i finally found the cause for my battery going dead my radio was drawing a 0.5 amp from the battery so if you are having the same problem check the radio. now my ? is how do i get it fixed for now i took the fuse out but i want my radio to work and not draw fom the battery can someone help?

 

The radio needs to draw a small amount of current to keep your radio stations and equaliser settings stored. 0.5 amp shouldn't kill a battery, how old is it?

 

my battery is brand new and my mechanic ses the radio was killing the battery? i hope your wrong and hes right lol.we will soon find out if i have then same problem or not.oh yeah my battery is a 700cca battery also.

 

If your radio pulls 0.500 A when it is off then there is definetely a problem with that circuit or that radio.

Typical cars pull no more than 100 mA (0.100 A) to hold various electronic memory settings. I would look for any other accessories or that may also be tapped into your radio power wiring circuit that could be responsible for the unusually high current draw.

If you have a sound system with an amplifier make sure that the amp is not staying on when the car (or radio) is shut off. This can occur is the amp signal wire (on/off wire, usually small gauge and blue in color) is improperly hooked up to constant 12v instead of switched. THIS could account for a 0.5 A draw.

I once had a similar problem and found it to be one (of three) diodes (on the rectifier bridge) inside the alternator that was SOMETIMES grounding to the alternator casing, causing a serious current draw. Funny thing is that the alterrnator still worked fine.

Good luck!

 

well i dont have a amp just the factory system. im hoping my problrm is solved if not maybe your right about the altenator if so i will just get a new one.he tested the radio with the power off and it still was drawing .05 amps form the battery. the other thing is when i shut the car off and take the key out my radio will stay on and i have to turn the power off on the radio for it to go off is this normal? i would think it should go off when the key gets shut off another thing is sometimes my stering wheel controls work sometimes they dont.

 

Don't replace your alternator unless you know it's the cause of a current draw. Check for current draw from your battery with the car off (Multimeter, set on Amp scale, connected in series between negative battery terminal and negative battery cable) and at that moment disconnect the thich gauge red wire from the back of your alternator and look for changes in current draw. Thats how I found mine was at fault. Same procedure works for any other accessories. Be sure to take out the bulb for your interior lights and underhood light when doing this test and DO NOT turn on any accessories or try to start the car otherwise you could burn your multimeter.

Re:radio staying on
No this is not normal, your radio is supposed to be off when the key is off. Someone at some time connected the power wire for your radio to a constant power source (incorrrect hookup).

Steering wheel controls working intermittently is probably a fatigued wire harness inside your steering column. Fatigued by years of up and down motion of the tilt steering. Happened to me too but only affected my left flasher.

 

thanks for the help man. i think the stereo was my problem i just read that i can use a monsoon stereo from a fourth gen so i think im gonna try that.sucks though i like my strereo and everything works on it except the steering wheel controls.i think my altenator is ok though.

 

A quick & dirty fix is to cut the constant +12V lead to the radio and tie it to the ignition switched +12V lead. This will eliminate any power draw when the ignition is turned off, but you'll also loose all your radio presets when you shut the engine off too.

 

if you wanted to fix it maybe you could use one of them capacitors for your radio.

 

what capacitors?

 

as of now i have been running without a radio really sucks bcause ilove music just dont have the money for a new one right now if someone can find me a factory radio with EQ and steerring wheel controls i would appreciate it thanks for the help guys.

 

Was your display on the radio always on?? I mean the clock?? If so, that was what's killing the battery. It is actaully a very common problem with GM radios. I have replaced hundreds upon hundreds by now. But yes the draw from the radio is very minimul, and would never kill the battery unless there was a internal short, or the clock would stay on at all times.

 

they make car sterio capacitors that stop the battery from being used up. here is a link to one.
http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=powpc12f

here is a list of them for sale at etronics.com

http://etronics.resultspage.com/disp...dynamic&Store=

 

Baloney! A capacitor will not keep the battery from discharging with a half amp parasitic draw. Does the radio display shut off as it should? Capacitors are used, and it makes no difference what circuit, to supply current during transitional times when the supply has a momentary lapse of current capability. For instance, when AC is rectified the resultant DC pulsates, a capacitor of suitable size will "fill in" the lack of current based on circuit load demand. In high power auto audio applications large value capacitors are used to supply current for no larger than millisecond times when output devices have peak current draw. Thats it, no more or less. All the junk you hear about caps doing this and that is more garbage to simply get you to part with a hard earned buck. A good auto battery is the best capacitor of all.

 

i think danno is right the cap wont work but thank you now danno when i shut the car offihave to hit the power button to shut the radio off it should go off when i turn the key off bt it doent but even when i had in lock mode it still killed the battery.

 

The radio is installed improperly. You've got the main radio power tied to constant battery power instead of ignition switched power. Check the wiring, thats where your problem is.

The radio even when it's "off" is still really on inside, it has to be awake to listen for you to push the power button and turn on the display and start playing music. When you turn the car off the radio is suppoed to turn off for real and the battery power is just to hold its memory, which takes very very little power, way less than a half an amp.