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I'm not quite sure if this is the best Stack for my question but I will try. So from some time I noticed that in my car when engine is turned off there is still quite huge power consumption which causes after 3-4 days I cannot start the engine. After some measurements I noticed that radio consumes too much power after I turn off engine. What is more this radio (blaupunkt) is damaged and it doesn't insert the cd and by this problem the message "Note: CD error" pops out on the screen from time to time.

And now my question: is it possible that this "cd error" problem can cause some variations in my radio while engine is turned off?

I'm asking because I would like to know if there is something I can do before I decide to give it to some specialists.

Thank you for any help.

EDIT: So today I did measure it again. Firstly it showed again 0.8A then we decided to turn off radio with its button. When we hit the button the value 0.16A was shown. So we were thinking what is still consuming power. After that we decided that we will wait half an hour and then probably it will go into sleep mode. What is funny, when we came back after half hour the value 0.64A was shown! Simple math and we got 0.8 - 0.16 = 0.64! Somehow when the car went into sleep mode the radio started to consume power. Now I am sure that only radio is someway broken so during the week I will go visit some specialist so they can repair the radio.

Thank you for all your help.

wawek
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4 Answers4

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Based on your clarification in the comments, pulling the radio fuse drops the current draw from 0.80 A to 0.18 A before the car enters sleep mode.

You may want to check if there is another fuse that drops the current draw further after the car goes into sleep mode. That should help you determine if there is something else that is drawing current unexpectedly (a circuit that is closed when it really should be open).

The other, more time-consuming, option is to actually inspect the car wiring.

Zaid
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I would disconnect the stereo by removing the connectors from the back of it and see if the problem goes. If that fixes it, just get another stereo from a breakers yard.

HandyHowie
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With the radio disconnected (either fuse(s) or prefereably connectors pulled) it's worth waiting some time to see if the current does drop.

Does the courtesy (dome) light come on when you turn the engine off? It doesn't in my Transit of a similar age which uses many of the same components in relevant systems. In particular the central locking module is common to most Fords of a similar age and is responsible for the interior lighting as well (IIRC, I haven't looked at the wiring diagrams for a couple of years). I reckon if you disconnnect the central locking module as well as the radio your current draw will drop much further.

If you're drawing 0.18A a fuly charged battery should still be able to start the engine after several days, but it should do better than that. I suggest that a problem with the radio is a major factor, but that your battery isn't up to much any more -- is it the original?

I propose:

  • Test with the radio disconnected. At the very least you should get more than double the time before the battery flattens.
  • Check the current drawn after an hour or so.
  • Consider replacing the battery.
Chris H
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I had a similar issue that turned out to be a shorted light bulb. It was one of the small running lights on the front sides of the car. I kept blowing a fuse every 20 minutes or so and so had no headlights. Putting in a larger fuse meant that I could drive a few minutes longer before I lost my headlights. I only found the problem because I noticed that one of the small lights was out. When I removed the "dead" bulb, the short went away and I stopped blowing fuses.

Dwight
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