'95 radio kills battery??

[bamaboy13]

Is it common for the batteries to die if the car sits for extended periods?
I just got this car and was told they disconnected the radio to keep from killing the battery. This car belonged to a school that drove it maybe once a month. I put a new battery in 2 months ago but just replaced the fuel pump yesterday and drove it home. However the battery had died sitting for the last 2 months and needed to be charged. I want to re-connect the radio. I took this car on a trade for some work I did and plan to re-sell it.

[olopezm]

I have the same problem as yours, and have been checking all of the fuses under the dash to find the source of the current drain (about 0.35 Amps after turning the car off) and found 2 of them making a significant change in the readings after removing such fuses (numbered as 12 and 15 in the driver's manual), both are related to the LCM module, I have no idea how to test it or were to start checking; as soon as I find any info about it I'll let you know. I also read on another site that if you have an aftermarket radio (which is my case) the clock on top of the dashboard can keep draining more current than normal (I have no idea if this is true, I asked once in this forum but never got a reply).

I'll let you know if I make any improvement on this.

Best regards,

Oscar

[fly2bobsd]

Did either of you resolve this problem? I have kinda the same problem and am going to post my own new thread as well, and hopefully I'll get an answer quickly.

My girlfriend had the car, a '96 LTC, ran the radio a long time while the car was off, and wore down the battery til dead. She got someone to give the car a jump, and ever since the (stock) radio won't play, it just says 'phone' (cuz there's a OLD car phone in the front passengers arm rest). Also the pwr seats, pwr mirrors, auto door locks (button) don't work. For the radio, pressing on any of the buttons, does nothing except when you press the 'tape eject' the screen where is says 'phone', will say 'no tape'. When the key is out (pwr is off) the radio screen still says 'phone', you can turn the volume up and down and it shows the volume amount. If you turn it up, you can hear a little bit of static. This is putting a constant small drain on the battery. Initial drain and jump happened on 12/08/12, car sat 2 days, and battery was dead. Bought a new cheap battery, then I discovered the radio continuing to display 'phone' when the car was off.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

[olopezm]

Hi,

In my case it turned out to be a problem with the clock chorting out the LCM. It wasn't working when my brother bought it and I later found out it was the source of my electrical gremlins (windows had constant power and key-in chime always present when opening the drivers door). I unplugged it and problems went away. Replaced it with one from a grand marquis and problem solved.

About the "phone" thing, I don't know exactly what causes it but disconnecting the phone box (behind the carpet, next to the air suspension switch in the trunk) should get rid of it.

Oscar.

[fly2bobsd]

I'll check that along w/ checking all the fuses tomm, Sunday. I don't think that just disconnecting the phone connection is going to salve my problems, but I'll check it out.

Thanks, Bob

[olopezm]

Bob,

The phone box will only help with the radio not working problem.

The battery drain can be a lot of things. You'll need to connect the amp meter and start pulling fuses like I did. If the clock on yours is not working, I would start there.

The door controls not working could be a blown fuse or power source problem. You'll have to remove the door panel and check the wiring there. I seem to remember that everything you mentioned is controlled by the Driver Door Module. It might be lacking of power or damaged. It also controls the keyless entry (both remote and keypad) if those aren't working, either, I would focus even more on the module.

Do you have any wiring diagrams for the car? Those will be handy with this kind of problems.

Oscar.