Weird dead battery
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,203
Likes: 147
From: dalton ma
Weird dead battery
Playing around trying to pull codes off my '04 over the last weekend. couldn't do it due to the low tire pressure warning message that I couldn't clear without driving the car.
So, getting frustrated with the code exercise I spent a lot of time turning the key on and off, pushing the code buttons, and opening the door and pulling the key out of the ignition multiple times I finally gave up.
A few days later I went out to the garage and slipped into the car at which time I found it totally dead. I plugged my battery tender in and heard a muffled clunk,clunk,clunk. Unplugged the charger and the clunk went away.
Somehow with all my diddling around with the ignition etc I confused the power antenna and even with no key in the ignition and the doors closed the antenna tried for several days to pull the itself down the last inch or so and proceeded to use up every bit of electricity in the system.
How could this happen and how do I make sure it doesn't happen again ?
So, getting frustrated with the code exercise I spent a lot of time turning the key on and off, pushing the code buttons, and opening the door and pulling the key out of the ignition multiple times I finally gave up.
A few days later I went out to the garage and slipped into the car at which time I found it totally dead. I plugged my battery tender in and heard a muffled clunk,clunk,clunk. Unplugged the charger and the clunk went away.
Somehow with all my diddling around with the ignition etc I confused the power antenna and even with no key in the ignition and the doors closed the antenna tried for several days to pull the itself down the last inch or so and proceeded to use up every bit of electricity in the system.
How could this happen and how do I make sure it doesn't happen again ?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 8,900
Likes: 1,074
From: Wisconsin
Last edited by JR-01; Jan 12, 2017 at 08:56 PM.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,203
Likes: 147
From: dalton ma
The antenna has never failed to go up or down but it does sometimes refuse to retract that last inch or so but this was the first and only time that it kept trying to run more than a few seconds after the key was removed and the door opened. From now on I will have to listen more carefully until I change the nylon pusher/puller.
