leaving radio on when turning off the engine drains the battery

Comments

• mpuzach Member Posts: 635

  January 2008

  I highly doubt that the circumstance you describe would actually drain the battery.

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• somedai1 Member Posts: 416

  January 2008

  that would be a major design flaw - are u sure you didn't leave a door open or something?

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• eyo Member Posts: 24

  January 2008

  I never turn off my radio when I stop the car. After 70k kilometers and 2 years I still have the factory battery working without a problem.

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• wahldo Member Posts: 1

  February 2008

  I have a 2007 Hyundai Sante Fe which I purchased preowned. It currently has 8,000 miles. In the last month the battery has died twice. The dealership says that it is not my battery or alternator and that I must be leaving the lights on, but I know that I do not leave the lights on. I do leave my radio on, I'll have to try turning it off.

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• tidester Member Posts: 10,059

  February 2008

  Leaving the radio on should not drain the battery unless the radio is defective. Normally, power to the radio is shut off when the ignition switch is turned to off so either the ignition switch is malfunctioning or there is a short circuit associated with the radio.
  
  tidester, host
  SUVs and Smart Shopper

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• fromzy98 Member Posts: 1

  February 2008

  I bought my 2008 Santa Fe last week. When the dealer brought me out to show me all the features of the car, it wouldn't start. He then said that he thought the mechanics probably left the radio on when they they were getting it ready for me.

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• somedai1 Member Posts: 416

  February 2008

  i agree - radio is key on power only - shut off the car - no power to radio - you need to make sure you are not leaving the tailgate ajar... - i did it twice - closed it but it wasn't closed properly - killed the battery 2x

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• jnt Member Posts: 316

  March 2008

  I messed up in typing so here is correction:
  
  Whenever you turn off the IGNITION to the car, the normal radio would go to SLEEP and uses very little power (<1mA in SLEEP mode vs. 2A in OPERATING mode).
  
  So assuming your battery has 200 Amp Hour capacity or 200,000 mA hour. It would take 200,000 hours for the battery to be drained by the radio in SLEEP mode. That is about 347 days.
  
  Now if the radio is not going to SLEEP and stays in OPERATING mode with IGNITION off, it would draws 2A. Then the battery will be gone in 100 hours which is less than a week
  
  But there are many electrical modules inside the car which also draw battery power. Any of them, if not working properly could drain the battery.
  
  Another thing: for people who only drive 2-3 miles each day, then the battery may not be recharged enough and eventually it would lose its energy. In that case, take the vehicle out for a long distant driving once in awhile to replenish the battery, lubricate the system,...

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• stever Guest Posts: 52,454

  March 2008

  I'll zap the dupe.
  
  For future reference, after posting, you may edit your post for 30 minutes.

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• jnt Member Posts: 316

  March 2008

  Thanks,
  
  jt

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• boeing1 Member Posts: 3

  May 2008

  the first thing i would do is check the battey its probably no good

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• rfaronson Member Posts: 1

  February 2012

  I've had this problem with my 2004 Accord for almost 200,000 miles. All night long, the radio console flashes on and off even though the key is in my pocket. If I leave the radio/CD on, then it also plays for about half a second. A high end stereo repairman said it was a known problem to him caused by bad solder on that Accord, and resoldered all the places he saw where it had run. That fixed things for about six months (he did warn me it might start happening again). Recently it flashes so much that if I leave it for 4 or more days, it won't start. A friend suggested removing the Radio Fuse if I'm going out of town. Will that work? Where is that fuse?

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