So basically I believe I have an issue that I cannot figure out on my own. Long story short, battery is fine and so is the alternator.

Amp draw while sitting (parasitic draw, whatever you want to call it) was sitting at around .6 amps, or 600ma. After searching for awhile, I have found that the most common causes for this have been the trunk light, visors, room fuse and/or the bose unit. After removing the trunk light, it dropped down to .3. I also read that it is advisable to wait at least 30 minutes to allow everything to go to sleep mode before measuring the true draw. Well after 30 min it only dropped to .28. So I started pulling every fuse, relay, or connector (easily accessible) I could find. The draw only dropped when 1 of 2 things happened. I remove either the Room fuse (footwell) or the BTN fuse (under hood).

Do either of these fuses by chance have anything that match/work together that I don't know about?


The only electrical mods I have done is a battery relocate to trunk. Sure I have removed stuff (A/C, air pump, rear O2 sensor, fog lights, etc.) but I have pulled the fuses and/or sealed the ends of wires or connectors.

 

I can't imagine .28 is normal and I would like a true fix besides just leaving the room fuse out until I drive it or leave a trickle charger on it (weekend driver).

Any ideas or tips on where to look would be greatly appreciated.

 

Definitely not normal. I had about that as parasitic draw through the headlight washer relay.

I believe BTN and Room fuse are in series, but Room is the moee limited one. Check the visors, ceiling lights, etc..

 

lol that's funny because I was under the assumption that BTN was like windows, locks, and sunroof, where Room was basically everything inside the cabin. Basically room is way more broad.

The series thing makes sense tho because they both have the same result on the meter.

 

What makes no sense is for you to assume anything ...

 

So.... do you have anything of use to share or no?

 

Your roadmap....

 

You mean like this ...



I have almost 700 attachments uploaded on this forum, but let me help you some more ...

http://www.rotaryheads.com/PDF/RX8/13Electrical.pdf




.

 

I dont care what everyone else says, you are helpful! That's going to take awhile for me to sift through to make sense of it all. Thanks.

If I have the BTN fuse in, and pull the ROOM fuse, amp draw drops to 3ma. If I pull the BTN fuse, it goes completely to zero. So does that mean anything to you guys?

Am I right in thinking that BTN is like a main supply branch to the interior controls with direct connect to the windows and locks, then the ROOM fuse takes it from there to power all the other little gizmos?

 

So if I am reading that schematic right, the ROOM fuse supplies power to the following:

Engine Control System
Instrument Cluster
TPMS
Daytime Running Lights
Heater and Air Conditioner
EC-AT Control System
Rear Window Defroster and Trunk Light
All the lights and Mirrors
Audio System and Navigation
Keyless Control
Dimmer Mirror
Data Link Connector

Everyone of them have L/R infrint of them. What does L/R mean? Wire colors...?

 

If you read the diagram, R is red and L is Light Blue.

If.

....did you try just removing the trunk light bulb? Low hanging fruit etc.

 

Jesus, you guys are ridiculous with the quick little jabs at people looking for help on here. I've been a big contributor to other online forums (over 20k posts) so I know how it works. If everyone searched perfectly everytime, this place would be a ghost town.

IF, you read my first post, IF, you would know that the 300ma draw I'm currently seeing is after I removed the trunk light.

 

update

 

I suspect the 0.03 amp you're seeing with BTN but not ROOM fuses in is the keyless entry. The receiver needs to be powered at all times.

There is the trunk lid opener too, which I think is more likely than the ECU or instrument cluster. The relay should be easy enough to reach:

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/IN..._mainrelay.jpg

In general, having eliminated the trunk light (which is really a switch problem), I'd focus on relays that you can reach. Don't really need to disconnect the actual device, just its relay. I don't have navi, but don't think it has a relay, for example, so it would be last on my list of possible failures.

Obviously do all this with the battery disconnected. Quarter of an amp will give you quite a tingle.

 

I can't seem to find it. All I see are the two wires off the button, black and yellow, then they go right into a bundle that goes wayyy up behind the left side of dash.

Mine isn't layed out the way that picture is from what I see.

 

Last time I searched for a draw, it turned out to be the radio/clock - for some reason the display remained 'half-on' (Chevy van).

Have you pulled the fuse marked Audio?

 

Yes I have removed the audio fuse. I also unplugged the 2 connectors on the unit on the ceiling in the trunk.

As far as I know, I have not disconnected the navigation at all yet. The DVD in back nor the LCD screen.

 

Common wiring prob on older '8s is the vanity lamp wiring, from being flexed up and down frquently.

A good way to test the wiring that supplies the vanity mirrors, (and also the interior light and smart mirror at the same time) is the connector X-13, behind the right 'A' pillar bottom. Illustrated on drawing I-3 on the diagram, and page 81.

Sorry for being short in previous messages, I get used to owners who won't/can't follow directions....

 

It's all good I forgive you. I however still am not seeing the wire color chart. I figured that's what is was but I had no idea what L meant.

 

So I still have not found the problem. One thing I just thought of is that my battery is in the trunk so everyone I was taking these readings, the trunk was open. Keep in mind that I removed the trunk light. Could this reading be coming from the trunk itself being open? Some sensor or something I don't know about?

Also, would I be stupid to just put her on a trickle/ maintainer charger all the time to never have to deal with this issue? I know it's a bandaid but I'd rather not rip apart all my interior for this. It just never seems to fit back together as good as it was.

 

No, there's no sensors in the trunk lid.

You have a really difficult problem - if the draw only goes to zero if the Room or BTN fuses are pulled, that isolates the fault to the 'anything on the Room fuse'.

That's the problem, that everything that isn't a light on that circuit is a 'computer'; keyless entry, TPMS, ECU, radio, nav, even the dimmer mirror gets standby power from it.

Since you can't isolate these without serious downsides, you may just have to charge the battery every weekend....

 

You can eliminate some of the things with a bit of work. The center stack (radio, nav, ash tray, shifter) all comes apart pretty easily. You start at the cupholder and work your way up. Check the DIY for a shifter install or GoodBox, they'll point the way.

TMPS is behind the center display, so you'll be able to eliminate that as well. Don't forget there's a little light inside the ash tray that you may not have removed yet.

Either disconnecting one of those things will reveal the source of the problem, or it won't and you'll have eliminated those things.

 

I appreciate all the help guys.

What about just putting it on a maintainer charger? Anything dangerous there?

 

Since you've isolated the problem to the ROOM circuit, would it not be easier to measure the current from the fuse box and leave the battery connected?

With that said, this doesn't seem to be an uncommon problem whatsoever. It sounds like a combination of the nav system and keyless entry. There's quite a few other threads like this, navigation system seems to be the common theme.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...le-off-237422/