Found reason why Battery/Alternator dies - Fuse to Radio.How to Fix? Options

[nitemare]

Well, after years of going through batteries/alternaters - I decided to find out why.

Electical shop found a large draw on the fuse underneath the hood which was not labeled at all. Now, he didnt know what fuse was for. So when I went to pick up car, I connected face plate of Alpine. Radio did not work. Also, the clock above radio did not work. Also, my viper alarm did not work.

So, this unmarked fuse controls: Radio/Alarm/Clock

Now, He doesnt fix these issues as he is not a radio installer. He recommended going to BestBuy to fix. Well, Im NOT going to Bestbuy as I dont trust them at all. Also, the guy who did the radio/alarm install said he can put a switch so that I can turn it off when car is off. Well, great! So , I will lose all my channels, time, etc. This doesnt seem like a fix at all, rather a bandaid. You can see I dont want to go back to him.

So, now I drive around with No radio/No Alarm/No clock. But atleast my car doesnt die. I keep the fuse out. It is the standard 45amp BLUE fuse. Again - no marking on the black box to what it is. If you are facing it - its on left row - towards middle.


Any Ideas on how to fix this? Where to bring it?

1995 Celica GT Convert.

Equipment:
Alpine 7995 Head Unit (Manual says to make sure AMPS are not connected to ANT port. I dont know what they are connected to. I was unable to pull head unit out myself.
2 Amps (both not that powerful) - Both running on its own fuse directly to battery- I dont think these amps are problem.
Alpine XM Tuner (connected to CD Changer)
Alpine CD Changer
Thanks!

This post has been edited by nitemare: Aug 7, 2007 - 4:16 PM

[Coomer]

The clock is tied in with both the dome light fuse (for constant power for remembering the time) and the cigarette and radio fuse inside the car, as well as the panel fuse inside the car. It is not tied into the radio no. 1 fuse under the hood, as that fuse gives constant power to the radio.

The fusible link gives power to three different fuses. If you look at the underside of the fuse box you'll see what I mean. But I know the radio is one of those fuses. I believe the dome light fuse is another, and I cannot remember the third, but it's right next to the dome light and radio fuses.

Put the fusible link in (a 45 amp fuse should suffice), and leave it. You need it there.

If you're getting a drain, you need to measure how many amps your car is drawing when it's off.

I've never actually done this, so look it up and get more info, but I think you disconnect your negative battery terminal, hook up one end of your multimeter to the battery and the other to the terminal, and measure the current draw in amps. It should be under 100 milliamps I believe. If it's higher, start pulling fuses until it drops.

Once you find out which fuse it is, trace that out and disconnect individual fuses on things like alarms, alarm battery backup units, head units, amplifiers, etc.

You should be able to figure out exactly where your draw is coming from and fix it.

Oh, and be sure to test the current draw with the doors closed, and both with the alarm armed and disarmed.