When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My 97 has failed to start after been parked for a few days recently, I measured sleep mode current at 210ma. I isolated the problem to the interior fuse box, and routed my meter leads so I could check current drain while I pulled fuses one at a time. I discovered fuse 25 BCMI&IPC was the cause of the excessive current drain, but after inserting fuse 25 back in the current was 85ma and then dropped to 20ma afterwards. Problem is I really did not fix anything, did I reset something in the BCM when I pulled the fuse, and is the excessive current drain coming back latter on. Any insight from somebody who has experienced this would be greatly appreciated.
I would suggest when having the drain you can pull each of the 3 BCM connectors or the 2 IPC connectors and see which of these 5 connectors is causing the drain...if you have an amp clamp you can put the amp clamp around that particular connector wire and narrow it down..amp clamps are pretty cheap !!
One of the most common current drains on a 97-98 C5 believe it or not is the Power Seat Adjuster on the driver's side---I had the same problem of a dead battery ---2 weeks or longer my battery was dead
I dis connected the pigtails under the drivers side seat and the current drain went away----
I will recheck the sleep mode current, where are the two IPC connectors located? and are they easy to access?
As far as I know your 97 Cluster have only one connector ( if you have installed HUD then you have second one) This is how you get to it the easiest way in my opinion
Thought I would post an update and give thanks to those who replied to my post. Checked sleep mode current again today and found it to be 24ma on average, goes up and down a couple of milliamp's, so I will continue to check sleep mode current on a regular basis for a while, the only other thing I did was exercise all the power seat buttons on both seats.
Additional troubleshooting has reveled that the middle connector on the BCM is where the current drain is occurring, before buying a clamp on amp meter, does anybody know what inputs or outputs are on that connector. Maybe even a schematic drawing of that connector
Thank you for posting that picture showing the pin out and function of each wire, I will be doing a little bit more troubleshooting latter on today.
You're very welcome !!...if you have ever installed the LMC5 you should know how to de pin those wires...if not this video should help !!...I believe C2 is the middle connector...if not let me know and I’ll resend the correct one !!
May some off the de pinning of the BCM connector will initiate wakeup of the BCM and you have to wait for the BCM to enter the sleep mode.
I can recommend this mini amp clamp from UNI-T UT210E for this purpose to avoid this
It's accurate on mA readings and cheap compared to Fluke .
Just finished looking at the wire colors and pin numbers on my car, the connector in question is a 24 pin connector, two rows of 12, a total of 11 wires are on that connector, could you send me pic of that connector, thanks.
Thanks from across the pond, looked at the PDF files, and verified that the wire colors on that connector match what's on my car, and will be obtaining a clamp on amp meter as that is the best way to proceed with finding out the source of the current drain. Again thanks, it's great to be a part of the forum.
Like I had mentioned you can either get an AMP clamp (I also have that same AMP clamp for a quick current flow reading) or de pin each wire one at a time !!
Undecided with having to buy a clamp on amp meter or pulling wires on at a time to find which one has the excessive current, it's not the cost of a clamp on amp meter, but the fact that I will use it once, and then it will sit in my tool box fore ever more. I am thinking of winding 20 turns of 22 gauge transformer wire and making 4 small transformers and removing and installing on four wires at a time, I have a second DVM I can use to clip on to the stripped ends of the transformer leads. Good or bad idea, any thoughts.
Update: Seems that my car's excessive current drain is not excessive, but rather a problem of me not waiting long enough to let the car enter into sleep mode. I have tested the car three times this morning, by opening the hood and having the light come on, then closing it, all three times the sleep mode current was at 20ma. I am going to have the battery tested and check its storage capacity.
Excessive current drain
