Talk with me about Battery Rundown and Retained Accessory...

[crzydmnd72]

My 99 Malibu had a feature that would shut off battery drain, (dome lights etc) if they were left on inadertently. It also would let the radio play until a door was opened.

Now, both the 95 and the 99 will play the radio until the door is opened, but is that the same module that controls Retained Accessory Power? Reason for asking, on the 95, it seems to have REALLY bad luck with running down the battery due to a light being left on etc...additionally I opened the door one morning after it had sat idle for a few days and the radio was happily playing away, battery was too weak to start the car.

I havent tested the 99 to see if it shuts off the power drains.

So it appears to me that something may not be right with the 95, but where would I start?

[Jrs3800]

Good questions, but the 99 is a decent bit different than the 95... The 95 Uses as RAC or Remote Accessory Control if you have Keyless, Retained Accessory Control if you do not...

The Rac has all of the Illumination functions, All of the retained accessory functions, and all of the Remote functions, if you have the Optional security system the Rac is also part of that system..

Almost forgot, say you left a door open and the interior lights are on due to this, the RAC will shut off the lights in 10 minutes... If you turn on the lights manually the RAC will not be able to turn the lights off.. The Retained accessory for the windows, stereo, moon roof is also 10 minutes or until a door is opened...

[1fatcat]

Start by checking battery voltage. A good battery will have 12.6v or more. A not so good battery will be 10.8v or less. If it's low, charge it and retest 1 hour after properly charging. If it falls back to 10.8v or less in 1 hour after charging, it has a bad cell and could be the entire cause of your problems.

[lewis26]

Start by checking battery voltage. A good battery will have 12.6v or more. A not so good battery will be 10.8v or less. If it's low, charge it and retest 1 hour after properly charging. If it falls back to 10.8v or less in 1 hour after charging, it has a bad cell and could be the entire cause of your problems.

This doesn't really apply when there's no load on the battery. The battery in my car would happily show 12.5-13 volts when not being used, but the battery would die if the headlights were left on for 15 minutes.

Battery voltage has to be tested when there is a load and current going through it.

[crzydmnd72]

The battery is ok. As long as nothing gets left on it will start the car.

Problem is, the RAC at least once, did not time out and shut off, and the radio was on, with no key in it, doors locked, for several days (its not a daily driver)

Also, I had noticed while working in it last summer, that the lights would shutoff if the doors were open longer than 15 mins. They would turn back on if engine was started up and doors closed then reopened.

I just wondered if they were the same module, and if its getting flaky.

[2000Silverbullet]

The 95 does not have the accessory power shut off after 10 minutes feature. I know my 94 didn't but my 00 does.

[Jrs3800]

On the 92-95 if you have Illuminated entry( pull a door handle with the doors locked and the interior lights come on ) then you will also have retained accessory power, say the ignition was on and you shut off the car and took the key out of the ignition the radio, the windows and the moon roof would all function for 10 minutes or until you opened a door..

When you open a door or doors and leave them open the Illuminated entry will shut the lights off after 10 minutes...

Do a couple of tests with the 95, get it in retained accessory mode, then open the drivers door and see if the radio turns off, it should.. If it does move onto the passenger front door.. Do the same, do accessories shut off?

You could possibly have a bad Rac Module

The SE Bonnevilles without Keyless entry were hit or miss, some had illuminated entry and retained accessory... Others did not have the option( super cheapie model )

If you had Keyless entry you automatically got the Illuminated entry and Retained Accessory..

[crzydmnd72]

Don, it does have AU0 and 1SC. However we don't have the remotes. After finding the radio on incident, I did do that test to make sure everything shutoff and it did. That RAC module could be the culprit for sure.

[Jrs3800]

Its very possible the rac could be going haywire... I keep several around as I have had a couple fail...lol