Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Plus4 GDI battery drain

Does anybody know what the quiescent current draw on a +4 GDI should be?
The battery in my car drops to about 11.5V after about 3 days and I am trying to pin down if the problem is the battery or the car.
Cheers
John

Mine is just the same. Think it's the ecu/immobiliser gubbins drawing current. If it's in the garage it's best to leave a CTEK attached.

I was also surprised about flat batteries in the first time of ownership.

One day I noticed in the manual: if the car is out of use for about 14 days use a charger. That‘s when the battery is nearly new.

René

My GDI does this, and I presume its the immobiliser drawing the current. But my 2005 Roadster goes a lot longer before the battery loses power. Weeks in fact.

Thanks for the feedback -- so it's a feature then. This afternoon I've just wired in an Optimate so that should stop the battery going flat.
Cheers
John

My GDI also. I leave mine on a trickle charger if not using it for a couple of weeks

I thought it interesting when the dealer informed that they ALWAYS add the trickle charger to Morgan cars they sell. I did ask why, and got the answer that seems to be already posted...the immobilizer will drain the battery. As they did not specify that this is just a +4 problem it looks like it is prevalent where you have the immobilizer installed.

I would not accept "they all do that argument" if indeed the battery volts drop to that virtually flat off load figure, from presumably fully charged, after such a short time, see below.



Leaving the car on a small charger/conditioner is very good practice but what of the situation when touring away from home?

I would suggest investigation is required, and there could be an innocent reason if battery capacity has dropped to such a level that replacement is required. Batteries thrive on regular use, reasonable length journeys to fully re-charge, and an easy starting engine.

With my different roadsters it took about 2 to 3 weeks until the battery became weak. Therefore also with the 2014 4/4 I had installed a battery main switch as a precaution. But as other 4/4 Sigma drivers can probably confirm, there is no problem even after two months not driving the batterie is strong since six years. Maybe she has a different Immobilizer system than the Plus 4 ?

I'm with Richard on the "they all do that" argument. But MMC have it covered on my 2 year old car as in the hand book it says "If the vehicle is left standing for more than 3 days then it is advised that a battery conditioner is used". So MMC do know it's bad.

I have found that the immobiliser will not unlock but after re-reading DaveW's post on this and using the 20 second rule then the car starts fine with 11.2V on the in car volt meter (which is the same as my test meter).
There is still no answer to my question though of "what the quiescent carrent draw should be?", I have asked the same question of the dealer but he has not replied so far.
I shall have to look into this further and find out whether it's the immobiliser, the clock or something else that's the issue. In my case it could be the battery as it is obvious that the battery cover has been removed many, many times before I bought the car.
Cheers
John