car wont start when not used for a few days

[lms37]

I have a Peugeot 206 1.4 HDI (2003 - 48000 miles and serviced regularly) which will not start if it has not been used for a few days. It is kept in a garage so not open to the elements. Doesn't attempt to turn over and I just get a clicking/bleeping noise. It has been into the garage twice and electronically tested twice but no faults have been identified. It runs Ok and is fine once it has been jump started.

It seemed obvious that it was a battery drain of some kind but with no faults being found I am stuck! This started after the original battery was replaced and I have had 2 new batteries since then but still experiencing the same problem.

Can anyone help? What else can I ask the garage to check before I start spending too much money?

[Enright]

You can diagnose this yourself with a cheap multimeter (about a tenner off eBay).
All you have to do is set it to read current (mA), connect it in series with the positive terminal of your battery, and note the current drain. Anything more than about 20mA is going to flatten your battery quite rapidly.
Now just find the fuseboxes, and systematically pull out and replace individual fuses until one of them makes the current drain reading go to zero. This means you've found your offending circuit, and can repair or replace components in it accordingly.

[lms37]

Thanks for that.

One would think that at least one of the 4 garages that have inspected it should have been able to identify the problem :-) I will probably not be able to do this myself but will try and find someone who can do it for me. Appreciate your advice - I rely heavily on my car and just want to return to a stress free, reliable existence!

Cheers.

[gazza82]

Find an auto-electrician ... they are more likely to want the business.

[lms37]

Car has been into 2 different auto electricians who say they can't find anything. Neither seemed interested in investigating further. Not sure what the diagnostic tests cover or what they would show up - lady driver - what do I know:-). Should they be systematically checking the fusebox as suggested? Should I be specifically asking them to do this?

[Capncol]

Check the obvious, the boot, interior and glovebox lights for a start. Make sure they are going off. What make of battery? (bad batch??)