I have had enough with these battery/charging system issues

[AHudson777]

Wow, what a pain in the drain. Sorry.

My car did this 'accelerated discharge thing' twice. Once, I had opened the rear hatch but only lightly laid it back down, not 'clicking' it, and my interior light stayed on. That was tricky since the thing 'looked' shut.

The second time I had installed a 'twin plug' outlet in the cig lighter to power a radar detector and nav unit before a trip. Well, that was fine except though NEITHER item was plugged in, a little red indicator light glowed all the time, mostly out of sight low on this gizmo. That drained it.

I bet you have something very simple going on, like mine, but frustrating nonetheless. Best wishes.

 

[1.8t]

Ok so an update to this saga. I replaced the fuses in my multimeter and hooked it back up. I have determined the faulty circuit to be the 30amp fuse in position number 13 under the hood. With my multimeter on the 200m scale, my draw with the car off and everything shut down was 170mA with this fuse in and it dropped to 55mA when the fuse was removed.

See the picture below, it is the 30amp fuse at the bottom left of the screen. Can anyone tell me what is on this circuit? It says I OD in the schematic:

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[1.8t]

Also note, that I can actually hear something cycling when I hook the power back up to the car. I checked my manual and it says that this relay is for the A/C compressor clutch. Can anyone confirm this? Perhaps what I am hearing cycle is the clutch itself?

 

[2000_Black_RT10]

Ignition Off Draw, may have to refer to the schematic to see what is powered when the ignition is off that could be causing the drain, pull the fuses of those, from keyless remote module, electric door lock, interior lights, all that sort of stuff that can be powered when the key is off, some body modules can be activated for a minute or so after the key is off, but this all general...., need to look into the Viper circuits that can be powered.

Good luck on the scavenger hunt!
Mike

 

[1.8t]

So I need to pull the fuse panel on the inside of the car and see which one of those drops the draw? Is that what you're saying?

 

[2000_Black_RT10]

Unfortunately I don't have the Viper schematics, but I'm just going on gut instincts on this, so yes that's what I would do. The IOD feeds so many things, that's why it's tough to pinpoint. If you google Dodge and Ignition Off Draw, it's a common problem for people to find the root of the issue and some methods / procedures.

Somebody here may have a similar experience, or a Viper tech or member would have more specific advice, just trying to help.

Good luck,
Mike

 

[1.8t]

I did some more researching and it appears that the door lock LED's are supposed to turn off after the car has been shut down for ~30sec or so. I can confirm that the LED's on my car never, ever shut off. While I don't think this alone is what is draining the battery, these should be shutting off and they are not.

Also, where in the hell is this hood switch. Apparently these are common for staying energized, but I have never seen any type of hood switch. Car is a 99 GTS.

 

[AZTVR]

where in the hell is this hood switch. Apparently these are common for staying energized, but I have never seen any type of hood switch. Car is a 99 GTS.

On my 2002, the switch is a plunger style switch with the plunger facing upward. It is on a bracket mounted just forward of the passenger side hood latch at the front of the car. It is about a half inch or less from the fascia and about an inch from the rubber bumper/stop/hood-closed, height adjuster. The last guy that I remember that asked that question did not find it mounted at all.

 

[AZTVR]

where in the hell is this hood switch. Apparently these are common for staying energized, but I have never seen any type of hood switch. Car is a 99 GTS.

Found a picture. Just to the left of the left-most red arrow head

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[1.8t]

Well I tested the hood switch and it didn't make a difference, so I am assuming that isn't my problem. However, I did go inside the car and start pulling fuses. When I pull the 20amp fuse for the dome/wipers/radio/mess. ctr., the car will hold 160mA until I see those LED's in the door handles shut off, and then it drops to 25mA! Basically with that fuse pulled, whatever is supposed to cycle within the car can cycle. However, with that fuse in, the car never drops below 150mA no matter how long you wait.

Now, I know for a fact that the dome light shuts off as I can easily watch it do so. I am assuming that mess ctr means message center....which would be the lights displayed in the circle on the right part of the drivers side dash. I can confirm that doesn't stay light as well. That leaves me with the radio and the wipers.

Anyone got any bright ideas? The only thing I can visually see between pulling that fuse and leaving it in are my LED lock lights stay lit when it is in and they cycle off when it is pulled after about 30sec(mA drop when they cycle off to an acceptable level)...which as I have read is correct. What I don't understand is why because this fuse isn't supposed to have anything to do with the locks. With the fuse left in, my LED lock lights never turn off.

Pic of the fuse at the fuse location on the bottom right:

You must be registered for see images

 

[AZTVR]

Anyone got any bright ideas?

I can't help specifically. I know that I have read JonB (I think) ask about the door LEDs when a question like this arose. Here is one thread that I found. Good luck ! http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/528463-Battery-problems-what-else-is-new?

 

[slitherv10]

My only Bright idea might be, that maybe, some wires got crossed or bare wires have touched each other casuing a short somewhere. thus why the fuse pulled has nothing to do with those LEDs. A wire may have gotten pinched with another or spliced(if you did some work on the car..ie stereo,added mods etc..) or just wear and tear.
Charge the battery full charge (or get a new one if that one is dead or low or cannot hold a perfect charge), and pull out all the fuses and add one fuse every night and check for drains....keep adding a fuse every few days and see when the car starts to drain and which fuse you put in last will be your problem. I would keep that fuse out and continue with this method in which you may find a second fuse causing a drain as well. At that point you have discovered which wires are crossing and would need a schematic to see how they are routed. whew!! Just my thoughts.

 

[AZTVR]

I can't help specifically. I know that I have read JonB (I think) ask about the door LEDs when a question like this arose. Here is one thread that I found. Good luck ! http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/528463-Battery-problems-what-else-is-new?

It might not have anything to do with your problem; but, I found a lot of hits when I searched on "door LEDs alarm" that seemed to reference battery issues: https://www.google.com/search?q=doo...MMmE2QWK0YDoBQ&start=20&sa=N&biw=1024&bih=719

 

[coupe]

Your situation sounds EXACTLY like what I went through. Unplugged hood switch and it fell from 150mA to almost nothing. Here's the hood switch...a plunger type switch mounted up near passenger-side headlight/fender area.

And here are some threads discussing similar issues:

http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/650424-2001-RT-10-Battery-wont-hold-charge?p=3032792#post3032792

http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/653695-Alarm-Light-Never-Comes-On?p=3078462#post3078462

http://forums.viperclub.org/threads...n-not-so-slow-anymore-(?p=3091811#post3091811

http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/650187-Slow-battery-drain-1997-GTS

 

[1.8t]

When you pulled the 20amp fuse inside the car did it do the same thing mine does?

 

[scottmarston]

Hmmmmm....I would disconnect the stereo and test. Make sure and disconnect the ACC, direct battery, and ground connection from the stereo. The stereo pulls power all the time on the direct connection to save radio stations, music settings, clock, etc. Not sure what kind of stereo you have...but it could have been installed incorrectly. If somebody didn't ground that puppy the right way, you could have a floating voltage on your direct connection that's draining your battery.

 

[1.8t]

The stereo is bone stock and untouched. Will take a look and see what I can come up with. Really appreciate all of the help thus far.

 

[1.8t]

And another update. Tom Sessions shot me a PM to unhook the EEM under the dash and put that 20amp fuse back in place and see if my draw dropped. So, I replaced the 20amp fuse, pulled the EEM out from under the dash, and unhooked it. My AMP draw fell to 4.5mA. I will call him tomorrow to get his input on this, but his feelings were that I had a bad EEM. Seems like this could definitely be a possibility.

 

[Fatboy 18]

Thanks for the updates, interesting read, Good luck

 

[got one]

Going through the same issue and following this thread now for my 99 rt

 

[scottmarston]

And another update. Tom Sessions shot me a PM to unhook the EEM under the dash and put that 20amp fuse back in place and see if my draw dropped. So, I replaced the 20amp fuse, pulled the EEM out from under the dash, and unhooked it. My AMP draw fell to 4.5mA. I will call him tomorrow to get his input on this, but his feelings were that I had a bad EEM. Seems like this could definitely be a possibility.

What does the EEM translate to and what is its function?

 

[InjectTheVenom]

Electronic Entry Module is my guess and if I am right it is part of the alarm system?

 

[1.8t]

^ Correct.

 

[got one]

how do you repalce and find the EEM?

 

[1.8t]

It is underneath the dash on the drivers side, above your right shin. It is held up by a rubber strap. Look up in there and you can't miss it.

 

[Dan Cragin]

If you have excessive draw from the EEM first check to make sure the hood and hatch switches are properly adjusted. If not the EEM never times out.

 

[1.8t]

I completely unplugged the hood latch switch and the draw remained unchanged.

 

[CEJ]

I completely unplugged the hood latch switch and the draw remained unchanged.

Did you also unplug the hatch switch?

 

[1.8t]

Did not but I will do that next to confirm. The alarm would always beep at me when I would close the latch so I never suspected it.

 

[got one]

any update? and where should I go to get a new EEM? How can I even test to make sure I need a new EEM?