2005 C3 - Radio issues, drained battery

[mowgli]

Hi folks, more electrical issues with my 2005 C3...

Haven't had the car long, since I've had it the radio hasn't been working as should and yesterday it decided to drain the battery whilst I was at work -_-

Symptoms:
CD ejector tries to eject a CD thats stuck in there - this happens randomly for no reason, it happens occasionally when I press a button (any button), when I press eject. It has also happened when the engine is off and key isn't in ignition. I believe this is the battery draining cause. The CD button doesn't play the CD.

The proper functioning of buttons is quite random - I'll press a number to select a preset station and the radio will turn off.

I'm going to take the unit out and free the CD which is stuck as this might be the cause, but that doesn't explain the random buttons.

In the meantime it would be great to see a wiring diagram to see what else the issue might be.

VIN: VF7**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]

Thanks in advance, Morgan

[ozvtr]

I assume you are talking about the stock radio. If not, I would remove the radio and check the wiring!
Otherwise, I don't think that the radio will be causing your battery issues. The radio may be faulty but if it is telling the BSI it's on, the BSI will cut main power to it after 30 minutes (of the engine being switched off) anyway. There is permanent power to the memory part of the radio but, again, I doubt that could cause your battery issues. It is possible, but just so unlikely.
I guess that the radio could be faulty and not 'tell' the BSI it's on...but still be on, but unless it's actually playing music, I cant see how it can consume enough power to drain the battery? That scenario is a real stretch of the imagination!
Of course you could remove the radio altogether and see if that's actually the problem.
There is the possibility of parasitic drain from a (different) component in the car but the most likely scenario is a dying battery.
A circuit diagram isn't going to help you unless you can isolate the system that is causing the parasitic drain. If that's the case.

[mowgli]

Thanks for that info - I did think there should be some kind of cut-off to stop this happening, but it was certainly playing up that morning and I can just about imagine the motor on the ejection function drawing enough power to drain the battery if, lets say, it was constantly on for 30 minutes after leaving the car (or longer if the cut-off didn't stop it).

I took it apart and found a bit of plastic casing around some of the gears had broken, causing them not to function. It wasn't possible to fix and I don't need the CD player so I put it back without the whole CD player assembly inside. Since then it has behaved very well! The buttons now function as they should and (touch wood) the battery has been fine so far. I'm sure I'll be back if the fix doesn't stay fixed