Badappex

iTrader: (2)

Have a 93 FD and Ive had to pull the radio fuse out of the engine bay because the radio is draining my battery. I have an aftermarket Kenwood CD player with no amps hooked up. WHere can I start looking? I took out the radio relay from the front of the car and it seems the previous owner jump the wires. ANy thoughts

mightyslash

Does it drain a lot of battery? Because I always turn the radio on when the engine's off.

Badappex

iTrader: (2)

Drains like 8.7 volts. Id say thats alot

bajaman

The clock and memory features of the headunit WILL drain some juice, but it should only be a few milliamps drain.
You are saying that your battery goes dead like what, in a matter of hours, or days, or what?
Are you sure it is your stereo? Have you done isolation to determine this? How "fat" is the spark when you disconnect and then reconnect the positive battery cable? It SHOULD be just a small, yellow spark, if you have a fat spark, you have a MUCH bigger drain that what you should have. If you do have a fat spark, start pulling fuses one by one and rechecking the spark each time you pull a fuse. If a fuse you pull causes a dramatic decrease in the fatness of the spark, start checking all devices associated with that circuit.
Pull the headunit out and check the back for pinched wires that may have broken the insulation, too, if you REALLY know that the drain is from the headunit.

Badappex

iTrader: (2)

I know its pulling volts from the radio becuase i went fuse by fues with a test light.

When I pulled out the radio fuse the light went off. I then tested it with a volt meter and read up to 9.5 volts being drained. The car would go dead in 3 hours parked.

Ill try to mess with the head unit i guess

maxcooper

You could also hook up a ammeter between the battery and the battery's ground cable (disconnected of course, so the ammeter is in the circuit). It is the current (amps) that you are interested -- volts are the wrong unit. There will be some current draw, but it should only be a few hundred milliamps. This current draw with the car off is known as "dark current". If the dark current is high, follow the procedure bajaman posted, pulling fuses until you find the offending circuit.

I installed new rear speakers and one of them shorted out on the nearby seatbelt bracket and blew a fuse. I fixed the problem by bending the speakers connections enough to give ample clearance. However, the battery kept dieing after I fixed the problem and replaced the fuse. I have since replaced the stereo and the problem went away. I am pretty sure the shorted speaker damaged the stock radio such that it was draining too much current with the car off. The other possible culprit was the antenna wire that connects to the shielding on the antenna connection. The wire was frayed and the shielding was touching the chassis of the radio. My guess is that it was the speaker short, though, as I think the antenna shielding is just connected to ground anyway.

I thought I read in the Factory Workshop Manual that the dark current should not exceed 600 mA, but I was just looking through the manual for that spec and I couldn't find it. So, I am not sure if that is the right number or not.

Hope that helps,
-Max

Badappex

iTrader: (2)

Hey Maxcooper. I have visted your site since I first got my RX7, 2 years ago.

Sorry about the volt thing, I was using an ammeter to measure the mA. I disconnected the positive cable and made a circuit with the 2 electrodes from the meter. Thats how I read the mA. Like I said I was pulling fuses and found that the
draniage would decline massively once I pulled the radio fuse. Im gonna check the circuit again.