I recently installed a Viper 350 plus on my 2008.5 Mazda 3 and have battery drain. I have isolated to to the alarm and further more to the door lock circuit. The bad thing on this car is you have to wait around 30 minutes to meter at the battery as it is in some kind of wake mode. After 30 minutes the car sleeps and shows the true draw. So here are some of my tests from measuring the draw by putting a DMM inline with the neg battery cable.
Alarm in valet mode
Shows 193 mA and after 30 minutes 40 mA.
Alarm unplugged
Shows 160 mA and after 30 minutes 16 mA
Alarm plugged and armed but 3 pin door lock connector unplugged (this goes to 451m)
Shows 200 mA and after 30 minutes 30 mA
I did not have time to meter the lock and unlock wires in the 3 pin harness but it seems like the alarm is not pulsing but keeping the signal on. I also swapped the 451m module to a 2 relay door lock module following this diagram with the same results.
https://www.bulldogsecurity.com/diagrams/extrainfo/diagrams/14301_MAZDA-3_MAZDA%201%20WIRE%20JBS%20UNITS.GIF
I know I dont have complete info here but I would like any input on the tests I should do this weekend to further isolate. I was planning metering the lock and unlock wires from the alarm module as well as the draw from the neg from the 451m to confirm the draw is coming from there. Also if anyone knows a trick on getting the car to sleep quicker that would be great. I appreciate any insight you guys can add here.
Thanks!
Steve
I forgot to mention if the alarm is on and everything connected it draws about 250-260 mA even after 30 minutes.
Steve
Test the current draw at the alarm itself and you don't need to wait the 30 minutes. You already know what the quiescent draw of the car is. While you are under the dash, look for pinched wires. It is possible to pinch a while and not get a complete short at first.
-------------
This information is provided only as a reference.
All circuits should be verified with a digital multi-meter prior to making any connections.
No way should that alarm draw more than 40 milliamps.
Bet the alarm's been wired wrong and it's keeping the sleeper circuit on , e.g. door triggers which are I believe of the open circuit type on this vehicle.
-------------
Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.
91stt] wrote:
est the current draw at the alarm itself and you don't need to wait the 30 minutes. You already know what the quiescent draw of the car is. While you are under the dash, look for pinched wires. It is possible to pinch a while and not get a complete short at first.
Will do. Thanks for the reply.
Steve
howie ll wrote:
No way should that alarm draw more than 40 milliamps.
Bet the alarm's been wired wrong and it's keeping the sleeper circuit on , e.g. door triggers which are I believe of the open circuit type on this vehicle.
I wired it and don't think I wired anything wrong as it was all pretty basic. I don't think any of the door triggers are in play here as when I pulled the 3 pin door lock plug from the alarm the power draw was normal (after 30 mins) when armed. It could be the 451m is staying engerized but not sure how that would happen. I plan on metering the wires on the alarm this weekened to track down the specific cause. I appreciate all the help here. Thanks!
Steve
I did some testing this weekend and found the problem. When I originally hooked up the alarm I was having issues with the factory alarm setting off on disarm from the Viper. I read some forums and one suggested to cut the blk/yell wire for the hood switch going to the ECM to prevent the factory alarm from arming. This did stop the factory alarm from arming but what it did was when you lock the door using the factory remote or the door lock switch it looked to put the car in a state that it would never "go to sleep" so the drain would stay at ~260 mA.
I originally thought it was the 451m door module as when that was unplugged the drain was normal. The only reason for that was I was arming the Viper and the locks never locked thus never putting into that state that it would never sleep. So to fix for good I reconnected the blk / YELLOW wire and then connected the unlock wire from the 451m to the blk/white wire in the drivers kick panel. the unlock was orginally connected to the GREEN/ red in the drivers kick panel. This is the factory alarm disarm but also unlocks the door. It all works but I have one small issue.
When I unlock, either from the Viper remote or from the ignition controlled door locks, it unlocks the driver side instantly and then about 1/4-1/2 second later it unlocks the rest of the locks. It is almost like progressive door locks but happens all within 1/2 second. The alarm lock delay is at the default of .8 sec and I tried single and double pulse on unlock settings. The double pulse makes it even worse. It is a minor issue but wanted to see if there was anything I can do. I was thinking of running the unlock from the 451m to both the blk/white wire and the GREEN/ red wire. I originally had the lock and unlock connected to the GREEN/ red with the lock using a 1K resistor but now have moved the unlock to the blk/white. Any thoughts on this? Also I appreciate all the help!
Steve
Leave it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
You've already caused problems with "fixing", why cause more?
-------------
Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.
