haseo

Well, this is sort of a huge problem. It is a big pain anyway. Iboughta used2005 model, and next to the headlight switch cluster, there is a small red light, that is somehow connected to the alarm system, i think. The first thing i want to know is, does everyone have this light, or when i bought it used, did it have some sort of aftermarket alarm system installed? The reason I ask is, it used to not flash unless i had activated the alarm system, now however, it flashed constantly, and drains my battery quite often. It is a huge pain to have to keep jump starting my car, and recharging the battery.

Does anybody have any idea what this light is connected to, and what i can do to fix?

Thanks

p51mstg

Seems like a lot of cars these days have a flashing anti-theft light on the dash. My 2007 V6 has the basic "passive" anti-theft feature, and the light flashes. But, that light is on the instrument panel, like an idiot light. I don't remember seeing any such light over by the headlight switch. If no one else knows what this is, I'll go look at my car when I have time today and check.

Mycar has sat for several days at a time, and never drained the battery. I'm not sure how long it would take for that little flashing light to do that - probably several weeks, or longer. I mostly drive it every day, so I'll probably never know.

My gut instinct is that this is either an aftermarket item doing something it shouldn't, or a bad battery.

A couple of things you can do to check: If you disconnect the battery, it should read better than 12 volts, maybe better than 13 volts. Even if it's hovering about 12 volts, that's not normal. If you charge it, wait a while to take another reading - even an hour or longer. If it's back down around 12, you may need to replace the battery.

I also look at the terminals - a lot of corrosion could indicate a bad battery. It's been explained to me, but I don't remember why. With a battery that's only 3 years old, you shouldn't see a ton of corrosion, but a little may be normal.

Also, if you switch a multi-meter to amps and connect it between the positive terminal and the cable(s) normally clamped to that terminal, there should be a small drain. Again, if nobody else responds, I can check this tonight when I get home and post the results, so that you have numbers to compare yours to.

haseo

Thanks for the info. I figured it was an aftermarket item. I already replaced my battery, and in one day, it went from 100% charged, to 91%. Something is definitely not right. I own a battery charger, so it is no big deal to put it on charge at night. It is just a pain, and I want everything to be working properly, you know? It would be a very big help from anybody else if you guys know of anything.

Thanks again

157dB

You have a, YUK, [:@]aftermarket [] alarm [&:]installed, YUK [:'(].

This red light would have to flash constantly for decades before it
would killa modernbattery. S197s are notorious for killing batteries.
Try turning off the shaker BEFORE turning off the ignition. This
somehow stops the amps from draining the battery, key off.
Also the 6 disc changers have been known to come alive with
the vehicle off and just shuffle the discs until the end of time
or you start the vehicle, which ever comes first.

Check amperage draw, key off, with a DVM. Then start pulling
fuses until the battery draining culprit is found.

redmenace

Here's an idea. Disconnect the light. Charge the battery. Let it sit a day. Does it still drain to 91%?

An LED pulls such a small current, I'm almost positive that's not what is killing your battery.

A_Drunken_Llama

yeah, that light isn't near powerful enough to drain a battery that fast....

samv1368

Def. look into this, i had a huge problem with mine, 3 batteries later i learned that my shaker, if left on when i turned the car off just go through the disc tracks over and over and over, not playing but it would run all night, cause i really doubt that a led light is going to drain the battery that much in one night.

haseo

It's the light that is signaling something is wrong to me. It never flashed before unless I had the alarm on, and now it flashes constantly. I know the light isn't powerful enough to drain the battery, but whatever that light is hooked up to is.

Actually, I have noticed that every once in a while, my Shaker system will go through the CD's. Maybe that's what is wrong.

samv1368

Yes, it just does it randomly, sometimes it will go on sometimes it wont, idk why the light is flashing, were is the aftermarket horn for the alarm, check that out, if it has one, there isnt one stock, not on mine anyway, there could be a wiring problem, a drain from that.

haseo

Ok. Sounds like a plan. How would I fix that CD changer problem?