Hey folks,

First thank you all for all the great info on this forum, I've religiously used the search feature on here so hopefully I'm not asking a repeat that has been answered.

Since I bought my 2004 4x4 Blazer about a month ago (after rolling my 2000 Sonoma which never let me down) it has been one thing after the next. Now I've got it down to one issue left.

When left for a day or so the battery was draining so with a digital multimeter I narrowed it down to the RDO/BATT fuse and then to the radio. When the radio is plugged in, even after 30 minutes with car off, doors shut, etc - it draws around 750ma, and when I pull the radio is is even warm. This is a factory radio.

I tested the radio harness for shorts and didn't find any, the Orange 12V wire is hot and when the car is off the Green switched accessory read nearly zero at .2 volts, which seems strange but doesn't seem like enough to be an issue and I found no short between it and the Orange wire. Any one think this is the problem?

Otherwise, before jumping for a new stereo, I just wanted to check in and see if anyone had any ideas or anything else I should try. The radio wiring harness looks unmolested, though this car has had many surprises already.

As far as the Green wire having a bit of voltage, I made sure it wasn't the voltmeter reading above zero, as the illum wire reads absolute zero, and the Green wire maintains the small voltage even if I remove the RDO IGN fuse. Could a short in the ignition cylinder be causing this - I see that is a common problem area - and could this be causing the radio to remain out of sleep mode or something like that?

Thanks in advance,
Erik

 

I don't believe that there should be any power to the accessory power wire when the key is off and the RAP relay has been de-energized. If there is still voltage on the line even after removing the RDO/IGN fuse, then there is a short in that line somewhere. Test continuity between the dark green wire and the orange wire with the RDO/BATT & RDO/IGN fuses out. This will tell you if you have a short between the two wires somewhere between the fuse box and the radio.

The RDO/IGN fuse also services the Driver Information Center in the overhead console as well. If there were a short or problem with anything on that circuit, it would cause the same symptoms.

 

Thanks for the tips!

I already tested for continuity between the dark green and orange with fuses out, but I'll do some additional test to try to find if that RDO/IGN has something shorting to it tomorrow, I'll report back what I find.

Thanks again!

 

i've had battery drain problems for over a year. yesterday i fixed the button on the tailgate, it's been stuck in for almost a year. (it was a weird problem. when i shifted from drive to park, the back glass latch would unlatch.) WahLah battery stays charged, glass does not pop open. $600.00 dollars of repairs wasted.

 

I'll have to double check that too skrapper! When I first got it the guy I bought it from said the back didn't always latch, but I haven't had a problem with it yet and it doesn't seem to be the battery drain.

I still haven't got a chance to finish tracking down mine, I'm hoping tomorrow.

 

I have the same voltage reading on that green wire as well, and have battery drains. Did you ever figure it out?