Battery drain on R53
Discussion
Hi so I've had this issue for a little while... first noticed it whilst playing music or leaving the door open without the engine on (it'd die)
Changed the battery - no difference. Changed the battery again - no difference.
It's never been a huge worry for me as I just avoided playing music or leaving the door open! But it's got worse now, in that if I don't drive the car for 24 hours, it'll be dead. This means if I don't use it over the weekend, it needs jumping on Monday morning which is pretty frustrating! I bought a portable charger a while back and it does start straight up from that.
So there's obviously a drain somewhere; where can I start looking? Or could the alternator or starter motor be affecting this? Wondering if there are any particular weak points on the R53. Thanks.
Changed the battery - no difference. Changed the battery again - no difference.
It's never been a huge worry for me as I just avoided playing music or leaving the door open! But it's got worse now, in that if I don't drive the car for 24 hours, it'll be dead. This means if I don't use it over the weekend, it needs jumping on Monday morning which is pretty frustrating! I bought a portable charger a while back and it does start straight up from that.
So there's obviously a drain somewhere; where can I start looking? Or could the alternator or starter motor be affecting this? Wondering if there are any particular weak points on the R53. Thanks.
kayzee said:
I have the old 30 pin connection yeah, but never used it... what can I do about that then!?
You need to remove the radio and remove the connection from there- it’s quite simple to do- undo the two upright pieces either side of the radio and then two screens that hold that in. And then the bit of wiring just unplugs from the radio - do not just unplug the iPod Module as the fault is within the wiring itself
Thanks. I guess I need to get the dash apart at some point and trace it back. I did find this though on another forum...
If there has been an IPOD connector to 3.5mm cable adapter added, or an IPOD device is left on the end of the IPOD cable before the radio is physically turned off via its control knob while the car is still on, then this is the problem! The radio does not enter the "sleep" state properly and keeps alive / stays on even when the car is off (although the radio does not appear on). There is a known defect with the Alpine radios that keeps draining battery power!
As a temp fix, the radio must be turned off with the car still on AND THEN either the IPOD device disconnected from the IPOD pigtail, or the 3.5 adapter disconnected from the radio's IPOD pigtail before the car is turned off & key taken out of the ignition. An updated Alpine CD53 player is supposed to be available from the manufacture by now. Affects R50, 52 & 53……Technical Service Bulletin Reference # M65 200 05 issued January 15, 2005 addresses this. It is a known problem.
I had noticed that every time the car was dead, for some strange reason when I got inside, only the radio kept its settings while everything else had lost its settings / memory.
That black cable doesn't look like a 3.5mm jack to me? Looks a bit big.
If there has been an IPOD connector to 3.5mm cable adapter added, or an IPOD device is left on the end of the IPOD cable before the radio is physically turned off via its control knob while the car is still on, then this is the problem! The radio does not enter the "sleep" state properly and keeps alive / stays on even when the car is off (although the radio does not appear on). There is a known defect with the Alpine radios that keeps draining battery power!
As a temp fix, the radio must be turned off with the car still on AND THEN either the IPOD device disconnected from the IPOD pigtail, or the 3.5 adapter disconnected from the radio's IPOD pigtail before the car is turned off & key taken out of the ignition. An updated Alpine CD53 player is supposed to be available from the manufacture by now. Affects R50, 52 & 53……Technical Service Bulletin Reference # M65 200 05 issued January 15, 2005 addresses this. It is a known problem.
I had noticed that every time the car was dead, for some strange reason when I got inside, only the radio kept its settings while everything else had lost its settings / memory.
That black cable doesn't look like a 3.5mm jack to me? Looks a bit big.
kayzee said:
Thanks. I guess I need to get the dash apart at some point and trace it back. I did find this though on another forum...
If there has been an IPOD connector to 3.5mm cable adapter added, or an IPOD device is left on the end of the IPOD cable before the radio is physically turned off via its control knob while the car is still on, then this is the problem! The radio does not enter the "sleep" state properly and keeps alive / stays on even when the car is off (although the radio does not appear on). There is a known defect with the Alpine radios that keeps draining battery power!
As a temp fix, the radio must be turned off with the car still on AND THEN either the IPOD device disconnected from the IPOD pigtail, or the 3.5 adapter disconnected from the radio's IPOD pigtail before the car is turned off & key taken out of the ignition. An updated Alpine CD53 player is supposed to be available from the manufacture by now. Affects R50, 52 & 53……Technical Service Bulletin Reference # M65 200 05 issued January 15, 2005 addresses this. It is a known problem.
I had noticed that every time the car was dead, for some strange reason when I got inside, only the radio kept its settings while everything else had lost its settings / memory.
That black cable doesn't look like a 3.5mm jack to me? Looks a bit big.
My Dec 2004 build car doesn't do this - I leave the ipod connected in the glovebox and it doesn't drain the batteryIf there has been an IPOD connector to 3.5mm cable adapter added, or an IPOD device is left on the end of the IPOD cable before the radio is physically turned off via its control knob while the car is still on, then this is the problem! The radio does not enter the "sleep" state properly and keeps alive / stays on even when the car is off (although the radio does not appear on). There is a known defect with the Alpine radios that keeps draining battery power!
As a temp fix, the radio must be turned off with the car still on AND THEN either the IPOD device disconnected from the IPOD pigtail, or the 3.5 adapter disconnected from the radio's IPOD pigtail before the car is turned off & key taken out of the ignition. An updated Alpine CD53 player is supposed to be available from the manufacture by now. Affects R50, 52 & 53……Technical Service Bulletin Reference # M65 200 05 issued January 15, 2005 addresses this. It is a known problem.
I had noticed that every time the car was dead, for some strange reason when I got inside, only the radio kept its settings while everything else had lost its settings / memory.
That black cable doesn't look like a 3.5mm jack to me? Looks a bit big.
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