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New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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mase123987
Novice
Jul 4, 2012, 6:27 PM
Post #1 of 19
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New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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I have a 1998 Cutlass that had a broken tape player in the stereo. I found this to be a good excuse to put a new stereo in it. I bought a Alpine cde-133bt. I used the follow for the install: Metra 40-GM10 GM Antenna Adapter, Scosche GM03B 32-Pin Connector for 1994-Up GM, Scosche GM1583B 1992-Up General Motors Oversize Radio Multi Kit with 2 CD pocket.
After I soldered the connections that read the same from the harness to the stereo's wires and plugged in the antenna, I bolted it in place and put everything back together. The stereo worked well. I also drove the car later that night, parked it and then drove it home 3 hours later. Again, there was no problems.
The next day, I install new speakers. Once again, everything sounded good when I turned the key to accessories to test. I didn't drive the car that night.
The next morning, I went to my car to go to work and it wouldn't start. It wouldn't even get to the point where the starter would click. Eventually I brought my battery to an auto store to have it checked and they said it was a goner, so I bought a new one. I installed the new battery and the car started right up. I drove it around for awhile and then parked it. The next day, it started fine going to and from work. The day following, it was back to be dead.
Given that I never had this problem pre-new stereo, it is safe to say I didn't do something right.
Currently, when the battery is connected, I get a fast paced ticking sound somewhere around the glove compartment. There is also some type high pitched soft hiss coming from the stereo and sometimes clicks coming from near the rear, passenger-side speaker. When I take out the fuse labeled "Interior lamps, Body Function Control Module," all the different sounds stop. They start right back up as soon as I put it back in. I also took out the stereo and the ticking continues with the fuse in.
I can only imagine that I screwed the ground up. I am more of a hobbyist installer than a knowledgeable one.
HERE IS MY QUESTIONS: Could improper grounding do what I have described? Could I have destroyed anything (besides the battery)? Also, does the ground from the stereo go to the chassis ground coming from the harness?
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jul 4, 2012, 7:06 PM
Post #2 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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How did you wire up your connector to the factory harness? Which colors did you splice to which?
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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mase123987
Novice
Jul 4, 2012, 7:11 PM
Post #3 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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I put the scosche harness on the factory harness and then soldered same colored wires (making sure they were labeled the same in alpine and scosche's manuals). The only ones not soldered were the ground wires. Coming from the stereo is a single ground wire. From the scosche harness is a black wire labeled "chassis ground" and one other ground wire labeled something like amplifier ground.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jul 4, 2012, 7:19 PM
Post #4 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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Ok. Which colored wires on the radio go to which colored wires on the factory harness?
Radio should have something like:
Red
Yellow
Black
Blue
White
White/black
Purple
Purple black...etc
The factory harness should be
Yellow
Orange
Brown
Grey
Black/white
Grey
Tan
Dark Green
Light Green....etc
Which wires did you connect to which?
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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mase123987
Novice
Jul 4, 2012, 7:29 PM
Post #5 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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All colors matched perfectly
blue to blue
blue/white to blue/white
orange to orange
red to red
yellow to yellow
gray to gray
gray/black to gray/black
violet/black to violet/black
violet to violet
green to green
green/black to green/black
white/black to white/black
white to white
The stereo has a pink/black wire that the manual says not used. It also has the black ground wire.
The scosche harness has the two ground wires I mentioned earlier.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jul 4, 2012, 7:46 PM
Post #6 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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If you unplug your radio, does the clicking and battery drain go away?
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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mase123987
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Jul 4, 2012, 7:53 PM
Post #7 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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No, though the clicking changes in speed if the grounds are put together or if the antenna is connected to the stereo.
No matter what it still clicks.
BTW my battery is next to dead at the moment.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jul 4, 2012, 8:07 PM
Post #8 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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There might be clicking because the battery is discharged. Low voltage conditions will make the BCM do weird things.
I would disconnect the radio and antenna completely. Then charge up the battery. After the battery if fully charged, test the charging system with a volt meter and engine running. You should be seeing around 13.5- 14 volts. If that checks out, do a battery parasitic draw test. It should be less than 50 mA with everything turned off. If that is good, plug in your radio and then recheck parasitic draw.
Here is a good video on parasitic draw testing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0
Let us know what you find out. Need to see if the radio/wiring is causing your problem or if something else showed up after your install by coincidence.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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mase123987
Novice
Jul 4, 2012, 8:09 PM
Post #9 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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I killed my new battery! It won't charge back up. I'll just bring it back and get a new one (sorry Auto Zone).
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jul 4, 2012, 8:12 PM
Post #10 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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Ya, get a good battery and then do those checks as stated above.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Jul 4, 2012, 8:13 PM)
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mase123987
Novice
Jul 6, 2012, 4:33 PM
Post #11 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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So here is where I am out now:
I didn't do anything with my car yest. because I was frustrated and probably would have lit it on fire if I would have touched it.
Today I took the battery out and brought it to AutoZone to replace it. To my surprise, they tested it and said it was fully charged and working (nothing as starting 2 days ago). This must mean that my dad's charger works and I didn't kill the battery like I had thought.
Anyways, knowing that the battery is good to go, I started the parasitic test with a new multimeter I bought. The fuse inside the car that is labeled "Interior lamps, Body Function Control Module" was pulled out because it was causing clicking. Testing between the negative terminal of the battery and the negative cable gave as .710A. Obviously this is huge for a car that is off. So we started to pull fuses in the Engine Compartment Fuse Block. After about 4 fuses, one (when pulled) caused the amps to go back to acceptable levels. The fuse is labeled "left-hand electrical center-stop lamps, hazard lamps, body function control module, cluster, climate control system." With simple testing, I realized that the fuse from inside the car was only causing clicking because of low voltage; aka it was a symptom and not a cause, so I plugged it back in.
This meant I finally found the fuse I needed. I think it also confirms that it has something to do with the Body Function Control Module.
I left the fuse out so it wouldn't drain the battery overnight. I plan on driving it to the repair shop tom. to see if they can pin down problem more specifically. BTW, if I need a new BCM, will I have to have that done at a dealership so they can program it to my car? I read somewhere that that was true.
Thanks for the continued help!
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jul 6, 2012, 4:39 PM
Post #12 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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Did you take the keys out of the ignition, close the doors and wait until all the timers expire? I had a Windstar the other day that took 45 minutes for the last timer to expire.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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mase123987
Novice
Jul 6, 2012, 4:42 PM
Post #13 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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I did wait. It was probably at least 45 min. I went to the store to buy some things before I tested it.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jul 6, 2012, 4:45 PM
Post #14 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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But if you disconnected the battery to connect the meter, you started all the timers again.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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mase123987
Novice
Jul 6, 2012, 4:51 PM
Post #15 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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Okay. Well none of the lights were turned on or doors opened or key put in the ignition between the time the battery was completely disconnected and when I connected the positive to test between the negative cable and negative terminal. I didn't think anything would be pulling power just reconnecting the battery.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jul 6, 2012, 4:57 PM
Post #16 of 19
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Of course. That starts all the timers all over again.
Here are the instructions I give out.
You will need a digital ammeter and a jumper wire with clips on the ends to do this.
First rig any door switches so you can have a door open without triggering the interior lights and unplug the hood light. Remove one battery cable and attach the meter in series between the battery cable and battery post. Take the jumper wire and also attach it the same way. Leave the jumper wire on for at least 10 minutes to expire all the automatic timers. Now remove the jumper wire and read the meter. Anything over 50ma is too much draw. The way you locate this is to start removing fuses one at a time until the meter drops to normal level. This will be the circuit with something staying on. Determine what components are part of that circuit and check them individually until the problem is isolated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jul 6, 2012, 5:31 PM
Post #17 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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Does the problems go away when you unplug your new radio? It's kind of strange that all this showed up during your radio install.
The BCM may stay online when the vehicle is off. Sometimes it may have to time out before the draw goes down. As long as power isn't interrupted or the BCM receives ignition switch voltage, it should go to sleep.
Electrical checks would have to be done to the BCM to make sure it is recieved the correct powers and grounds it needs. It is also important that you don't have some type of problem with the radio installation , a problem with a device the BCM controls, and/or an input problem to the BCM causing the BCM to wig out.
Yes, a new BCM will need to be programmed and configured.
edit: HT beat me to it.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Jul 6, 2012, 5:53 PM)
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mase123987
Novice
Jul 6, 2012, 5:41 PM
Post #18 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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The radio being installed or not doesn't affect it (that I can tell). Given that my older battery actually died on me (not the new one), is it possible that Unplugging and reconnecting the battery multiple times during the radio and speaker install could have caused a close to dying battery to finally give out? Is it possible that a battery giving out could cause some electrical issue with the BCM?
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jul 6, 2012, 5:50 PM
Post #19 of 19
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Re: New stereo/speakers lead to battery drain issue
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Anything is possible. Solid state components in those modules don't like when power supply voltages are wacky. That also don't like poor grounds or power surges. Hard to say what happened till you know what failed to start with. Hooking battery charger to a battery that is connected to the electrical system could send a surge and take out or damage a module. Always a good idea to disconnect the battery from the vehicle before hooking up a charger.
The BCM circuits would still have to be tested to be sure that the BCM has failed. It would also be important to find out what is making the clicking noise and what is controlling it. That might aid in figuring out what is going on.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Jul 6, 2012, 5:54 PM)
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