is .2 amp drain high?

[Dark_Rider2k3]

I'm finally getting to tackle the drain issue I'm having.. and I noticed on the room fuse a .2 amp drain with key out.. is that too high?

[Inodoro Pereyra]

It is kinda high for key off draw.
What kind of issue are you having?

[Nd4SpdSe]

You should be sitting at a total or 0.01amps for the entire car when everything is sleep. Like on my truck, the BCM doesn't turn off for 45minutes, so you have to wait....

[Ryan]

John, I swear we've had this discussion.

http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... _G-004.gif

20mA or 0.02A.

[Dark_Rider2k3]

I thought I remember'ed our discussion but at the same time I couldn't remember it all. I didn't really get onto this issue as soon as I should have, and just now got myself a good multimeter (thank you Harbor Freight!) to tackle this issue.

@inodoro: Randomly the car has a issue starting in the mornings. For the most part, it takes a few key turns to get the starter to turn over. I have noticed that when the car sits (sometimes it only needs to sit for a few seconds.. sometimes a day...) I drop from 12V down to around 11V.

Oddly enough, the whole time I was testing the car with my multimeter (for about.. 15 minutes.. just checked fuses) my battery didn't drop down below 12V.. though when I stopped testing with my meter a bit later I went to start the car and BAM it was down to about... 11.3V

[crazycanadian]

I thought I remember'ed our discussion but at the same time I couldn't remember it all. I didn't really get onto this issue as soon as I should have, and just now got myself a good multimeter (thank you Harbor Freight!) to tackle this issue.

@inodoro: Randomly the car has a issue starting in the mornings. For the most part, it takes a few key turns to get the starter to turn over. I have noticed that when the car sits (sometimes it only needs to sit for a few seconds.. sometimes a day...) I drop from 12V down to around 11V.

Oddly enough, the whole time I was testing the car with my multimeter (for about.. 15 minutes.. just checked fuses) my battery didn't drop down below 12V.. though when I stopped testing with my meter a bit later I went to start the car and BAM it was down to about... 11.3V

Do a voltage drop test across your battery cable down to the starter.. Clean your battery terminals.... A 200mA draw will cause a dead battery, not an intermittent no start that takes a few key cycles to start... You are more likely to have a corrosion problem in your starter cables... Even check the feed wire from the ignition switch...

I had a Mazda3 come threw my shop with an intermittent no start... It was caused by a corroded contact on the started from the ignition switch...

[Inodoro Pereyra]

How old is the battery?
Go to your nearest Auto Parts store, and have them test your whole charging system.

A .2A draw would drain a healthy 60A battery (which, I don't remember exactly, but I think is about the capacity of the mx-3 battery) in about 300 hours. That is, drain to "0"V. Draining it to 11V should take roughly 100 hours, maybe more.

Either way, you should take care of that current leak, before you have a short.

[Dark_Rider2k3]

I had Advance Auto test the charging system which shows the charging system was good.

I also found what could possibly be my issue. When I did the ATX -> MTX swap I actually used the MTX engine harness, which removed the ATX plug. However, there is a wire coming from the room fuse that is for the EC-AT. I do not know what this wire does, but need to test it's continuity as it's the only thing that has changed in my car since I started having this isue (and I started having this issue after the ATX to MTX swap).

The wire is being shown as "L/R". I assume the R is Red, but what is L?

You can see it here:

http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... _K-161.gif

and here:

http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/photo.php?f ... -W-002.gif


edit:

I think i found it. Blue/Red (since B = black in wiring diagrams they use L for blue)

[Inodoro Pereyra]

I looked in the link you posted, and can't find it.

Yes, in Mazda code L is blue. Is your wire blue/red?

Either way, try it. Hopefully, that'll be the culprit. In any case, that can not be the reason for your battery to drop more than 1V in such a short period. I'm still leaning towards a battery problem. Any short capable to produce such a voltage drop on a healthy battery would be glowing red.

[Dark_Rider2k3]

I looked in the link you posted, and can't find it.

Yes, in Mazda code L is blue. Is your wire blue/red?

Either way, try it. Hopefully, that'll be the culprit. In any case, that can not be the reason for your battery to drop more than 1V in such a short period. I'm still leaning towards a battery problem. Any short capable to produce such a voltage drop on a healthy battery would be glowing red.

Well I fully got into the wiring today. Started checking wires and found something interesting. The "Room" Fuse that was showing 0.2A dropped to 0.0A on my reader when I disconnected a front plug on the side of the cabin fuse. That wiring that was "culprit" for the high current was a green/white stripe wire. Looking through the electrical section, I found a green/white wire going from both the tail lights and room fuse: wire "B" on the JB-05 plug (it's a green/white wire that you can easily see when you remove the trim around the fuse box.. it's the bottom plug on the side).

This wire "apparently" controls brake switch, horn relay, shift-lock actuator, Cruise control module.

Well, I don't have Cruise, and with the wire removed I still had my horn/brake lights. The shift-lock actuator I assume is for ATX which doesn't apply any more.

Anywho, I removed said wire, and started the car. All lights work (including backup, interior, headlights/hi-beams, brake lights, etc..), the car runs just as smooth as before, and no issues that I could see. Gauges work fine, my CD player is working just fine.... so I'm wondering if I have a bigger issue?

The good news, though, is that the huge draw on my room fuse is gone. If I have labelled this wire wrong please let me know so I know what it's for... I'm letting the car sit (it read 12.4V after turning the car off) for a bit to see what is going on with the battery.


oh, and that blue/red wire was a dud. It WAS to the ATX, but since I'm no longer using the ATX, the wire does not connect to anywhere else.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Sounds good.
Just wait for a while, and check on the battery. If everything looks ok, I guess you can drive the car, but keep an eye on it. It still sounds very fishy to me that the battery would lose that much voltage over a .2A draw.

[Nd4SpdSe]

I had that problem with the truck last year in March, my draw was 0.11amps and the truck's battery would be dead over night.