W203 possible battery problems

[lynall]

Right i got in my good ladies car the other day went to start it and instead of the usual click whoomph start, i got a slow turning engine that then fired.
When back home i measured the charge rate 13.8, then lights and heated rear screen on it dropped to 13.45 which whilst a tad low i reckon is okay.
I then took the car to work and tested the battery with the midtronics machine, which told me 12.17 volts good recharge, i entered 800 cca and it tested at 709cca.
I have also noticed the dash info panel slightly faded at the top and bottom of the screen, i recharged the battery and on the drive home the screen was perfect.
Checked the battery today after stood for 5 hours and it was 12.17, bit low i thought, started the engine tested at 13.8 and dropping to 13.50 as before.
Im leaning towards a battery but dont want to spend a 100 quid if its another fault.
Is there any known faults with something pulling the battery down?
Sorry its a bit long winded


Lynall

 

[wemorgan]

Sorry I can't help with your problem, but it's good to see you post again as you used to quite a lot I recall - mostly answering the technical questions, which is always needed

 

[grumpyoldgit]

Possible earth strap fault?

 

[lynall]

Hi to both of you, earth strap is good.
Lisa went out to it this morning and it was slow to start again, so ive rechecked the charging to convince myself the alt is good and bought a new battery Halfords 110 list 82 pounds with my trade card, just got to fit it now.
Wemorgan, i went back to my land rovers very occasionally i drive the wifes car, god i miss the power and the auto box and the comfort did i mention the power!
Now weve bought a boat and as her car is pretty damn reliable and i spend most of my web time on boat and land rover forums plus hew car is so reliable i very rarely come on here, and if it wasnt reliable she would then have to drive one of my heaps and that would be unbearable for me and my cars.

Lynall

 

[lynall]

Well i spoke to soon ref the reliability went to go out car unlocked but wont turn over, no click no nothing, try the easy stuff first fob batteries, no luck, measure battery voltage 5.8v whoops!
So something is pulling the power down over night, battery now on charge hopefully poor thing is okay, then got to work out whats taking the power.
From memory isnt there something on the drivers seat that saps the power? now off to do a search.

Lynall

 

[lynall]

Bit of googling and i have unplugged the drivers seat control module, so far two nights its holding over 12.55 volts so will leave in unplugged for another week or so before splicing an ign controlled relay into the power supply.


Lynall

 

[trainer]

Hi Lynall, I have had this happen twice now with the passenger seat first and then the drivers. Splicing after each one has sorted the problem. The only issue I now have is that the steering column doesn't always go to my memory position.