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Thread: 2003 Touring - Short draining battery

  1. #1
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    2003 Touring - Short draining battery

    Happy Holidays everyone,

    For Xmas I got 3 dead cars! The 03 wagon is giving me a serious headache. The battery goes dead after even a few hours, so I am looking for a short. Here are the symptoms so far, new ones seem to add daily:

    1. Trunklid Open on the dash. The electronic latch opens itself. I get out double lock and reset and its fine. It did this last year in the cold too so I do not think it is the problem
    2. Door Open on the Dash. New problem, goes on and off while driving
    3. Interior lights come on while driving, in sync with the door open warning
    4. Car locks and unlocks while driving, somewhat sporadically

    After doing some research on similar issues, I opened up the tailgate and looked under the right side cover for broken wires. Sure enough I found 8 completely severed and others in bad shape. I re-soldered and wrapped all broken wires and put it back together. Good news is the rear wiper and License plates work again. Bad news is it did not fix the problem.

    On the way home it lock / unlocked, and door open came on again on the dash. Half an hour after shutting the car off at home the alarm went off, could have been someone opening the handle but I would guess it was related to my electrical gremlins. Battery was again dead after an hour.

    Where should I be looking? Seems like with Door Open, Central Locking and the Alarm the problem may not be in the trunk? Kind of stuck as to where to go next without randomly tearing into things.

    Thanks for any advice,

    -William

  2. #2
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    Some references on troubleshooting parasitic drain that may help.

    http://www.autonerdz.com/yabbfiles/A...crossfuses.pdf

    http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...-current-drain

    Sorry to hear you have three dead cars, I joke with people that I can generally keep 2 out of 3 of my old BMWs on the road at any given time, so that’s my worst nightmare!
    Last edited by sienayr; 12-30-2017 at 06:58 PM.

  3. #3
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    If you have a short, you'll have a blown fuse for that circuit.

    What is the overnight battery voltage? When engine is running at 1000 RPM?

    How old is the final stage unit? They can fail in a mode that drains the battery in a few hours.
    Last edited by edjack; 12-30-2017 at 10:55 PM.


    Ed in San Jose '97 540i 6 speed aspensilber over aubergine leather. Build date 3/97. Golden Gate Chapter BMW CCA Nr 62319.

  4. #4
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    is it possible that one of your striker plate switches are worn out?

    I had this happen in an e34 and it made the interior lights come on, the open door warning activate intermittently, and the locks were acting up until it was replaced. Check the driver side door first, it may be the culprit due to usage.

    Hope this helps.
    Regards,

    Brian
    Cave Creek, AZ

  5. #5
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    I have a similar issue with my 2003 wagon as well. Mine takes longer than a few hours to drain the battery, more like a week or so, but I get the trunk lid open message when it's not and occasionally interior lights come on while driving when going over a bump, along with the trunk lid open message. I also intermittently have keyless lock/unlock with a key that has already had the battery fixed in it. I'm starting to suspect the general module is failing and might need repair or replacement, though I guess it could be something in the tailgate as it can be affected by just hitting a large bump in the road.

    -Paul
    2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers,
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  6. #6
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    No fuses are blown, I tried a parasitic draw test initially but it just served to connect whatever issue its having so all the interior lights came on. Plenty of draw there! I had gone after the tailgate harness since I have been getting the Tailgate open message on and off for awhile now, and the grisly photos of broken wires made it a good place to look.

    Since that didn't do it and the door open / lights on / lock unlock persist I think the drivers door may be the issue. The tailgate was just a diversion though patching some wires did bring some functions back.

    Positive update from the frigid driveway today. I charged the battery fully and left it disconnected overnight. Tried a parasitic draw test with it fully asleep and got nothing, total zero. With battery fully connected and me in the car for awhile, the interior lights were not dimming. I noticed the interior light switch above the rear-view mirror can turn all the lights off even when there is a door open! All but the drivers door auto-dim correctly so I drivers door *should* be the culprit.

    The only light it does not turn off is the red/white light on the tailgate, which *I think* makes sense since it thinks a door is open.
    Question will be is it the latch on the door? Or the little switch on the back of the catch mounted to the body. Do those go bad?

    Found this for some hopeful easy fix ideas. I really dont want to pull the door panel in 15deg weather!

    https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...pen-alert.html

  7. #7
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    Trying to close some old threads here for future searchers. I honestly forget if I did anything other than patch broken tailgate wires and replace the battery for the above issue.

    Been going strong for almost a year now so broken tailgate wires were the problem. The battery was probably not needed, but it was old and with the frigid temps last year I figured no harm in replacing it.

  8. #8
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    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by williamtii View Post
    Trying to close some old threads here for future searchers.
    You sir are a good person. Nicely done.
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  9. #9
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    I remember now! It was the Drivers Door Striker that was causing the door open/ lights on issue that BdiefAZ suggested above. It's cased in plastic so the wear was visible. Part 6 on here:

    https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=41_0026

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by williamtii View Post
    I remember now! It was the Drivers Door Striker that was causing the door open/ lights on issue that BdiefAZ suggested above. It's cased in plastic so the wear was visible. Part 6 on here:

    https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=41_0026
    Thanks for updating, thats what I was thinking.
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