saxtech

Now What Do I Do ???
So I just completed my first Parasitic Drain Test because my battery would go dead within 2 days after driving and parking it in the garage. I've gone through several new batteries so it wasn't a bad battery.

I started pulling fuses in the passenger compartment footwell fuse box as directed by Bill Curlee's fantastic threads and posts. I started removing the Drivers Seat and Passenger Seat Circuit Breakers Numbers 35 and 36. THIS DID NOTHING to change my Amp Meter reading.

So I moved on to the Lumbar Seat Fuse (#3) and removed that. NO CHANGE.... Then I went to the next fuse (#4) which was the Fuse for Drivers Seat Control Module. I pulled it and WHAMO ! My meter went from 630 milliamps down to 60 milliamps. I found the major source of my battery drain ( although 60 Milliamps is not perfect, I may have not given the car enough time to go completely asleep. But I'm thrilled I found a huge drop.)

NOW WHAT ????

What do I do next ? I pulled the #4 fuse and got the result I wanted but how do I fix the problem ? What do I change ? Does the drivers Seat Control Module need to be changed ? Where is this module located ? Can I clean or fix it ? What do I clean ? Is it the Drivers Seat Switch that has gone bad ? Where do I buy whatever it is I need ? ….. As you can see, I am in the dark again but at least we have pinned down the gremlin. Please help me finish him off.

Please help. All of you have helped me conquer this Giant. Now please help me finish off the problem with a fix.

Please see my attached pictures and hopefully that will help give you a glimpse of my results and will help others with the dreaded BATTERY DRAIN Problem.

Looking forward to your help so I can fix this.
Gary


630 mlliiamp Reading BEFORE removing number 4 Fuse for Drivers Seat Control Module.

Image of Number 4 Fuse REMOVED in the Passenger Seat Footwell Fuse Box.

60 Milliamps AFTER Removing number 4 fuse for Drivers Seat Control Module

JWM

PM Bill

MrNiceGuy!

I'm very interested in what you find for an answer. Could you post how this works out? Thanks!

SilverC54me

Saxtech, 90% chance it is the seat controls on the side that are bad. I have seen liquids spilled into them that corrode the contacts causing functions to run constantly.
I am the other end of Orange County from you in Brea. PM me and we can figure out which part is bad.

Gary

Old School

The control unit should be mounted under the seat. I would disconnect the plug under the seat and check again to be sure it's not in the wiring.

saxtech

Thank you so much for your generosity Gary. I would love to discover what's making my battery drain with your help. How can I test the controls to eliminate obvious possibilities before I get there ? Is there something I can do ? Are parts available for this issue ? Brea isn't far from me.
Gary

saxtech

Does anyone have any advise as to what to check now or change ?

SilverC54me

Easiest thing would be to replace the control. Give me a call, 714 906 1271.

Gary

saxtech

I just sent you a PM Gary.

frankckb

This same thing just happened to me, fuse 4 was my draw.
Turns out my power seat switch was no good.
You can test yours by unplugging seat switch and replacing fuse #4,
test again, if theres no draw its the switch

Bill Curlee

Pull out the multifunction switch on the side of the seat. Take it apart. There is a circuit board inside. On that circuit are some diodes. If they are damaged, it will cause the drainage issue. Test the forward and reverse polarity of the diodes and make sure that they are good. Also make sure that the switch goes back to CENTER and is not sticking in one of the seat movement positions. Also look for corrosion on the board If you find any, clean it off.

You can pull the CIRCUIT BREAKERS out of the passengers foot well fuse box. If the current draw goes away, its something telling the seat to drive in that breaker position direction.

SilverC54me

Just a follow up to this, Saxtech brought his car over to me a couple of weeks ago. Initial finding was the pump for the lumbar and bolster was continuously running and burned up. Replaced that and then discovered that the seat switches on the side also had failed. The failure of the switches was not the usual corrosion but a couple of ICs that burnt up. Replaced the switch and all is good.
Subsequently doing additional work for him, an old unsupported Lojack or equivalent was found wired into the car. Removed this also.

Gary

saxtech

Thank you again Gary

GerryVett

Hi Bill, Gary and other members on this thread. I really need help as I'm going out of options here... I have a similar problem as Saxtech. I performed the Parasitic Drain Test per Bill's great post and found out that fuses 3 and 4 did not have any impact, but when I disconnected circuit breaker #35 (driver P. Seat), my current went from 0.55 to 0.035 amps! I know that is the problem but, I have already replaced the Power Switch AND the Seat Relay Control Module and did this not fix the issue. I don't know what else could it be.

Some background: This is 1999 C5 with upgraded 2008 C6 seats. Passenger seat is not powered. Drivers is powered but without memory nor lumbar options. So much simpler. That said, the battery will drain unless I leave the seat connector unplugged...

Any new ideas are welcomed! I am getting to the last resort of deciding to install a push button switch to be able to connect the seat only when it needs to be moved, and keep it off all the rest of the time to avoid battery drain... Brea is not close to me (i'm in Florida) ;-)

Attached pictures show Amps before and after pulling breaker #35, as well as seat connector wiring - Thanks in advance for your help!

After disconnecting Breaker #35

Before disconnecting Breaker

Seat wiring/connector

Floor wiring/connector to seat

Bill Curlee

If you put the seat in a position where it is NOT in any stops (up/down/forward,/rearward). Does the seat stop moving and does the current lower?

Have you turned the seat memory / easy out option off in the DIC? Try that

Does the seat control module have any WARM/HOT components in it when the seat is idle and key is off?

Bill

GerryVett

Hi Bill, If the power switch is not activated in any direction (idle), the seat does not move nor the motors do any noise. Current is at 0.5 though. The switch/seat responds to commands to go up and down, forward, rearward without problem. If I take out the Switch, the current lowers though to 0.035. That is why I thought it was a faulty switch, but when I replaced it with a new one, it didn't make a difference.
No warm/hot components on the control module when seat is idle and key off. The only way I can tell something is off is because of the current draw. There are no noises nor temp nor seat movement with the car is off.

GerryVett

The only other thing to look into is the wiring.... Since this were C6 seats, with C5 wire "guts", there might be a problem there. I looked into the threads about connecting C6 seats to a C5, and the wires to the Power Switch are right.

In regards to the cables to the power seat, as you can see from the pictures, I have 7 wires coming in from the car floor, and only 4 into the seat (Two Oranges, One Black and one White/Black) - 3 do not get connected (?)
White/Black is the Seat belt one. Black is Ground. And Each orange is coming with 12V. The thicker Orange cable will end up on the black connector to the Relay module, and the thin orange will connect into the 26 pin red relay connector...

SilverC54me

Which seat control module is being used "C5 Seat Relay" or "SCM + T"?
The switches on the side of the seat, did you splice the C6 ones in or are you using the C5 switches?
Does the seat have the lumbar pump in it? Is this connected?

Need some good pictures of the wiring.

Gary

GerryVett

Hi Gary, No Lumbar pump in it. The relay is a C5 seat relay (Part 10406008). The switch is from the C6 , and I connected the cables coming from the switch to the relay module following the thread that had both wiring diagrams (C5 and C6) - Basically:

Function --------------------------C5----------------- C6
Front Vertical Up ----- Dark Blue------------- Dark Green
Front Vertical Down-- Dark Green -----------Dark Blue
Rear Vertical Up -------Yellow -------------------Yellow
Rear Vertical Down ----Light Blue------------- Light Blue
Horizontal Forward --- Grey ----------------------Tan
Horizontal Rearward ---Brown ---------------------Light Green
Ground ----------------------Grey Black -------------Grey Black

The C6 switch had a red cable coming from it (for positive) that is not connected to anything now.

I'm uploading pictures of the connections to the Relay Module. Please let me know if any additional detailed pictures would help. Thank you !!!


C5 Seat Relay

SilverC54me

Lets see some pictures of the splices where you wired in the C6 controls.

Gary