I have had enough with these battery/charging system issues

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1.8t

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My "new" EEM hasn't shown up yet so I don't have an update. Any dealer should be able to get one. You could also buy one from Viper Parts of America. I bought mine off of King Snake and the 97 GTS he is parting out.
 

Mike Adams

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in the glove box there is a shut off key for the alarm so yo u can shut off alarm. Unplug it and check draw. I had the same thing and replaced EEM and did not fix problem. Someone had plugged this in backwards and it killed battery
 

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in the glove box there is a shut off key for the alarm so yo u can shut off alarm. Unplug it and check draw. I had the same thing and replaced EEM and did not fix problem. Someone had plugged this in backwards and it killed battery

How do you unplug it...I found it, but can't figure the rest out...
 

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How do you unplug it...I found it, but can't figure the rest out...

bump.

I installed a new battery. and for now, I simply lock the doors when I get out of the car and that seems to keep the LED's off...will see if that is going to be my new process...
 

Mike Adams

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Sorry, been busy. Talked to my employee, you have to loose whole center peice behind seat. Lean it forward and you can reach in behind and unplug. It can go on 3 ways but only one will not cause a draw
 

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Sorry, been busy. Talked to my employee, you have to loose whole center peice behind seat. Lean it forward and you can reach in behind and unplug. It can go on 3 ways but only one will not cause a draw

wow, that is quite the process yes?
 
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1.8t

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So a bit of an update to this thread. I installed that new EEM in the car and while I haven't done another parasitic draw test just yet, the LED's in my door handles are now shutting off. They would never shut off before. Encouraging sign and I "hope" to verify lack of a parasitic draw next week when I re-test the system. Praying this solves the issue as I would like to be done with this problem.
 

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Thanks for the update.
I use an "Optimate" battery charger on my car. (same sort of thing as a Battery Tender, plugged in permanently when in the garage), If I have the Hood up in the garage the Optimate charger indicates I have a weak battery, but if I close the Hood I get green lights on the charger :)
 
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1.8t

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And another update, but a step backwards. I finally did another draw test with the new EEM installed and my draw persists. Again, when I pull that 20amp fuse from the inside fuse box location, my draw drops to 6mA. I guess I need to start going through all of the circuits on that fuse. What a PITA. Suppose I will start with the radio first.
 
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1.8t

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I disconnected the cigarette lighter and it didn't make a difference. I then unplugged the radio and the amplifier and that didn't make a difference either. I also pulled the dome lighting fixture and unplugged those as well and still no difference in amp draw. That leaves the windshield wiper motor controls and whatever "mess ctr" is. Can anyone tell me what "mess ctr" stands for so I can figure out which circuit to trouble shoot?
 

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That leaves the windshield wiper motor controls and whatever "mess ctr" is. Can anyone tell me what "mess ctr" stands for so I can figure out which circuit to trouble shoot?

I would assume that it means " message center," the display lower & right of the speedometer.
 

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I have not read through all the post but if it were me, I would get back to basics and start disconnecting fusses and relays one at a time. Once you determine the circuit causing the issue, look at a wiring diagram ( I have one) and find out what’s on it…
daveg
 
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1.8t

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That's what I thought too, but that display works even when the fuse is pulled.
 

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OK, what your saying is that if you yank all Fuses and relays, you are still drawing current?
 
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1.8t

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What I am saying is the 20amp fuse pictured earlier in this thread on the inside fuse panel is responsible for the draw on my battery. When I pull the fuse, the draw goes away. I am having to go through each of the affected circuits to figure out which one exactly is responsible for the draw. So far I have narrowed it down to the windshield wiper motor circuit or whatever that "mess ctr" circuit is.
 

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Do you have a wiring diagram? Also, when you remove that fuse, does it shut off those components? What fuse is it? Also, what year is your car?
 
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daveg

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OK, I looked back in the thread and see its fuse 13. Did you try removing this fused when the car sits to make sure this is the fuse / problem area? You don't want to chase a phantom.
 
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When I remove this fuse, my multimeter drops from a solid 160mA draw down to 6mA every time. All of the circuits that are fused to this location are turned off when it is removed. What I am doing is putting the fuse back in and going through each circuit unplugging everything to figure out exactly where the problem is(the amps will drop to that 6mA level once I unplug the affected area). Thus far, I have made it through all circuits on this fuse except the mess ctr and the windshield wiper motor.

The method I am using for all of this is a parasitic draw test. Multimeter hooked to the battery in line between the ground on the battery and the ground connection cable so I can measure amps.
 

AZTVR

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What I am saying is the 20amp fuse pictured earlier in this thread on the inside fuse panel is responsible for the draw on my battery. When I pull the fuse, the draw goes away. I am having to go through each of the affected circuits to figure out which one exactly is responsible for the draw. So far I have narrowed it down to the windshield wiper motor circuit or whatever that "mess ctr" circuit is.

OK. I went back and reread some of your older posts. I assume that you have no service manual? If so, here is what shows as connected to fuse 13 in my 2002 Service Manual: Radio, Message Center, Illuminated Rearview mirror ( Roadster), Power Mirror Switch, Driver Wiper Motor, Wiper Control Module, Passenger Wiper Motor, Data Link Connector, Time Delay Relay (in fuse block), Dome Lamp(Coupe) Cargo Lamp (Coupe) VTSS Disarm Switch (VTSS=VehicleTheftSecuritySystem) (this goes through the VTSS Disarm Switch to the EEM),
 

daveg

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.160 amps is not a big draw. Is it possible the Radio Memory for clock and pre-sets normally takes that? Has someone else on this thread done the same test as you are doing to make sure this is not normal? I just want to make sure you are going down the right path!!! I have a 96 manual so its of no use here.
 
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When the car is in the off position after everything has time out there should be no more than 20~25mA draw. Mine has 7 times that amount and will kill the battery in 7 days if it is not driven.
 
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OK. I went back and reread some of your older posts. I assume that you have no service manual? If so, here is what shows as connected to fuse 13 in my 2002 Service Manual: Radio, Message Center, Illuminated Rearview mirror ( Roadster), Power Mirror Switch, Driver Wiper Motor, Wiper Control Module, Passenger Wiper Motor, Data Link Connector, Time Delay Relay (in fuse block), Dome Lamp(Coupe) Cargo Lamp (Coupe) VTSS Disarm Switch (VTSS=VehicleTheftSecuritySystem) (this goes through the VTSS Disarm Switch to the EEM),

I do but I haven't been able to locate the section pertaining to this fuse. This post is extremely helpful though as there are more items for me to check. Where can I find this time delay relay? Or better yet, what page in the manual did you find this information?
 

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I do but I haven't been able to locate the section pertaining to this fuse. This post is extremely helpful though as there are more items for me to check. Where can I find this time delay relay? Or better yet, what page in the manual did you find this information?

The info is on several pages. Not necessarily intuitively obvious. Fuse 13 is shown on page 8W-13-12. You see 8 things that are connected to it listed on that page PLUS the connection labeled "FROM TIME DELAY RELAY" coming from page 8W-13-11. Then, on page 8W13-11, you will see the 3 other things in addition to the Time Delay Relay connected to that same circuit. The relay is the circular relay at the right end of the fuse block (page 8W-13-2 top of the page) .

Oh, one other thing: You don't happen to have a OBD-II - to - Bluetooth/WiFi adapter connected to the OBD port all of the time, do you?
 
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1.8t

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I do not have that adapter to even have it connected lol. Thanks for all of the help :)
 

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I have had a battery drain problem with my viper (2003) for a few years now. I recently brought the car to Chrysler and they tested the cars electrical system and said they could find no excessive drain problem, but repleced the battery. When I got the car home I decided to check and make sure they really installed a new battery so I removed the battery cover in the trunk and saw that they had in fact installed a new chysler battery but I also noticed that there was a rubber cover for the positive terminal that was not pulled up over the terminal. I pulled it on, it was a little trickey to get it stretched over. Then I looked at the undrside of the cover and I could see an imprint where the positive terminal had pressed against the underside of the metal cover and in fact some paint had scraped off the underside of the cover so that the positive terminal was touching bare metal! I then measured the distance from the bottom of the battery to the top of the positive terminal and it was about an eighth of an inch higher than the cover. So my theory is that the battery was slowly draining becaause the positive terminal was shorting out on the battery cover... so make sure that rubber cover is properly on the positive terminal. As an added precaution I have glued (contact cement) a piece of rubber to the underside of the battery cover. So far so good!, no more battery drain!
 

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