Battery drain?

[poncho62]

This morning my battery was drained almost all the way....Boosted it and its been fine all day.....However, the chimes were all wacky, like a door was open or something....I Pulled the battery cables to reset them and all seems well.

When I put the cables back on the battery, it sparked like it had a drain on the battery.....I also have a light blinking that has never blinked before....It is a little red light on the top left hand corner of the radio. It only blinks when the car is shut off, not when its running...I looked in the owners manual and it says nothing about this light.....

Any ideas on this?...Is this light some sort of warning device to show a drain of the battery?....but why is it on the radio panel?

I even pulled the radio fuse, but it still flashes....I'm puzzled

Waiting to see if battery is drained again tomorrow....will update

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by poncho62

.I also have a light blinking that has never blinked before....It is a little red light on the top left hand corner of the radio. It only blinks when the car is shut off, not when its running...I looked in the owners manual and it says nothing about this light.....

Any ideas on this?...Is this light some sort of warning device to show a drain of the battery?....but why is it on the radio panel?

It's never blinked before?? Mine has blinked since the day I bought it in Oct. 2006. It only blinks when the vehicle is off and from my understanding signals that the security feature is "on". Does your key fob have a red button with the picture of a horn on it? If so it is tied into the blinking light letting you know the system is armed.

[poncho62]

Originally Posted by '97ventureowner

It's never blinked before?? Mine has blinked since the day I bought it in Oct. 2006. It only blinks when the vehicle is off and from my understanding signals that the security feature is "on". Does your key fob have a red button with the picture of a horn on it? If so it is tied into the blinking light letting you know the system is armed.

Not the same one I .....The armed security in my Uplander is on top of the dash up by the windshield....This is another light...it blinks at a faster rate than the security light....about every 2 seconds...I am sure it has never blinked before.......

['97ventureowner]

Hmm. What year? I never really paid much attention to mine, the sales guy mentioned it when I bought the van and questioned him what it was. I'll look into it further and post what I find.

[poncho62]

2005....The little light is right near the radio on/off/volume knob....right on the radio panel itself

Maybe it has nothing to do with my battery drain, but its never flashed before

Waiting until morning to see if it drains again....will report back

thanks

[brcidd]

The light on your radio is on indicating your theftlock is active....as stated before I have never seen one not on...yours must have reset to "being on" like it should be when you unhooked your battery. Below is the description found in the service manual about your radio system.

The "Theftlock" theft deterrent system is a feature on all base and uplevel radios. There is no need to program a security code into the radio as in past model years. The theft deterrent system now utilizes class 2 serial data to determine if the radio is in the appropriate vehicle. Each time the radio receives the "run" power mode message, it compares the VIN information it has stored to the VIN information received from a module on the class 2 serial data circuit responsible for transmitting that information. If mis-match occurs, the radio display will indicate to the user the radio is locked. Once this takes place, a DTC will set, the radio will not respond to any button presses and become inoperative. The two scenarios able to cause this condition are:

A radio is installed from another vehicle.

A module which communicates on the class 2 serial data circuit which supplies VIN information to the radio is replaced and not properly setup with the correct VIN information for that vehicle. The only way to unlock the radio is by using a scan tool. Always refer to the table in this information to
diagnose the "Theftlock" DTC for further information.

['97ventureowner]

brcidd- good info there. I knew it had to do something with security, but this being the first vehicle I've owned with any security type system on it , it is interesting to know the radio has it's own system like this. I've seen the ones on the top of the dash like poncho62 has but thought there were 2 types of systems.So my salesman was only half right, the light is for the radio's security, and not the whole van's .
While we are talking about security systems, my 2006 does not have the light on top of the dash but does have that little red button on the key fob. Is that just a "panic" button and my van does not have a security system like poncho62's? I vaguely remember my salesman going over things with me at the time of the sale an he locked my van with the fob but left the window open on the driver's side. He then reached in and did something which set off the horn. He shut off the horns by hitting the red button. I know every once in awhile I set off the horns by accidentely hitting the red button on the fob while trying to retrieve the fob out of my pocket . .

[poncho62]

Thanks guys.....I think you are right brcidd...I tried to start it this morning and its fine....Was probably just dirty connections at the battery.....they were a bit dirty.....Hope so anyways....

[brcidd]

The vehicle "content theft" system is tested by opening driver's window, lock vehicle with remote- wait 30 seconds, reach in and unlock door with manual lock/unlock - then open door. Horn with sound, lights will flash. Disable alarm by pushing unlock on remote, or putting key in ignition and turning it on.

CONTENT THEFT DETERRENT (CTD) DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION
When armed, the content theft deterrent (CTD) system is designed to deter vehicle content theft by pulsing the horns and exterior lamps for approximately 30 seconds when an unauthorized vehicle entry
is detected. However, the CTD system does not affect engine starting.
An unauthorized entry can be any of the following with the CTD system armed:

Forced entry into the passenger compartment

When any door is opened without first using the key to unlock the vehicle or receiving an UNLOCK command from a valid keyless entry transmitter.