650Ma current drain?

[RicMck]

When the car is off and the doors are closed (locked or unlocked) I have a 650Ma current flowing. I found that it will stop if I disconnect the hot lead to the drivers side fuse box. I tried isolate the issue but came up empty. I removed each fuse (one at at time) closed and locked the door. I could not stop the 650Ma drain.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Vince Waldon]

If you remove and re-install fuses as a method to track down current drains you'll get some false positives as you wake up sleeping modules.

VW has a specific service bulletin on how to track down current drains without disturbing anything... link is in my sig.

 

[dtrvler]

How do I view a signature on this new platform? (I believe there are no stupid questions! Lol)

 

[Vince Waldon]

Nope, no stupid questions.

This is what you should see at the bottom of all my posts:

Vince Waldon Edmonton AB Canada 2001 ALH Jetta and 2005 BEW Jetta Wagon
Canadian Grizzly's excellent low-power/limp mode troubleshooting guide
VW's TSB for scientifically tracking down parasitic current drains
Step-by-Step ALH timing belt procedure and BEW timing belt procedure

 

[RicMck]

Thanks for the information. It's a pain to get accurate mV readings. I ended up using sewing pin to poke around the fuses.

A clue is that sometimes after shutting the car off I could hear what sounds like a relay switching (I think the passenger side dash air bag (in dash around the glove box)

I found several circuits with big draws. I then performed a full system scan, found some faults (air bag...), no dash lights, I cleared the faults, and I looks like the current drains are gone. And I don't hear the relay clicking.

I can only assume that it was because I R&R'd fuses. It's raining here so I'm driving more often. Once the weather improves it will be parked for longer periods of time (riding my bike), so I can verify if this solved

 

[oilhammer]

The TSB shows the proper way to test for drains, and it works... I've used it many, many times. On all kinds of cars.

You didn't say what SRS DTC(s) were given, but that could be a clue. The other all too common A5 malady is door latches and door harnesses. There is an updated door harness, but some of those are already NLA. A quick check of all four doors' latch operation will reveal any that are bad, although they usually will have a DTC stored in the Central Electronics or Comfort modules. Trunk switch condition too.

 

[RicMck]

Found the issue. I took me awhile to understand exactly how to do the test.

Found a great YouTube about it.

Clear all failt codes. Open all doors and flip all the latches, including the hood. Lock the doors, and let it sit for 1 hour. Then the car will (should) be fully asleep. Check the mV across each fuse.

 

[Windjammer]

What was the issue?

 

[Windjammer]

How do I view a signature on this new platform? (I believe there are no stupid questions! Lol)

For future reference. When viewing the page on my iPhone I have to rotate to landscape mode to see signatures.