Battery drain issue -'99 2.5
 

Hi all! Long time, no post I know.

I've started having a battery drain issue after 2 distinct things happened.

1. I put my head unit face plate back on for the first time in like a year and a half

2. My ignition switch has become very 'strange' feeling. The key is difficult to insert and I have to remove the key multiple times before the 'key-in' bong stops sounding. I'm guessing something is broken in there.

A long time ago when I first bought the car I was having an issue where the battery would drain and removing the faceplate seemed to cure that issue. Coincidence that when I put it back on, it does the same thing? I doubt it. But why would the faceplate cause my battery to drain? (stock Becker CDR220).

Sounds like it’s time for a new ignition switch to me. When they go bad all sorts of weird things can happen.

isnt there also a post on here about the security light that blinks on the CDR220 causing battery to drain and that you can turn it off in the unit?

I would suspect the light is off when the faceplate is off and therefore no battery drain? Does sound like time for a new ignition switch as well.

Now that you mention it, I did notice a blinking light on the CDR220. I've pulled the D8 fuse and recharged the battery. Lets hope that does it for now. Whatever it was, it drained the battery a lot. The interior lights wouldn't even illuminate.

Why again would the security light drain the battery so completely?

Gonna see about doing the ignition switch this weekend.

More on battery drains here. Much of that posting deals with how to test the battery and charging circuit, what drain currents should be, what voltages you should see, etc.

The blinking lite on a Becker radio that shows the security system enabled does not drain the battery over a two week period in my experience.