2001 Toyota Avalon Short That Kills Battery

[crazyoildude]

I have a 2001 Toyota Avalon at the shop that has a short that kills the battery overnight most nights but sometimes it will be ok for days. I located the problem to fuse number 38 which is the Audio System, Multi information display according to the owners manual. I did this by disconnecting the negative battery cable and hooking up my test light and one at a time pulled each fuse till the light went out. So i unplugged the radio and it is still showing a short. I am guessing it could be a relay because it does not always happen but happens most of the time. also when i pull fuse 38 all the gauges go up. Any ideas? The battery is new. The person that owns the car says it may have happened after he got his satellite radio fixed. It was his Dads and his dad passed away. I disconnected what i saw of the satellite radio Basically only the base i don't know if any more is installed somewhere else. I know nothing about satellite radio. Any help would be great. I am doing this as a favor for a great person.

 

[tomcat27]

the satellite receiver should be just like any other low-draw accessory - and should not pull that much power. instead of a test light, do you have a VOM that can measure amps/milliamps? it would be nice to see how much power is being used.

 

[crazyoildude]

i do have that but im sure its using a lot of power because when it happens it kills the battery dead and also my test light is on very bright.

 

[tomcat27]

I'm curious how they wired in that sat rcvr

 

[Oro_O]

To my knowledge, there was no OE satellite option from Toyota that year; pretty sure you know that. So my SWAG would be that the satellite installer took an independent ground wire to a chassis location that is not bare/really grounded, or they tapped it into power instead.

I'd take out the center console and trace non-OE loom wires originating from the head unit.

 

[Olas]

As above, trace all the wires from the satellite unit then cut and insulate them.
99% that'll fix your problem, if not a multimeter will point you in the right direction

 

[Vikas]

Find the amplifier for the audio system. Many of them have "automatic turn on" when the head unit is turned on. Sometimes, the amplifier forgets to turn off. I had Ford SHO which did that and drove us nuts until the vehicle was at the dealer for a week and mechanic noticed warm amplifier in the trunk.

 

[crazyoildude]

I took what i could see out since he does not use the sattilite radio all i saw was the head unit and that plugged into the cigarette lighter and two antenna wires.. I will look again on the weekend it is sitting in my driveway at home. I have no room at the shop. Is there more to the system than what i disconnected? I am not sure what other things there would be to this system (I think he had it installed at best buy)

 

[crazyoildude]

Very strange so far it seems a blown interior light fuse caused this issue,, It seems fine but i can't be sure. Very odd