Any issues with fitting a battery isolator switch?

[mjk164]

Hi everyone,

I've had an issue with my 2005 XC70D5 since I've had it in that the battery drains if the car isn't used for anything more than a few days. Problem is obviously worse in winter. Looking on here, the solution seems to be 'fault test everything' and possibly replace things ranging from the alarm sounder to the CEM. Well, this car now has 203,000 miles on it and I have neither the time nor money to do that.

I had to leave it at the airport this week for 5 days in -5 degrees weather so I just disconnected the negative on arrival and when I reconnected 5 days later the car fired up instantly. The only ill-effect seems to have been the ock needed resetting.

Can anyone see any issues with fitting an isolator switch permanently to the battery so I don't have to fiddle about with a spanner each time?

[olliecampbell]

You'll probably invalidate your insurance as the alarm system won't be working....but I can't see why you couldn't do that otherwise.


You can easily check for parasitic draws using a multimeter and pulling fuses....

[Simmy]

its a quick and easy remedy if you have a parasitic drain that you cant find. its also a good anti theft device iv seen them on many cars over the years .don't fit one to a v50 2.0d as these can loose there imobiliser settings.