What I was going to say was that the best way to diagnose a battery drain problem is to get a current clamp. They look like a digital multi-meter, but with a clamp that you can place around the battery lead. This gives you a live measurement of the current being drawn from the battery.
Then you can first see what it drops too after the body control module switches off (usually after a minute of two of locking the car), and also try things like locking/unlocking the doors or boot to see if you can stimulate the problem.
One other thing to also try is the wipers, as sometimes the self park can cause a problem.

Ive just checked and I have a 5.4amp drain.

What is likely to cause such a big drain on the battery? I am going to start going through the fuses now one by one.

Is anyone aware of which fuse the rear release switch is on? 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic46383.html

That's (obviously) way to much. It should be something like 1-200 mA (0.1 - 0.2A).

Yep, pulling fuses will help isolate the area. Have you tried using the rear wiper, in case the self park mechanism isn't shutting down ?

If some module is pulling most of that power, it'll also be warm. Try feeling for something hot.

Ok, getting there.

Removing fuse FL17 reduces the loss to 1.2v.

If I then remove FL18 at the same time, it then drops to about 0.34v.

Just need to establish now what's on these fuses 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic46383.html

Looking at other posts, FL18 powers lots of things that are worth checking, ie

Seat motors
Audio head unit
Fridge
Mirror fold
TMC + TV amps
Telephone
Sunroof
Electric windows
Navigation
Rear entertainment
Lighter and aux power sockets
Diagnostic connector
Rear wiper
Gear lever mechanism
Trailer socket

Speaking as an engineer, in my experience with these problems they are related to an electro-mechanical device (ie solenoid) that is continually trying to activate, such as a door lock mechanism, wiper parking mechanism, door retracting door mirrors, seat motors etc.
Try activating as many of the above items as you can to see if they are stuck.

Current issues on the car are:

Rear tailgate release - never worked since purchasing
Handbrake "Screech" when being applied.

I would assume it's not the handbrake, as looking through everything a lot points to the rear tailgate switch. I'm just trying to work out which fuse that would be as there are 69 in the interior.

One thought was to just remove the switch now, as that would possibly rectify the issue? 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic46383.html

Yep, disconnect it, and see what happens.

Don't use the EPB (electronic park brake) if it's screeching, as if it gets stuck, it'll be much more difficult to fix, ie it could leave you stranded as a set of lights, or some other equally inconvenient place. However, all it needs is adjusting properly. Check out "Bodsy's Brake Bible" on here for the adjustment technique, located in the Technical Section, or on a link from any of Bodsy's posts, I think.

Pulled off the tailgate switch and a gallon of cottage cheese water poured out... WTF???

Unfortunately, disconnected it and checked... Battery drain still there!

Going to have to work through the interior fuses, and now it's started bloody raining!! FFS!


 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic46383.html

Ok....

When I'm checking the amp's the connection I'm making is making the CD player in the car kick in. I've got the father-in-law now checking as I pull fuses.

When I pull fuse 53, the ampage drops to 1.56.

I'm just wondering if the CD player is scewing the readings when it initially kicks in and cycles through the startup, or should it not start until I get in the car?

Feeling confused now? 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic46383.html

Sounds like you are measuring the current with the ignition on or partly on, hence the CD is active. You need to test it when it is locked, as some of the ECU's (ie the body control module) will only shut down shortly after the car is locked. So open the bonnet, then hold put something on top of the bonnet switch, so the alarm module thinks that it is still closed, then lock the car with all doors shut, and monitor the current. After a minute or two, all the modules should have gone into sleep mode, and you can measure the current drain with all the normal functioning modules switched off.
This should be something like 0.1A to 0.2A.

Cheers, was just thinking exactly the same thing about the alarm etc! Knew something wasn't quite right. 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic46383.html

[quote="CornishRob"]Sounds like you are measuring the current with the ignition on or partly on, hence the CD is active. You need to test it when it is locked, as some of the ECU's (ie the body control module) will only shut down shortly after the car is locked. So open the bonnet, then hold put something on top of the bonnet switch, so the alarm module thinks that it is still closed, then lock the car with all doors shut, and monitor the current. After a minute or two, all the modules should have gone into sleep mode, and you can measure the current drain with all the normal functioning modules switched off.
This should be something like 0.1A to 0.2A.[/quote


Going to sound thick but where is the bonnet switch? 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic46383.html

Under the left (looking at the front) bonnet catch. You can probably use a screwdriver to push down on the switch

Link shows you about it http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic43444.html

OK....

Now with all fuses in and the alarm set we're looking at a drain of 0.72.

Will start on the fuses again.

13:00 - With F17 only out the reading is 0.43
- With F18 out only the reading is 0.56

- With F17 & F18 out the reading is 0.28.

So pointing towards an internal fuse still..... but which one!!

69 to go....... 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic46383.html

Last edited by darrenmcneill on Mon Sep 26 2016 12:02pm. Edited 1 time in total

Robbie over on Disco 4 posted this 'professional guide' to tracing battery drain:

http://www.disco4.com/forum/post1366423.html

Some differences to the Disco 4 but the principles are the same 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE