I hope this helps someone cause it has driven me batty.
My daughter has a Saxo and recently the steering went stiff, I had a new power steering relay fitted which solved the problem short term. The other night her battery had gone flat and so she got a bump start and came home, the following morning the battery was dead flat and so I took it off and charged it, thinking she had left her lights or the stereo on for longer than she should (you know what young girls are like)
Any way the battery drained again within a few hours and so I bought a new battery, that too drained overnight and was so flat no lights came on even on the panel. I consulted several forums and came to an educated guess at the alternator and so I fitted a brand new one, I had recharged the battery and took it for a test drive, I then noticed the power steering was not working again and the next morning the battery was dead flat again. I now suspected the power steering pump and found a second hand one at the scrappies. I left the pump disconnected overnight but the battery still drained. I was now getting a bit upset and so scratching my bonnet decided I would remove all the fuses to see if that would give me a clue, I removed every fuse on the car, both accessories and engine fuses but the drain was still happening. I put a meter inline and the drain was around 20 amps. I removed the power cable on the starter motor but still the same. I then got a clamp meter and put it on each wire from the battery and the wire going to the engine fusebox was showing the drain. Even with all the fuses removed it was still showing a drain of around 20 amps. Directly under the fuses are some small connectors and one by one I unplugged them until hey presto the drain stopped. The car would turn over but not start until the plug was back in but then the drain continued. I unpugged each engine connector in turn to try and locate the other end of the wires on this connector but no difference. I was just about to go for the dreaded ignition switch when I noticed a relay under the ECU. I struggled but eventually managed to unplug it and buzzed the wires to confirm they were the ones I was looking for and they were. I then buzzed the relay and found the normally open contacts were actually welded together and were buzzing when they should not have been. This was allowing current through and causing the drain. I replaced the relay and the problem is solved. It has taken me two days of standing in the rain and the cold to suss this, so if this post helps anyone from suffering like I have then I am a happy man.
Derek
My daughter has a Saxo and recently the steering went stiff, I had a new power steering relay fitted which solved the problem short term. The other night her battery had gone flat and so she got a bump start and came home, the following morning the battery was dead flat and so I took it off and charged it, thinking she had left her lights or the stereo on for longer than she should (you know what young girls are like)
Any way the battery drained again within a few hours and so I bought a new battery, that too drained overnight and was so flat no lights came on even on the panel. I consulted several forums and came to an educated guess at the alternator and so I fitted a brand new one, I had recharged the battery and took it for a test drive, I then noticed the power steering was not working again and the next morning the battery was dead flat again. I now suspected the power steering pump and found a second hand one at the scrappies. I left the pump disconnected overnight but the battery still drained. I was now getting a bit upset and so scratching my bonnet decided I would remove all the fuses to see if that would give me a clue, I removed every fuse on the car, both accessories and engine fuses but the drain was still happening. I put a meter inline and the drain was around 20 amps. I removed the power cable on the starter motor but still the same. I then got a clamp meter and put it on each wire from the battery and the wire going to the engine fusebox was showing the drain. Even with all the fuses removed it was still showing a drain of around 20 amps. Directly under the fuses are some small connectors and one by one I unplugged them until hey presto the drain stopped. The car would turn over but not start until the plug was back in but then the drain continued. I unpugged each engine connector in turn to try and locate the other end of the wires on this connector but no difference. I was just about to go for the dreaded ignition switch when I noticed a relay under the ECU. I struggled but eventually managed to unplug it and buzzed the wires to confirm they were the ones I was looking for and they were. I then buzzed the relay and found the normally open contacts were actually welded together and were buzzing when they should not have been. This was allowing current through and causing the drain. I replaced the relay and the problem is solved. It has taken me two days of standing in the rain and the cold to suss this, so if this post helps anyone from suffering like I have then I am a happy man.
Derek