Quote:
Originally Posted by itscoo2pyopants
My dads 2000 x5 has been having a battery drain also. We changed batteries, alternator, changed the Headunit, disconnected various components / pulled fuses trying to figure out where the draw was coming from. Dealership had it for 2 weeks and charged 700 for diagnosing saying it was the instrument cluster. Replaced that. Still killing the battery. Finally took it to a private guy that does independent diagnosing for dealerships in the area. He had it for a 4 hours and was able to get it fixed:
"Memory wire" on the head unit
Rear defrost
Headlight switch
And rear drivers side tail light
all drawing a current when the vehicle was "asleep". Not sure exactly what he did to fix the issues because his explaination was very technical. But my advice is to find someone that specializes in electrical. Not all dealers / Indies are able to handle these issues without throwing money at it. The last guy charged $400 and it was fixed 100%
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Re-reading this, it sounds like you've been down the same road I have -- replacing the battery, alternator and getting a diagnosis that the instrument cluster is to blame, but you replaced it and that didn't fix the problem. So, now I'm skeptical of my cluster diagnosis! Fortunately, I've only spent $115 on the diagnostic (then of course $450 for the alternator), but AAA refunded my battery cost. I just don't want to get into a money pit with this, replacing things willy-nilly. And my wife is ready to jettison the car, since it's her daily driver!
After being "asleep" in the garage for a few hours, I went out to check and the red light by the gear shift was back on, then turned off seconds later as I stood there. So something is waking the car back up randomly....
(And thanks "Overboost," but I'm not messing with the soldering/electronics myself.)