I googled and searched the forums for a similar thread but didn't find one. Today, I turned off my car and removed the key after a 20 or so minute drive, and my electricity wouldn't shut off. Specifically, the head unit/display and my radar (which is plugged into the same fuse). I removed the fuse, put it back in, replaced the fuses, and tried disconnecting the battery, but none of these methods worked.

I'm not sure what it could be, and I don't want to have to reconnect the power every time I start the car, so I'm looking for help. Thanks


EDIT: I pulled all the fuses, and it looks like the one on the very bottom of the cabin fuses (the ROOM fuse) is the one. I changed it and that wasn't the problem, I can still start and run the car without that fuse, but what would be the reason that it suddenly just started to act up?

 

I should have been more specific: I haven't changed any wiring or settings in the past couple months. The most recent modification I've made was to add new speakers. The head unit is the OEM one.

 

I don't know if this is related to it: I tried starting the car and stalling it out to see if that would fix the problem, and it didn't, but when I started it, the idle immediately dropped out as if it were about to die, but then cut back in to normal again. I changed the transmission fluid earlier today so it's all brand new. This is on a manual.

edit: could it be because I might have overfilled it? I filled it with oil from the shifter hole (from the top in the cabin) and didn't check if it overflowed the fill plug hole

 

Not sure why you bothered to mess with the fuse... you are having problems with the HU not shutting off and a fuse is only meant to protect the circuit from excessive current.
Also not sure why you would think overfilling the oil would cause your HU to not shut off...

If a device isn't de-energized when it should, then your first thought should be stuck relay.
In your case... the ACC relay.
Swap it with another relay that is identical and see if the problem carries over (and corrects your HU problem).
Sometimes a few good taps on the relay to free the contact is all thats needed.

 

Huh. I pulled the ACC relay under the hood, swapped it with the ignition relay at the top of the box, and nothing changed. The only way anything turns off is if I pull the fuses from the cabin fuse box. Otherwise the HU display, lighter outlet, lights and radar stay on.

 

The ACC relay is what kills the power to those accessories once the ignition is turned off.
If the relay isn't getting de-energized, then I would look at the ignition switch itself.

How comfortable are you with using a meter?
Think you can check the relay to see if its staying energized?
Or at least tell if there is still voltage going to the relay by measuring the contacts in the fuse panel?

 

Also... you mentioned pulling fuses in the cabin.
Which fuse exactly do you pull for it to work?

 

Okay..................want you to leave everything plugged in, all fuses in the cabin and all relays.
This should leave you head unit and radar on right?
Then walk around to the engine bay and pull #20, a 15A Ignition key fuse. If everything goes off at that point, then it pretty much has to be the ignition switch in the column.


what's up Jon! didn't know you were typing at the same time! Well.....looking at the wiring schematic, if he does pull that 15A in the engine bay and it suddenly shuts off, then he's looking at a bad ignition switch. This assumes the key is out but yet he still has power getting to the head unit and radar detector. It also assumes he has eliminated the ACC relay as he said he did.

 

Not a bad idea

 

The ROOM fuse (#14 at the very bottom of the cabin fuse box) kills the interior lights and head unit display. The ACC fuse (#2) kills the radar. Going to try the ignition relay now.

 

Either that or he's got a short somewhere on the output side of the ACC relay?

 

OK, I turned the car on, plugged all the other fuses in, took out the ignition key fuse and:

The car died (obviously) but everything else remained on. Same deal when the car was off, obviously. When I go into work tomorrow I'll take one of our multimeters and verify that there's voltage flowing to the relay.

 

But with the ignition key fuse removed, there should be no voltage on the coil side of the relay.
I'll have to think about this one...

 

I never said turn the car on!

Let's recap a second.

I want the car in the state at which you said it was......that is.............you just got home and shut the car off and things stayed on. So...I want the car off as normal, and as you said.....this suddenly leaves have the head unit and radar detector still being on.

This is the point at which I want you to unplug that Ig key fuse, the 15A at #20 in the engine bay(and ONLY that one), and tell me if the detector and head unit go off at that point......without doing anything else.
I don't want the key any where near the ignition nor the car even try to be started at any time.



Also....don't do it this time, but please confirm for me that you did swap out the ACC relay with another on of the same type and it didn't change anything?

 

Oh, gotcha. Tried this also, took the ignition key fuse out with all the other fuses in, and nothing changed, everything else stayed on.

 

I just pictured you with a pistol aimed at the car yelling, "keep the keys up in the air where I can see them! Don't make any sudden movements!"

But Mazurfer is right... no need to start the car.
Once the key is turned to ACC, the relay gets energized.
Then turn the key back to off and remove it before you get shot

 

Thinking..........................

I know what I want to say, but just wanna think some more before saying it.


Just for ***** and giggles.......exactly how is the radar detector wired into that same fuse? I know it's been there for awhile, but I just wanna know.

 

Lol I ran out and made sure I did it his way again after I read that. But nothing has worked so far, so the cabin fuse is just pulled right now to keep the battery from draining.

The radar detector is in the second from the top fuse, where the ACC fuse in the cabin box would be. I spliced it into one of those "Add-a-fuse" accessories. Here's a picture:



It's not into the ROOM fuse, if that's what it sounded like. It still stays on though unless I manually shut it off.

 

No, I'm following you, I knew it wasn't.
Bounce down to my post below the "I'm thinking one", as I just got a few questions to ask you straight up to make sure.

 

Okay...............here we go!

Are all of these true?

1.) So you get home and shut the car off(with key out) but the head unit and radar detector stay on?

2.) The only way you found that they will shut off is by pulling the room fuse?

3.) When the room fuse was re-installed they came back on right away? Or...... did you have to put the key in the ignition and move it to "on" or start the car?

4.) With car off, key out, room fuse and all other fuses in, you pulled the ACC relay and yet they stayed on(head unit and detector)?

5.) Same as above with the ACC relay in and all fuses in, except pulling the #20 Ig fuse and they stayed on?

Sorry, I know it's silly..........but debugging from far away and by reading/typing makes it sort of difficult.

 

Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.

The radar shuts off when I pull the ACC fuse it's connected to, of course, but everything else is on and off with the room fuse. When the room fuse goes back in, everything comes right back on. I switched the ACC relay with the matching ignition relay and nothing changed. Whew.

 

Keep in mind the ROOM fuse has constant voltage.
There are no switches or relays in that circuit.

 

You said that the last change you made was to add new speakers. When you did so did you add an amp to the system? There was an issue a while back with the Bose rear amp and people not installing aftermarket amps that caused something like this. I want to say it had to do with the air pressure of a door closing being enough to move the speakers to put something in the amp to start a hum that gradually got worse. Anywho...it still sounds like hooey...but the fix was to ensure that you used a proper LOC for amp installs with a Bose system.

 

I've had an amplifier connected since I acquired the car a year ago. I changed the rear speakers about two months ago. I don't have the Bose system in my car, just the basic model. I'll try unhooking the amplifier tomorrow though

 

Well...to help narrow that down as well...where are your remote and constant wires attached?