Shaker 500 is draining my battery :-(

[pwd72s]

If you're at driving RPM's and the alernator is putting out only 13.5 volts, that's a bit low. 14.1 is ideal. You might get a plug in digital volt meter, see what the voltage is as you drive. A cheap alternative is the a male 12V plug, clamp your multimeter leads to it, place on the passenger seat & read as you go.

I do think you're onto something with the radio tho...I haven't suffered the problem, but I don't play CD's, just use an ipod I plug in. I'm also a battery tender user. Maybe the shaker 500 in my '09 is less power eating than the earlier models? I dunno.

 

[60GT]

Replacing the head unit wont work, I think its the amp pulling power and not the head unit, changed my head unit to a pioneer. It still would kill the battery in 2 days for like 3 months, and then it just fixed itself. Hasn't done it for the past 5 months. I would still change the head unit if you got the money, sounds so much better.

 

[michael.konor]

I had already walked him through various troubleshooting procedures, including pulling the amp fuses. Didn't help.

 

[LordBritish]

Well apparently shutting off the Shaker 500 before shutting off the engine didn't fix the problem.

The issue is that I'm not sure I can reproduce the problem at will because the last time I measured the current use, it measured 150 mA at idle which seems normal but obviously it's using more at other times (when I'm not measuring it).

So for now, I've pulled Fuse 56 until I can do a more thorough diagnosis. This is so annoying

 

[evostang]

Hm thats wierd my Shaker 500 was doing the same too and shutting it off worked.

GL let us know if you can find the issue

 

[TexasBlownV8]

So fuse 56 being pulled 'solves' your problem?

Instead of replacing the h/u, you could put a relay inline between F56 and the h/u, and have the relay energized from the GY/YE wire from pin 2 on the h/u (the ACC delay power and on in RUN/ACC).

That would disconnect power to the h/u with key off (and when delay is off).
Or energize it with some other key-on only power source.

Heck I might do something like that on the amps and head unit.

 

[LordBritish]

So fuse 56 being pulled 'solves' your problem?

Instead of replacing the h/u, you could put a relay inline between F56 and the h/u, and have the relay energized from the GY/YE wire from pin 2 on the h/u (the ACC delay power and on in RUN/ACC).

That would disconnect power to the h/u with key off (and when delay is off).
Or energize it with some other key-on only power source.

Heck I might do something like that on the amps and head unit.

Pulling the fuse 56 does not solve the problem but at least it won't drain my batteries and buys me some time while think about how to resolve this issue.

I think what I'll do is put back fuse 56 and then pull fuse 6 and monitor the situation for week and see what happens. If my batteries are still draining after pulling just fuse 6, what does that mean and how do I fix it?

 

[07gtcs]

I went threw a similar issue recently. I was first told it was a draw from the radio, I was having issue's with it randomly refusing to turn on as well. When the alternator was first tested they said it was a little low 13.5ish If I remember correctly, but that it shouldnt cause a failure to start or prevent the radio from working. Battery was replaced just to rule it out as it was almost 5 years old anyways.

I then realized that the battery only died when the car had idled for a 10-15 minutes before shutting it off. I had the alternator retested and they said it was fine.

So then with nobody being able to tell me what it was I started the car and turned everything on, heated seats hi-beams radio ect and let the car sit. 1/2hr later I went to check on it as i couldnt hear the radio from inside the house.

Car was going nuts radio had no power lights were flickering the whole 9. I revved it up a little the car came back to life and I had the alternator tested yet again right away. It actually passed again as far as voltage but the guy mentioned the ripple graph on the print out. He didnt know what it ment and I had to google it.

So while the alternator was passing the voltage test when checked it was failing the ripple the whole time but they just didnt know what it was and didnt mention it till I gave them a hard time on the last visit.

I replaced the alternator and after reading about the problems with them not liking high revs I got a 240amp alt and a set of underdrive pulleys. I have had no issues since and its been about 6 months.

 

[Mobolis]

I know this old stuff, but I am starting to trouble shoot this issue and was wondering what is the best sequence to pull the fuses? 2008 Shaker 500, Thanks

 

[RedGt]

Had the same problem with the shaker 500, pulled even the amplifier fuse and didn't help. Turned out is was the head unit reading all the 6 cd at night and draining the battery. Pulled the radio and removed the cd section inside. No more battery problems.

RedGT

 

[01yellerCobra]

In our 06 it ended up being the head unit. Swapped it for supermarket and didn't have anymore issues.