Dead Battery - Servotronic the culprit?

This past Sunday morning my 2003 X5 needed a jump after sitting in the
garage overnight. It needed to be jumped again Monday morning, Monday night
after work, this morning and tonight after work.

I removed the battery and had it tested tonight. No problem found. I'm
assuming the charging system is working fine as I'm able to start the car
three or more times after driving 45 miles home from work.

I reinstalled the battery, left the negative cable disconnected, put an
ammeter in line and measured 4.5A draw with the vehicle and all accessories
off. This seems particularly high to me.

I started pulling fuses to see if I could isolate the problem and discovered
the draw dropped to .5A after pulling the fuse for the Servotronic. I
reinstalled the fuse and the current draw increased back to 4.5A. I read
that the Servotronic module is used to provide variable ratio power
steering.

Is a 4.5A current draw with the vehicle off excessive? Could a failed
servotronic module actually be causing this problem? Does anyone know where
the servotronic module on a 2003 X5 is located? I'd like to replace it
myself since the vehicle is out of warranty. I just paid $300 plus last
month to have the final stage resistor replaced in the a/c. Can I drive the
vehicle without the Servotronic's fuse installed?

Thanks in advance!

DJ

>Is a 4.5A current draw with the vehicle off excessive? Could a failed


YES! 2 amps will drain the battery in 2 days... 4 amps would drain it over
night


>vehicle without the Servotronic's fuse installed?

I believe you can ....

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Failed to notice that the Servotronic fuse also powers ALL the interior
lights,
which probably accounts for the high current draw.

Will have to retest with doors closed. Have to wait until tomorrow since
vehicle alarm started going off every time I put the ammeter in line or
reconnect the negative battery cable.

Oh well, back to the drawing board!

"DJ" > wrote in message
. ..
> This past Sunday morning my 2003 X5 needed a jump after sitting in the
> garage overnight. It needed to be jumped again Monday morning, Monday
> night after work, this morning and tonight after work.
>
> I removed the battery and had it tested tonight. No problem found. I'm
> assuming the charging system is working fine as I'm able to start the car
> three or more times after driving 45 miles home from work.
>
> I reinstalled the battery, left the negative cable disconnected, put an
> ammeter in line and measured 4.5A draw with the vehicle and all
> accessories off. This seems particularly high to me.
>
> I started pulling fuses to see if I could isolate the problem and
> discovered the draw dropped to .5A after pulling the fuse for the
> Servotronic. I reinstalled the fuse and the current draw increased back to
> 4.5A. I read that the Servotronic module is used to provide variable ratio
> power steering.
>
> Is a 4.5A current draw with the vehicle off excessive? Could a failed
> servotronic module actually be causing this problem? Does anyone know
> where the servotronic module on a 2003 X5 is located? I'd like to replace
> it myself since the vehicle is out of warranty. I just paid $300 plus last
> month to have the final stage resistor replaced in the a/c. Can I drive
> the vehicle without the Servotronic's fuse installed?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> DJ
>