Parasitic Drain / BCM / Courtesy fuse
05-26-2014, 11:09 AM
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Parasitic Drain / BCM / Courtesy fuse 2001 Camaro Z28 Convertible, Stock everything except wheels.
What's up guys, can anyone help me to acquire a set of schematics for a BCM on a 98-02 LS1 Z28? I've developed a parasitic draw that's been narrowed down to the #8 Courtesy 20amp fuse (tracked via ammeter hooked in series with neg. batt. cable).
Below is a possible clue that may hold merit in this issue.
***** When testing for which fuse the draw is coming from, the door latch was shut and everything including the car lights had all shut off already. Upon pulling the #8 fuse a click was heard coming from the rear view mirror and the current draw reading on the ammeter stopped.
Does anyone have the BCM circuit card assembly schematics to trace which components on the circuit card control are associated with the #8 spot on the fuse panel? Or if anyone has the solution for this issue, I'd love to hear it. I've been having this issue for quite a while now - have gone through 2 alternators and 3 batteries in the process. It takes about a day and a half to drain my battery from fully charged to nothing. I've read every blog from numerous Camaro sites and found a ton of people with the same issue, but no one ever responds with the solution. Thanks in advance.
BTW, I've pulled the BCM once already and fixed an intermittent radio, window, convertible motor electrical issue due to cold solder joint. For anyone experiencing the intermittent radio, window, convertible motor electrical issue, watch the following video for the fix.
how to fix,Camaro z28 Power windows and radio intermittently not working (bcm repair) - YouTube
What's up guys, can anyone help me to acquire a set of schematics for a BCM on a 98-02 LS1 Z28? I've developed a parasitic draw that's been narrowed down to the #8 Courtesy 20amp fuse (tracked via ammeter hooked in series with neg. batt. cable).
Below is a possible clue that may hold merit in this issue.
***** When testing for which fuse the draw is coming from, the door latch was shut and everything including the car lights had all shut off already. Upon pulling the #8 fuse a click was heard coming from the rear view mirror and the current draw reading on the ammeter stopped.
Does anyone have the BCM circuit card assembly schematics to trace which components on the circuit card control are associated with the #8 spot on the fuse panel? Or if anyone has the solution for this issue, I'd love to hear it. I've been having this issue for quite a while now - have gone through 2 alternators and 3 batteries in the process. It takes about a day and a half to drain my battery from fully charged to nothing. I've read every blog from numerous Camaro sites and found a ton of people with the same issue, but no one ever responds with the solution. Thanks in advance.
BTW, I've pulled the BCM once already and fixed an intermittent radio, window, convertible motor electrical issue due to cold solder joint. For anyone experiencing the intermittent radio, window, convertible motor electrical issue, watch the following video for the fix.
how to fix,Camaro z28 Power windows and radio intermittently not working (bcm repair) - YouTube
06-10-2014, 07:45 AM
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mirror switch may be stuck. try unplugging the harness to the mirror. should be able to pull the mirror control from the door and unplug at switch. do you have access to a factory shop manual?
08-14-2014, 11:29 AM
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*** Update *** Ok, after months of tracing this problem, I think i finally found the culprit (wound up being something very silly, and a free fix). Everything about this issue was pointing toward the Body Control Module (BCM),... but turned out to be a false accusation.
Fast foward to the last stage of testing every module on this car - I have my multimeter hooked up in series between the negative cable and battery and get a 3.5 amp current draw. I pull #8 Courtesy Fuse and the 3.5 amp draw disappears from my meter. #8 Courtesy Fuse shows that it is linked to the the BCM in the Power Distribution Schematics.
__________________________________________________ _____________
*** It never really made sense to me that the issue was calling out the
BCM because everything that the BCM controlled worked flawlessly.... and
since the BCM has no responsiblity of holding or storing power when the key
is in the "OFF" position, i suspected the whole time that the BCM is being
falsely accused. I started looking into everything that is linked to
supplying power to accessories and what they have in common with the BCM.
I made the connection between the BCM and the Retained Accessory
Power Module (RAP). The BCM bridges the connection to the radio..... and
the RAP also has a responsibility of power distribution to the radio. ***
__________________________________________________ _____________
I still have the #8 fuse out - no reading on the meter. I pulled the RAP module (tucked waaaaay under the drivers side dash)
- http://shbox.com/1/express_down1.jpg
I open the module and inspect the card.
- http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/9562/rapmodule.jpg - *** Image is not actually my RAP ***
All components, connections, and solder look good. I did however notice a fair amount of contact corrosion film built up on the 7 connecor pins. In my experience as an Aviation Electrinics Tech in the Navy, I know that contact corrosion absolutely causes some funky stuff to happen with modules. I cleaned all corrosion off of the connector pins with a brass wire brush, plugged everything back up, put my #8 Courtesy fuse back in its spot in the fuse block, and was reading a .06 amps (dramatic difference from the 3.5 amps before) .06 amp current draw is normal operating conditions when you initially turn the car off and shut the doors. After 10 minutes with the key off and the doors shut, the .06 amp reading dropped to 0.00 amps, indicating that the RAP module held power and went to sleep exactly like it should have. For the next little while, I played around with the accessories on my car, making sure they showed an increase in current draw on my meter when turned on and a decrease in current draw when turned off. Everything seemed to be in good working order.
In conclusion, I am very happy to announce that for the first time in over a year, MY 2001 Z28 LS1 Convertible slept all night and woke up with a fully charged battery in the morning.
I hope this post helps anyone in need. I can't imagine how many people out there got rid of their cars because of a silly issue such as contact corrosion..... I actually thought about getting rid of mine because of this nightmare at one point.
Shout out to "Craby", the only tech to reach out. Thanks buddy.
Fast foward to the last stage of testing every module on this car - I have my multimeter hooked up in series between the negative cable and battery and get a 3.5 amp current draw. I pull #8 Courtesy Fuse and the 3.5 amp draw disappears from my meter. #8 Courtesy Fuse shows that it is linked to the the BCM in the Power Distribution Schematics.
__________________________________________________ _____________
*** It never really made sense to me that the issue was calling out the
BCM because everything that the BCM controlled worked flawlessly.... and
since the BCM has no responsiblity of holding or storing power when the key
is in the "OFF" position, i suspected the whole time that the BCM is being
falsely accused. I started looking into everything that is linked to
supplying power to accessories and what they have in common with the BCM.
I made the connection between the BCM and the Retained Accessory
Power Module (RAP). The BCM bridges the connection to the radio..... and
the RAP also has a responsibility of power distribution to the radio. ***
__________________________________________________ _____________
I still have the #8 fuse out - no reading on the meter. I pulled the RAP module (tucked waaaaay under the drivers side dash)
- http://shbox.com/1/express_down1.jpg
I open the module and inspect the card.
- http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/9562/rapmodule.jpg - *** Image is not actually my RAP ***
All components, connections, and solder look good. I did however notice a fair amount of contact corrosion film built up on the 7 connecor pins. In my experience as an Aviation Electrinics Tech in the Navy, I know that contact corrosion absolutely causes some funky stuff to happen with modules. I cleaned all corrosion off of the connector pins with a brass wire brush, plugged everything back up, put my #8 Courtesy fuse back in its spot in the fuse block, and was reading a .06 amps (dramatic difference from the 3.5 amps before) .06 amp current draw is normal operating conditions when you initially turn the car off and shut the doors. After 10 minutes with the key off and the doors shut, the .06 amp reading dropped to 0.00 amps, indicating that the RAP module held power and went to sleep exactly like it should have. For the next little while, I played around with the accessories on my car, making sure they showed an increase in current draw on my meter when turned on and a decrease in current draw when turned off. Everything seemed to be in good working order.
In conclusion, I am very happy to announce that for the first time in over a year, MY 2001 Z28 LS1 Convertible slept all night and woke up with a fully charged battery in the morning.
I hope this post helps anyone in need. I can't imagine how many people out there got rid of their cars because of a silly issue such as contact corrosion..... I actually thought about getting rid of mine because of this nightmare at one point.
Shout out to "Craby", the only tech to reach out. Thanks buddy.
