1979 corvette short
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Instructor
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1979 corvette short
When you plug in the fuse to the radio, the battery slowly drains. It is NOT the radio draining the battery there is a short somewhere else but I can't find it. What should I do?! Continue to search ?? Or try to move the radio onto a different fuse by ripping out the wires and hooking them to a different fuse?? I don't know what else to do
Instructor
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From: Monroe Michigan
When you plug in the fuse to the radio, the battery slowly drains. It is NOT the radio draining the battery there is a short somewhere else but I can't find it. What should I do?! Continue to search ?? Or try to move the radio onto a different fuse by ripping out the wires and hooking them to a different fuse?? I don't know what else to do
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That's what my radio is thank you!
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If you run it directly to the battery tho won't it stay on all the time?
Instructor
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From: Monroe Michigan
No, there is one wire that needs to be hot all the time from my radio. Wired that directly to the batter (this keeps the memory, etc). The other wire is tied into the accessory wires. When accessory turns on, the radio does too. Hope that makes sense.
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Thanks man I really appreciate it
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From: Monroe Michigan
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Ill still need to figure out where to hook my speakers because ether can't be hooked to the harness either, and ill need to think of a way to hide the wire to the battery
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Kannapolis NC
Wiring directly to the battery isn't going to change anything if you're already wired to a switched and non switched power as most aftermarket radios are. You can completely disconnect the always hot wire and you'll lose your station memory and clock time, but it won't drain the battery. You'll never know until you connect an ammeter in line with the battery and disconnect the power wire or accessories to find where the draw is. Moving from one constant 12v to another (the battery) won't change anything.
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From: Monroe Michigan
Burning Brakes
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From: Sutton MA
One thing to check, if your radio is draining your battery is the ground wires going to the starter. There is a black wire, small in diameter with a connection end that looks like it goes to the larger post on the starter. That wire needs to be grounded to the block or transmission housing. That was my problem when searching for my radio drain. I knew it was the radio, someone on this forum led me to that wire.
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My radio came with an output to each speaker. I know the original radio had connectors that plugged into the back of the radio module and ran to their respective spots in the car. Newer radios should have outputs as well. Just run it under the carpet, or splice from the radio to the existing speaker harnesses to the new speakers. As for running the hot wire from the radio I took a long piece of wire from an old VW harness and ran it through the console, under the parking brake, behind the drivers seat, and up into the battery compartment. You are able to slide the wire through the compartment lids if you're smart about it. I can always get some pictures if you want, just PM me ahead of time.
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One thing to check, if your radio is draining your battery is the ground wires going to the starter. There is a black wire, small in diameter with a connection end that looks like it goes to the larger post on the starter. That wire needs to be grounded to the block or transmission housing. That was my problem when searching for my radio drain. I knew it was the radio, someone on this forum led me to that wire.
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