stereo draining the battery

[Kain]

have had an issue where the battery will drain down to where it wont start. i have been chasing the short for a couple of days and i think my stereo is the cause. its wired through the stock wiring i think i will run new power wires tomorrow to see if i can fix the battery drain.

its kind of a pain cause when the battery gets low it sets the alarm off. if that doesnt solve it time for a new stereo.

 

[76zimmer]

If its stock wiring should t it shut down with key off?
Could you pull the fuse to confirm?

 

[Kain]

ya im going to check this morning. its in the deck cause it isnt working any more so ill pull it till i can replace it.
if id doesnt work this morning. last night when i went out and started it the subs where on but not the speakers. going to check all the wiring from the subs to the speaker wires to the deck itself.

 

[Fordum]

Sounds like you have something miswired. The only lead that should have power when the key is off, is the "keep alive" circuit. The main power to the radio, and any amps or subwoofers should be on the accessory switched lead.
Possibly through a relay if you are running big amps.

If you have a voltmeter, it may have a dc amp connection that will go up to 20 amps. If so, its simple to put it in series with the radio power lead and see what the draw is.

 

[Kain]

Well with the key off ignition hot is hot all the time. Checked it with a volt meter,and got a nice little jolt when it touched the radio sheeth

 

[Fordum]

Sounds like you found the problem. You should have four basic hot leads in the vehicle.
Always hot, which is direct to the battery through fuses,
Ignition hot, which is only hot when the key is in the run position.
Accessory hot, which is hot when in accessory or ignition.
And cranking hot, which is hot when in crank position.

Most vehicles partially combine ignition and cranking hots. In other words, some of the same things are hot in both, but the starter solenoid is added when in cranking.
But, some of the others things in ignition are turned off in crank.
Most of the time, you want most equipment on accessory, because they are hot in both. And that lets you listen to the radio with the engine off. Electronics do not like the voltage spike that can occur when cranking, so they are turned off when in cranking.
Also the air conditioner compressor is usually off in crank, so as to reduce the load on the starter.

 

[Kain]

well i also found the door jam switch was out witch didnt help the alarm so i replaced that to. and the stereo shop i had install the thing had the ignition hot on the ignition on the column. i put it in the fuse box where it should have been.
dont know why it was hot all the time, its good now though.

found this in there (pic below)but dont know why and it was grounding out on the stereo case

 

[Kain]

^^ dont understand this

 

[Fordum]

Sometimes you just need a leeetle bit longer piece of wire to reach something...........

 

[Kain]

it had an extra piece in there, the black one was grounding out on the sheeth

 

[76zimmer]

So many horror stories in automotive wiring
Glad you're making progress!

 

[Kain]

ya i used to hate wiring, now i hate how much they charge to fix it and ill figure it out myself.........

 

[JoshHefnerX]

I've got some wiring to go through in my truck... Found some wire nuts - like you find in a house under my carpet...

 

[Kain]

found that when i first got it took those out right away