OttSpeed3
Greenie N00B Member
As the title states, I recently found out that the parasitic drain I've had on my vehicle's battery was being caused by my PAC RP4-MZ11 module not going to sleep. In dept details are below.
The Symptoms:
Letting my vehicle sit for 3 days or more resulted in my battery reading below 12V of charge and being unable to start. Continuously driving my car every day or every few days would keep the battery charged.
The Diagnosis:
Connecting a multimeter in series with my battery showed a 130mA draw on the system, after the vehicle had gone to sleep. Pulling the 15A ROOM fuse would drop the amperage draw to 120mA. Pulling the HI/LO relay and waiting 10 seconds would then cause the amperage draw to drop down to 9mA. I started with checking my aftermarket accessories relating to the ROOM fuse circuit. This lead me to find the PAC RP4-MZ11 module that I installed with my Pioneer head unit was active and not going to sleep when the vehicle was off. This was indicated by the rapidly flashing red LED on the PAC module, indicating it was awake and drawing power. Disconnecting the PAC module dropped the amperage draw to a proper 45mA.
The Solution:
Recalibrating the PAC module and running through the procedure for programming the steering wheel control (SWC) buttons got the PAC module back into it's proper state. The PAC module was now going to sleep when the vehicle was off.
Reproducing the Issue:
When disconnecting the battery (unsure of for what duration, as I have not timed it), the module returns to that state of drawing power and needing recalibration. I believe that this module is supposed to retain it's configuration in onboard memory by drawing power from the CMOS battery in the radio but I could be wrong. If anyone has more info on reproducing the issue, please feel free to share.
I've created a post on the Mazdaspeed subreddit as well.
The Symptoms:
Letting my vehicle sit for 3 days or more resulted in my battery reading below 12V of charge and being unable to start. Continuously driving my car every day or every few days would keep the battery charged.
The Diagnosis:
Connecting a multimeter in series with my battery showed a 130mA draw on the system, after the vehicle had gone to sleep. Pulling the 15A ROOM fuse would drop the amperage draw to 120mA. Pulling the HI/LO relay and waiting 10 seconds would then cause the amperage draw to drop down to 9mA. I started with checking my aftermarket accessories relating to the ROOM fuse circuit. This lead me to find the PAC RP4-MZ11 module that I installed with my Pioneer head unit was active and not going to sleep when the vehicle was off. This was indicated by the rapidly flashing red LED on the PAC module, indicating it was awake and drawing power. Disconnecting the PAC module dropped the amperage draw to a proper 45mA.
The Solution:
Recalibrating the PAC module and running through the procedure for programming the steering wheel control (SWC) buttons got the PAC module back into it's proper state. The PAC module was now going to sleep when the vehicle was off.
Reproducing the Issue:
When disconnecting the battery (unsure of for what duration, as I have not timed it), the module returns to that state of drawing power and needing recalibration. I believe that this module is supposed to retain it's configuration in onboard memory by drawing power from the CMOS battery in the radio but I could be wrong. If anyone has more info on reproducing the issue, please feel free to share.
I've created a post on the Mazdaspeed subreddit as well.