s10 blazer battery draw

whats the allowable parasitic draw on the battery for a 2004 s10 blazer? im working on this car for a friend and sears told her the battery tested out ok, but she has a dead battery in the morning. i'm checking it with a multimeter and after "sleep" mode the draw goes down to 15 milliamps (.015amp) I work for BMW and they allow 30 milliamps draw, so i dont see why 15 would be bad. i have noticed though that sometimes there is an orange light that stays on on the radio. its the light that turns on when you load a cd. this is a factory stereo. also she said that the battery doesnt drain down fi she turns the radio off before shutting of the car.

Reply to
bbeyer via CarKB.com
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Sounds like the radio has a problem, it is probably also keeping the remote amplifier on if it has the Bose system in it. Can you duplicate the complaint?

Reply to
Steve W.

its been tough to duplicate. everytime i check the draw it seems ok, like i said at 15 milliamps. but before i went out there after about a 1/2 hour and there was about 300 milliamps. i started pulling relays from the underhood relay-fuse box and pulling the daytime running light relay caused the draw to go back down to 15. i dont know if all my tests are accurate, though, every time you disconnect the battery you alter the state of various relays and modules, thats why the oems recommend using a amp clamp to check draw, but i dont have one. I dont know if there is a certian sequence that i need to follow as far as running the engine, then shut it off, then get out and lock doors, etc. i have the drivers door open at the moment with the door switch disconnected to duplicate the door being shut. (in order to shut off the radio i connect the switch then disconnect to duplicate the door opening then closing). with the door open i can access the fuse panel which they put on the side of the dash where the door covers it, for some stupid reason

Reply to
bbeyer via CarKB.com

Just for a test try turning the key ON. Then turn on the radio and then turn the key off. The radio should play for about 20 minutes and turn off. that is the reserve accessory power. It is set up to allow the windows/seat and other power accessories to work with the key of. Maybe it is staying on causing the excess draw?

Reply to
Steve W.
15 mA is about right. my 96 s10 has a 250mA drain on the keepalive memory line of the radio. It will drain a battery down in 3 days. Until the weather gets warmer so I can work on it, I made a patch with a relay to disconnect that line when the ignition turns off (all done thru the fuse block). If I measure with line disconnected I get about 12mA. My 99 blazer also gets about 15mA

In a 96 the cigarette lighter plugs are not disconected when the ignition is turned off. SO I also made a relay turn those off too when ignition is off.

Reply to
jmagerl

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