I know this topic has been beaten to death on dozens of threads, not just on this site, but other forums as well. I've read the posts. My problem, however doesn't seem to fit any I've come across yet. Any input from people who have encountered, or tackled a problem like this would be greatly appreciated. The dealer gives me the runaround, where they say they're never heard of a G35 draining problem. Have asked several different people on separate occasions. I think they're trained to give that response.
I have an 05 G35 coupe, 5AT with about 110,000 miles, completely stock. It has the Bose audio, along with factory navigation. My car suffers from what appear to be MULTIPLE excessive parasitic draws, where if the car sits for more than 1 day, will not start. I'm on my 3rd battery since I bought the car 13 months ago. (The draining to empty and recharging kills them quickly). I used to drive it everyday, so it wasn't really an issue the first couple months. Now it's a problem.
After some research online, reading about other people with what seems to be a similar problem, I pulled the radio fuse for a couple days, and the car wasn't completely dead like usual, so I took the entire unit (radio, climate, GPS) to a local audio shop, where they rebuilt part of the radio circuit board, which from their tests, was the cause of a draw. Interestingly enough, while the entire radio unit was out, the car still drained (This was over a 10 day period). I simply figured it was because something was not shut off properly by the radio unit prior to removing it. Have tried disconnecting the amp in the trunk as well. No difference. (Radio repair is still under warranty.)
Car still drains, even with the repair. So I took my multimeter, and started pulling fuses to see what draws what. (Tested by connecting the multimeter between the neg. battery post and neg. wire) Basically, the car is drawing 0.480A when sitting. That will for sure drain a battery in no time. I removed every fuse under the hood (with the exception of the safety fuses connected to the + terminal.) Amperage dropped to 0.141A. I figured 141 milliamps is still too much, so I started pulling fuses by the pedals. Most drew negligible amounts (no more than 5 milliamps), so I put those back. The one that drew a significant amount was the trunk lamp+DTRL fuse. The trunk light, however is cold to the touch, so it's not staying on, even though that circuit is draining. The car doesn't have (but is wired) for daytime running lights. That seems to be drawing. I can hear a relay engage each time I connect the battery. When that fuse is removed, I don't hear it. So I removed that fuse. So the lowest I'm at is 0.017A, which I think seems reasonable. Now to reconnect everything:
(In order)
0.017A: LOWEST READING, MOSTLY EVERYTHING DISCONNECTED
0.141A: Trunk+DTRL fuse reconnected
0.208A: BCM fuse reconnected
0.370A: ABS fuse reconnected
0.480A: Radio fuse reconnected
(Radiator fans, rev. light diodes etc. not mentioned showed no change)
If you look at the differences between the circuits, the radio circuit is still drawing 110 milliamps, ABS is drawing 162 milliamps and the BCM draws only 67 milliamps, which is probably fine, considering everything it does while the car is off. The FSM does not give a range for allowable amperage draw. Why is the ABS system drawing nearly 3 times as much as the BCM? While off. And 110 milliamps to save my radio stations? I'll live without a trunk light, especially when that circuit draws 124 milliamps.
I also removed the alternator this past weekend to be tested, thinking maybe a bad diode was also partly responsible. Alternator tested fine.
My question is, what should the draw be (roughly) when this car is sitting off? If anyone would be willing to take an amp reading of their car simply by taking a multimeter and connecting it between the neg. post of the battery and the neg cable, I'd be grateful, just so I can get an idea of what I should be shooting for. Just a heads up, you would probably lose your radio stations because you're disconnecting the negative battery terminal, but it would really help me out. Haven't found a rough number online for this car, and I don't know anyone with this kind of car (or 350z), or I'd ask them to do it. Also, the reading will be higher for the first 10 seconds or so, because the audio system does a self-test of some sort. Assuming you don't have the same problem also! Thanks.
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I have an 05 G35 coupe, 5AT with about 110,000 miles, completely stock. It has the Bose audio, along with factory navigation. My car suffers from what appear to be MULTIPLE excessive parasitic draws, where if the car sits for more than 1 day, will not start. I'm on my 3rd battery since I bought the car 13 months ago. (The draining to empty and recharging kills them quickly). I used to drive it everyday, so it wasn't really an issue the first couple months. Now it's a problem.
After some research online, reading about other people with what seems to be a similar problem, I pulled the radio fuse for a couple days, and the car wasn't completely dead like usual, so I took the entire unit (radio, climate, GPS) to a local audio shop, where they rebuilt part of the radio circuit board, which from their tests, was the cause of a draw. Interestingly enough, while the entire radio unit was out, the car still drained (This was over a 10 day period). I simply figured it was because something was not shut off properly by the radio unit prior to removing it. Have tried disconnecting the amp in the trunk as well. No difference. (Radio repair is still under warranty.)
Car still drains, even with the repair. So I took my multimeter, and started pulling fuses to see what draws what. (Tested by connecting the multimeter between the neg. battery post and neg. wire) Basically, the car is drawing 0.480A when sitting. That will for sure drain a battery in no time. I removed every fuse under the hood (with the exception of the safety fuses connected to the + terminal.) Amperage dropped to 0.141A. I figured 141 milliamps is still too much, so I started pulling fuses by the pedals. Most drew negligible amounts (no more than 5 milliamps), so I put those back. The one that drew a significant amount was the trunk lamp+DTRL fuse. The trunk light, however is cold to the touch, so it's not staying on, even though that circuit is draining. The car doesn't have (but is wired) for daytime running lights. That seems to be drawing. I can hear a relay engage each time I connect the battery. When that fuse is removed, I don't hear it. So I removed that fuse. So the lowest I'm at is 0.017A, which I think seems reasonable. Now to reconnect everything:
(In order)
0.017A: LOWEST READING, MOSTLY EVERYTHING DISCONNECTED
0.141A: Trunk+DTRL fuse reconnected
0.208A: BCM fuse reconnected
0.370A: ABS fuse reconnected
0.480A: Radio fuse reconnected
(Radiator fans, rev. light diodes etc. not mentioned showed no change)
If you look at the differences between the circuits, the radio circuit is still drawing 110 milliamps, ABS is drawing 162 milliamps and the BCM draws only 67 milliamps, which is probably fine, considering everything it does while the car is off. The FSM does not give a range for allowable amperage draw. Why is the ABS system drawing nearly 3 times as much as the BCM? While off. And 110 milliamps to save my radio stations? I'll live without a trunk light, especially when that circuit draws 124 milliamps.
I also removed the alternator this past weekend to be tested, thinking maybe a bad diode was also partly responsible. Alternator tested fine.
My question is, what should the draw be (roughly) when this car is sitting off? If anyone would be willing to take an amp reading of their car simply by taking a multimeter and connecting it between the neg. post of the battery and the neg cable, I'd be grateful, just so I can get an idea of what I should be shooting for. Just a heads up, you would probably lose your radio stations because you're disconnecting the negative battery terminal, but it would really help me out. Haven't found a rough number online for this car, and I don't know anyone with this kind of car (or 350z), or I'd ask them to do it. Also, the reading will be higher for the first 10 seconds or so, because the audio system does a self-test of some sort. Assuming you don't have the same problem also! Thanks.
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