what makes you feel its a new battery!
sylvia.beau, Feb 4, 9:23pm
It is a Century battery.It doesnt actually say its NZ but I think the car dealer must have told me that as it stuck in my mind. It just looks new as I have had ones before that look much more worse for wear
male_timaru, Feb 4, 9:24pm
Yellow with Blue top!
sylvia.beau, Feb 4, 9:25pm
Drove from Christchurch to Auck in it only few weeks back and drive it most days for at least an hour or so It surely cant be from not enough use
jason18, Feb 4, 9:25pm
Even new ones can be faulty. Depends how long they have been sitting on the shop floor
sylvia.beau, Feb 4, 9:26pm
White with black top and yellow knobs
thewomble1, Feb 4, 11:14pm
climb into the boot and get someone to close the boot and wait a week
westygirl1, Feb 5, 3:05pm
after checking previous seggestions ie battery light on etc next step is to do a residual current draw test and see if there is something drawing power when there shouldnt. If you find there is get hold of some wiring diagrams and start working you way through by starting withfuses one at a time to isolate circuit then working you way though till you find the section of wire or connection or whatever it is that is causing your problem. If you are in anyway capable of doing this yourself do so as that is what your autosparky will do and it a long slow process which is going to = $$$
bjdw, Feb 5, 3:36pm
Can you do a residual current draw test with a cheap multi meter.
westygirl1, Feb 5, 3:38pm
I can on mine and it was a cheap supercheap mini one
westygirl1, Feb 5, 3:42pm
just need to be able to read amps. connect between positve terminal on battery and positive battery lead remove dash clock fuse, and turn eevrythin off and shut all doors etc should read zero. Some modern cars will have to go to sleep mode first and some may have certain spec that it should draw so check up info on your car first
footplate1, Feb 5, 7:16pm
I spent $100s with Team McMillan to find why the battery on my M330 went flat.We thought we had it solved when it transpired that the AA battery doesn't suit demanding European cars.(Neighbor's Mercedes had a similar issue).But even now, it won't last three weeks.
motorway, Feb 5, 7:47pm
"G force" battery.Century's economy range.
elect70, Dec 13, 4:18pm
Ask for a load test on the battery, could be dealer just put second hand battery in it