Draw on Battery ..

Has anyone experienced a draw on their battery on an SRT-10? Let me explain the situation to answer a few questions that are going to be asked.

I've been dealing with a dead battery on my car for about a year. If I let the car sit for a time of about 3-5 days I would have to charge the battery or get a jump. Suspecting the battery , I finally changed it. Thinking the problem was solved I confidently jumped in the viper after it sat for a few days only to hear the clanking of the starter.. No juice again. it's NOT the battery.. Brand new one in the car..

Yes the car has an aftermarket Viper Alarm system , basic with infrared too.
Yes the car has an aftermarket Stereo with several amps, upgraded head unit and Ipod adapter that plugs into the Alpine Head Unit (I love it btw )

I suspected as anyone would the Alarm at first so I made an appointment at the locat car audio shop that did the work and actually hung out in the bay and watched them. They unhooked the alarm at the fuse and the battery still showed a draw of .32 amps (which kills my battery in about 3-5 days depending on the charge).

Next they unhooked the amps. No Luck. Battery still has a .32 amp draw. Then we unhooked the power to the Ipod adapter. Still a draw. Then we did the headunit, etc. Until we eliminated anything aftermarket. Next he went into the fuse compartment under the hood and did a process of elimination and finally found the draw.. It's the BCM3 control module ( I think it's a 40A fuse in there..?) Aaaaaanyways, has anyone heard of this and is this a common problem that anyone has experienced? Other than take it to Dodge and have them play the finger pointing game for days ( I know it's going to happen and it's DEFINALTY not anything aftermarket) anyone know of a fix? Bad Ground perhaps somewhere?, etc? Any help would be great..

P.S. Have a relaxing and Great Thanksgiving!! Get Stuffed and veg on the couch and watch the Packers vs the Lions!!

Thanks
Gerald

Thanks but it just repeats what I stated.. BCM.. i guess it juts needs replacing. Im getting that and the lazy door handle issue also.

This is a commonly occurring problem with the OE battery. Try putting the car in "sleep mode" (see owners manual on how to do this). It basically turns off the control module so that it won't continue to draw current once the key is removed from the ignition. If this doesn't work, try a different battery. The OE battery is a deep cycle. If not kept charged, it will eventually lose its ability to hold a charge. You'll then have to replace it. I have the same OE battery in my Dakota (daily driver) and haven't had a single problem in 52k miles. On my '05, I had to replace the Mopar battery twice within the first 1000 miles. I then bought an Optima Yellow Top and haven't any problems since.

1 - Yes, these cars seem to draw more current than most at rest.

2 - Put in an Optima Yellow Top. No more issues.

3 - Keep the OE battery and use a battery tender. No more issues.

4 - Replace the control module.

5 - Haven't tried sleep mode yet, haven't needed to.

Good luck,

Dan

Sleep mode is the answer. I've had my car sit for weeks with no battery issues and it still is the original battery in my 03. It's very simple to put it sleep mode and to wake the car up simply insert the key into the ignition.

Thanks for this thread. (and the other one) I'm having exactly the same problem with my '05 viper. Replaced the battery to no availe.

I will try the sleep mode option. Does this have to be re-established each time you turn off the car? I know it's just cycleing the key a few times, but seems a bit of an annoyance.

If this is a common problem for the BCM then if I swap for a new one what are the chances the new one has the same problem?

I use Interstate batteries in all my cars and bikes, nothing ever dies anymore

I have had the same bad luck with Optima batteries that Robbie Racer described. Between my father and I we put optima battereies in several cars and boats since we heard how great they were. One battery failed within a few months and was replaced under warranty. Three others died within a year and have been replaced with regular style batteries and have had no issues. I have never used the yellow top batteries. I had bad luck with the blue and red top batteries. I have now gone back to Sears or Interstate battereis and have no complaints. Maybe the yellow top battereis are better, but at this point I would have a ahrd time buying another Optima battery...

OK, I have my car in sleep mode now, but I know I'm not going to be happy with that. You lose the lighted entry and egress features. Anyone replaced their BCM that can comment if that was effective?

They unhooked the alarm at the fuse and the battery still showed a draw of .32 amps

Click to expand...

According to the mannual that's suppose to be a normal amount of IOD. It says battery should be able to sustain that for 20 days. So that would seem to add strength to the battery problem case. Which means I have a worthless new battery I guess.