Skills 0 Posted February 13, 2011 I've had a problem with my battery draining if the car is left for more than a few days since I fitted a new head unit(Alpine ida-x300). The unit works fine and I only really have a problem if I go away on holiday as the car is used as a daily. If I replace it with the orignal sony unit the problem disappears. I've just been out to try and get to the bottom of it and found this. It looks like a previous owner has spliced the permanent live with the switched power behind the iso. It doesn't seem to affect the operation but could it cause the battery drain problem on one head unit and not the other? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The_Dude 0 Posted February 13, 2011 Its quite possible. I have had a drain in my car for a while, but it got significantly worse when I changed my old Alpine and fitted an XDA-200. Like you my live is spliced with the switched. Have you got a multimeter to test the drain on the battery? Pull out fuses one by one and measure the draw until you have narrowed it down. (something which I have yet to do! lol its all a bit of a mess behind the dash, so that's another project for the summer) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skills 0 Posted February 13, 2011 I actually bought a multimeter of ebay during the week so will have a go with that next weekend. It just seems strange to me that it would be different for each head unit, unless of course the original sony is still draining the battery but uses so little power that even after sitting for a couple of weeks it still doesn't kill the battery. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dogger 10 Posted February 28, 2011 What did they do to the wiring on the harness? Does the radio turn on/off with the key still? Does it hold the radio presets in memory? Something doesn't look right. Here is a good write up on battery drain testing. http://flashoffroad.com/electrical/Batteries/BatteryDrain.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smee 0 Posted March 19, 2011 The curse of the corrado's not quite ISO radio wiring strikes again... 90's dubs have the switched and permanent live wires swapped over in the ISO plug in relation to the ISO standard. This means if you plug in a normal head unit, it'll lose it's memory when you turn off the ignition. To remedy this, the right thing to do is either fit an adaptor cable or swap the pins over in the ISO connector. Some HU's have connectors in-line on their loom to allow you to swap these on the radio rather than in the car, IIRC the alpine probably does? I had a ida-X200 in a mk3 polo which had no switched live on the radio loom (poverty spec) thus the radio was permanently live..."no problem" I thought, turning it off on the front panel will do the same...wrong! Same as you've described, flat battery in a couple of days. I had to put in a switch (a spare corrado demister switch if anyone's interested) to kill the switched power to the HU. Looks like the previous owner got round the swapped wires issue by joining the switched and permanent lives - I'd put it back to standard, swap the lives on the alpine loom and you should be sorted. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skills 0 Posted April 22, 2011 About to try and tackle this now. What colour is the switched live wire on a '95 VR6? Just need to know what I'm looking for in the dash! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skills 0 Posted April 24, 2011 Right, I got it all wired up correctly yesterday only to realise why the previous owner must have done it in the first place! It seems the ignition must have a slight loose connection. The key has to be in a very precise position for the head unit to work. I've had no problems in terms of the car starting but when the key is in the 'on' position there is a little movement and it as to be exactly in the right position for the stereo to come on. Anyone else ever had this problem? Is there a quick fix or will it mean a new barrel? Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RW1 0 Posted April 24, 2011 You've got a faulty ignition switch. There's more than one set of contacts in the switch. The radio is a separate switch as the key is pushed in hence the wiggle bringing it on. New switch should cure it. . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skills 0 Posted April 24, 2011 Cheers, does it mean a whole new barrel and set of keys? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RW1 0 Posted April 24, 2011 You just need a switch. Buy one at the dealers for long term. Not expensive. . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skills 0 Posted April 29, 2011 Right, just spent the afternoon trying to replace the ignition switch and that bloody screw did my head in! After first trying to unscrew it and then resorting to trying to force it off I gave up! Having put everything back together again though the original problem has disappeared! All that banging and trying to force the screw out has obviousely sorted out the loose connection......for now at least! Happy days! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
boost monkey 0 Posted April 29, 2011 Yeah the ignition switch is another one of those jobs which is harder than it should be! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fla 9 Posted April 29, 2011 easiest if you drop the steering column, very tricky in-situ, you have to lie upside down in the footwell! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
boost monkey 0 Posted April 29, 2011 you have to lie upside down in the footwell to do a lot of steering column jobs! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CazzaVR 0 Posted May 1, 2011 Come on guys, the ignition switch isn't difficult. Easily done from above- remove cowling, drop column to lowest position. A selection of tiny screwdrivers is essential. DO NOT refit that tiny screw afterwards! Just cable tie the switch in ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mimjed 0 Posted May 1, 2011 ignition switch was a doddle. just a small pozi screw driver and bend it. seat flat and away you go. dont think i even spent ten mins on changing mine. and i even put the screw back in :lol: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
