Peugot expert van draining battery when everything is switched off When jumped started the battery charges quickly, but switch off the engine and in ten minutes the battery is totally drained. Help greatly appreciated

Is your alternator working properly and charging the battery ? After you turn your car off, can you hear any electric component running inside the engine compartment or inside the car ?

The fact that you've had no ignition or dashboard lights when you've turned the ignition key is mainly pointing to :

• A failed battery.

• A discharging battery via a failed alternator (the rectifier can burn out, causing the battery to rapidly discharge).

• A 'bad earth'

Start with the easiest thing first. You say that your car started with a boost - a jump start - which suggests that your non-starting problem may be due to the battery or the 'earth'. When you connect another battery to your own via cables, your car is using the other car as an 'earth'.

A quick check - if you have battery jump cables - Connect a jump cable to your battery negative terminal - the earth terminal (black cable) and connect the other end to any suitable metal point on the engine/bodywork of your car, and try and start the engine. If it starts, it's now telling you that the problem is that of a bad earth.

A 'bad earth' can be caused by corroded cables- check both battery cables for a greenish/blue corrosion and/or broken strands in the wire.

Bear in mind that if you disconnect your battery you may lose your radio code. But .. loosen and turn each battery terminal to clean it and fully retighten. Then check the battery earth lead - the black cable - where it attaches to the engine/bodywork. Loosen and clean the cable and attaching bolt. If a car has a 'bad earth' it can cause sluggish/non starting problems.

If you're quite happy that the battery terminals, cables and earthing point on the engine/bodywork are clean, tight and ok ... suspect the battery.

Don't rush off and buy a new battery. Get somebody to jump start your car and then drive to a workshop and ask them to check it out whilst the battery is in situ - they can also check the alternator output at the same time.

The instrument cluster in this van is really a computer display and it has malfunctioned. This is a common complaint on this van and you must remove the cluster and have it rebuilt to cure the problems. Check the WEB for repair sources. They can also provide complete instructions on removal free of charge.

Battery problem, you can jump start the battery, you may have charging system problem.This is where the alternator can not supply the demands and does not have the capability of charging the battery. Or you can have a battery problem that has drain due to some light that was left on and a simple recharge will fix it, make sure you check and clean the battery terminals and ensure they are tighten up

Yes, If you have a volt meter, jump and start engine, with engine running you should have approx 13.5 to 14.2volts that would tell me that batt is getting charged when engine is running. you said new batt would not hold a charge, I would be thinking about a parasitic draw(small amount of power) that in time will drain batt. things to look for are glove box lights, under hood lights that dont turn off. one easy way too see if you have a draw is to disconnect one batt cable, now use a regular (12volt non-self powered) test light and touch one end to batt cable and the other to empty batt terminal, with no light switches on and doors closed, this test light should not light and if it does then you have a drain on batt that will kill it say overnight.

A quick guess is that one of the power sliding doors is not closing properly or the switch for that door is broken. A broken door switch would leave the door motor or interior lights on continuously and drain the battery. Draining the battery more than a few times would ruin it. Also check the front door switches for broken or missing actuators - the door ajar icon looks similar to the sliding door open icon.

I tried to download an owner's manual so I could be sure I was interpreting your dashboard icon correctly, but the oldest one available is for 1999, so my information may not be accurate.

SOUND LIKE FAULTY LIFT GATE SWITCH.

Hi as it starts with a jump start, i would rule out a starter motor problem, i am taking it that what you mean by a jump start is your using a donor battery rather than pushing the van, so possible causes are (1) battery discharging due to a light left on, or the alarm system draining the battery or something similar, (2) alternator not charging the Battery, when you turn the ignition key does the ignition light come on, does it go off when the engine starts?

check the charging system...if the alternator is not charging right then you can have that problem...

you may find you have a bad earth somewhere, so i would check the earths. if you have a bad earth at wont matter how long you leave it running the charge will just dissipate, then i would check the alternator again if its not working it wont matter how long you leave your engine running it will not charge the battery.