# When arming the alarm Monsoon radio drains the battery



## purpura (Apr 20, 2008)

Recently my VW GTI 2002 VR6 would not start after the car sitting for two days - battery would drain.
I discovered that there was a draw of 140 mAmp when the car alarm is armed (did this test by putting an amp-meter in-line between the negative battery post and the ground battery cable).
I started taking one fuse at a time and found that fuse 42 was doing the draw excesive. Fuse 42 is for the Monsoon radio (8 speakers and amplifier with one CD changer and tape, AM/FM).
When pulling fuse 42 out the reading would drop to 50 mAmp. Is this normal drawing for a VW 2002 GTI?
When fuse 42 is in, the radio works fine however the two symptoms I found are the following:
1. When the car alarms is armed then there is a parasitic draw of 140 mAmp
2. When I remove the negative cable from the battery post the radio does not go into SAFE mode when I reconnect the battery cable to the battery post. Is this okay? Would this have to do anything with the 140 mAmp drain?
Anyway, it is pretty sad I have to drive without radio (fuse 42 out) to avoid the parasitic draw while the car is sitting with the alarm armed. The worse part is that everything in the radio works great when putting the fuse 42 back in.
The dealer said that I have to replace the radio and that will fix the issue however what if there is something wrong with the alarm since this drawing occurs when the alarm is armed.
Any help will be greatly appreciated


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## afinley (Dec 29, 2004)

*Re: When arming the alarm Monsoon radio drains the battery (purpura)*

try unplugging your amp and taking a reading


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## purpura (Apr 20, 2008)

*Re: When arming the alarm Monsoon radio drains the battery (afinley)*

Thank you for the reply. Sorry to ask this but I am new.
Is the amp the device in the hatch trunk area in the back (left side small door).
I see two connectors in this amp, would unplugging these connectors unplug the amp?
Also, I pull the HU out and saw that pin 13 in the "16 pin area" did not have any wire. This pin is labeled : -+B
and believe it is for the amplifier. Do you think I need to this wire to turn off the amp and was forgotten during assembly?
My Monsoon is a Premium 6 CQ-JV1060XC.
thx

_Modified by purpura at 10:09 PM 4-21-2008_


_Modified by purpura at 10:10 PM 4-21-2008_


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## afinley (Dec 29, 2004)

*Re: When arming the alarm Monsoon radio drains the battery (purpura)*

yeah just unplug the two connectors.
amps go bad and just stay on all the time, and that would rule that out


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## Old Dude GTI (Dec 25, 2007)

I don't think 140 ma is a lot. You have a clock, odometer, alarm, radio security, and the comfort control module running. Also, the ECM is drawing something. That's less than 7 amps in 2 days at the most. What's your battery rating? Mucho amps, I'm sure. Even a good battery only lasts about 2 weeks or so sitting idle, becasue of all of the electronics. Go to an Advance Auto Supply. They can test your battery in like a minute just by hooking up to the terminals. Their tester reads the voltage, puts a load on it, and reads th evoltage agian. I think it cycles twice. Or you can try this - check the voltage at rest and while cranking. I think you need 1at least 12.4 volts resting and 10 volts cranking. And make sure th ealternator is putting out up to 13.7 volts.


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## purpura (Apr 20, 2008)

*Re: (Old Dude GTI)*

The battery is a brand new (Bosch Premiun Plus 47-590 B, 590 CCA, 735 CA). I took the car to the VW dealer and they discovered this 140 mAmp drain and adviced to replace the radio. They charged me $131 just to diagnose this.
Honestly I did not trusted them because the advisor told that the Bosch battery had to be replaced and that by taking fuse 42 off the radio, the alarm, the dome lights and power locks would not work. I came back later and escalated the issue with the service manager and I had the opportunity to speak with the technician. The technician told that the battery never tested bad (I just came back from replacing it) and of course fuse 42 would just stop the radio from working.
After that experience I left and decided to find the issue myself.
You said:
"I don't think 140 ma is a lot. You have a clock, odometer, alarm, radio security, and the comfort control module running. Also, the ECM is drawing something...."
Are you sure this is not a lot? Do you have the specs you can share with me? Now the radio security does not work because when I test and disconnet the battery the radio does not go into SAFE mode when I connect the battery back. It just works like nothing happened.
As of right now the dealer still might be right however you got a good point - 140 mAmp is not too bad after all considering all the systems you mentioned above are still drawing current while the car is off with the alarm armed.
I could not find the Amperes Hour for the battery information however it is not the OEM one and that could be another source of the issue too (not enough Amperes Hour; How can I find this out?) however the dealer did not say I should not use that baterry.
Lastly, forgot to mention that the battery shows 12.5,12.6 Volts with the car off and with the car running at 20RPM shows about 14.3, 14.4 so I am sure the battery and the alternator are in good condition.
Anyway, I will try to test again unpluging the amplifier and if the draw is still 140 mAmp then the conclusions would be:
1. The VW dealer was right and I need to replace the radio. The real test would be if after I replace the radio the draw drops down to 0.05 mAmp...
2. The VW dealer was wrong and 140 mAmp is actually normal so I can put fuse 42 back and enjoy my working radio
I will keep you posted and thank you for your responses. Keep it coming!
PS. With fuse 42 off and a draw of 0.05 mAmp the car is working great - No radio though . I did find in other threads that 0.05 mAmp is about the right drawing...












_Modified by purpura at 8:39 PM 4-24-2008_


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## purpura (Apr 20, 2008)

*Re: (purpura)*

Okay, I disconnected the amplifier and still the same reading (140 mAmp) with fuse 42 in. Should I conclude that there is something wrong in the radio... some circuit inside is causing the draw even though the radio works fine.
So my last question would be: Would the Monsoon by itself draw (140 - 50) = 90 milli Amperes when the car is sitting with the alarm armed?


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## Old Dude GTI (Dec 25, 2007)

Some things I CAN tell you, for sure. I just replaced my battery with the best Advance Auto sells, and it has the same specs as yours. Your alternator output is good but check it after you drive the car at high speeds. Mine drops to 13.7 - you shouldn't be always be putting out a constant 14.3 or so unless the battery isn't properly holding a charge.
The meter the dealer or an auto supply store uses will tell you the battery is good when it's bad. I know from experience. 
Radio will go into safe mode but return to working order if power is cut as long as it remains in the car. For how long I don't know, but changing batteries is OK. You only lose windows auto up/down, and the clock. 
I still don't think 140 is a lot but without testing my car I can't be sure. What's the draw w/o the alarm armed? And the other systems all draw a little when sitting. 
I would buy a jumper box if you don't already have one. Next time the battery's dead, jump it and take it immediately to a very close by auto place with a battery tester. Turn everything on (lights, AC, fan, etc.) so the battery can't recover. I had the same problem - the battery was bad. It would last only a couple of days or less if I made a few stops for errands. And a new battery could go bad prematurely. Mine lasted only a few months. I think that's the problem. 
As you know, all dealers lie like rugs.
I've seen anywhere from 50-250 ma parasitic draw in articles on the Internet. Not VW specifically. And are you sure the CCC system that shuts down any lights left on is working properly? Leave a door open. The lights should all go off after about 20 or 30 minutes. You could have a bad door or trunk latch that's leaving a coutesy light on.


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## purpura (Apr 20, 2008)

*Re: (Old Dude GTI)*

Thanks for the reply.
I am sure no lights stay on
I am sure the battery is good (i will check the voltage after driving some miles though). Maybe my two previous Bosch batteries were bad and this last replacement is a god one...
I you have a GTI 2002 VR6 2.8 with a Monsoon it would be great if you can take a measure after your armed your alarm. I would greatly appreciate that.
Without arming the alarm it is about 0.8 ma and then once I armed the alarm goes up to 140 ma. Without fuse 42 (the radio) then after I armed the alarm goes down to 50 ma in a about 3-5 seconds. I find hard to believe that this Monsoon stereo draws so much current current comparing with what everything else draws with out it.
Lastly, I thought another probable cause of this issue was the fact that the radio was not going to SAFE mode after disconnecting the battery (I also disconnect the whole radio at one point - harness and ground). I was thinking that the circuit in-charge of the SAFE mode feature got some kind of short - I guess that is not the case thanks to your input.
I have one of those VW do it yourself manuals and they say that anything under 100ma is normal however anything above 500ma then there is something wrong but does not say anything about anything in between... (like my 140ma)
The last observation is that when I put fuse 42 in a see and hear little sparcky sounds for a second and I am not sure if that has anything to do with a short inside the radio. Also when fuse 42 is in and I disconnect the negative ground cable form the negative battery post and put it back in then I see the little sparks... Without fuse 42 in I see no sparks
thx again


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## djwldo (May 24, 2012)

Im having this same problem. Good battery, good Alternator. Took into VW dealership, they told me to replace my radio. So I drove around with fuse 42 pulled out while I wait for a new (used) replacement to come. However, the battery still drained!!!! 
Also I am having two more symptoms not mentioned in this thread. 
- The passenger door does not unlock via the Remote. It unlocks ok via the door unlock switch. After unlocking it and opening the door. The remote works for a few hours. But then doesnt work again.
- Car completely died suddenly while running. I restarted the engine. It worked fine.

Something is obviously more than just the stereo. Purpura, and update on your problem??????:wave:


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