Battery Drain on 2003 G35

[SteveTheTech]

Things got so bad for me that the low battery voltage caused my main computer to need reprogramming - at a cost of 180 dollars.

The radio, the install kit and the installation cost me about 700 dollars.Toss in the 180 dollars for the reprogramming and the cost of a couple of batteries and this whole mess cost me 1000 dollars.

BTW...the Bose radio in 2003 G35's comes from Clarion. "

Although I do not know you personally I feel that the majority of people with the ability to trace down this type of concern including a current draw test should be able to install a new head unit.

I have seen some real half wits get away with replacing radios in early Gs if you get the right stuff for the car you should not have much of a problem in the long run.

[Road Ruler]

Ok folks I have the radio/CD player out and in my hand. There seems to be something holding these units together???? something near the middle between the two. Any one been in here. Interlock of some kind???

[SteveTheTech]

What are you talking about?

Pics?

[Road Ruler]

Here is the unit...

The cassette on the bottom and CD player on the top.

The board is in between the top and bottom. Screw are loose but can't separate??

[SteveTheTech]

Ahh I see what your talking about.

That's beyond me, if I were to open one of those up Clarion would back charge my dealer <$2,500US and I cannot risk that.

Perfect pic though thanks

[Road Ruler]

Update:

As I said before Oakvil** Infiniti was not much help. All they could do was offer to install a brand new radio for me. I explained to them there was a place in Florida that could repair the radio logic bd for me at a cost of a few hundred dollars, a fraction of the cost of replacing the radio. I asked them if there was a place locally that could do this? They said there was nothing.

I made some more inquiries. Clarion's main office and service center was an 8 minute drive from the Qakvil** Infiniti dealer. I thought I would drop by Clarion and pick their brains about the issue.

Bingo!... They said they were well aware of the problems and would be happy to sell me a service manual for the radio assembly or for $225. they would install an upgrade kit to the assembly that addresses the issues. Nice! Friendly folks with multiple options and solutions at a reasonable price.

Now we are getting somewhere!

For now I have the manual in hand and will update the progress as we proceed.

Once again Infiniti was no help and without a doubt knew all about the Clarion offerings.

[Q451990]

Please keep us posted! Having a direct link to Clarion to get this resolved could eliminate the "middle man" (sorry if that's you Steve ) and help a lot of members affordably fix the problem. This reminds me of the early Q45 Bose amplifier problems... 15 different way to get the same leaky capicators fixed. Send it Clarion... send it to Bose... send it to some place in TN...

Heath

[Road Ruler]

I took the radio assembly out last week.

I forgot to take the CD's out of the deck so took the unit back to the car and plugged the three connectors back into the back of the unit to see if I could get the CD's out.

... As soon as I inserted the last connector the radio/CD unit comes alive and out pops a CD????

There is no key in the ignition and the car is off! Interesting to say the least and the first clue to locating the bug.

As you know I could not figure out how to separate the top and bottom units which would allow access to the board in question.

I then handed the unit over to my pal would wanted to have a stab at it.

He called a couple days later. He figured out how to get at the board and was doing a full PD on the board. He discovered something interesting. He had me take some voltage measurements at the car here (he is in another city an hour away).

Well what do you know..... Looks like he may have found the bug, the cause of the parasite drain.

Will update again once we verify.

[Q451990]

[Road Ruler]

Just a quick update folks.

The bug appears to be a manufacturing error on the board. My pal made a change to the board. I got the unit back from my pal and installed it last week.

I did some amp checks and confirmed the battery drain problem is gone

The reading between the -post and ground was about .55 (with the battery drain issue), and is now sitting at .07 With the radio fuse out it was/is .05 so a huge improvement.

The only issue I have now is I have lost one feature. If the radio is on when I turn the car off, it is off when I turn the car back on. I then have to physically hit the radio on button to turn the radio back on. May be a memory support voltage or line issue.

Will do some further checks to see if this issue can be corrected. I may have put this bug on the vehicle when taking it apart and reassembling.

Will let you know what I find out. Need to wait for a warmer day as the car is outside and this is Canada...lol

[Q451990]

Sounds like you're making progress!

Heath

[dysev]

Hey guys! Very helpful thread, I'm glad I found you guys because I'm in the same boat. It's so frustrating to have this problem, and I've read about it for a while but I just can't stand not knowing if my car is going to start up after letting it sit for a day or two. My problem sounds identical to yours, it's a 2003 G35 Coupe w/ the Bose package. The only thing is, a while back I did try and pull the radio fuse, it did not prevent the car from draining the battery. Is there a possibility that if that's the case, I might have the same problem? Thanks for the help, can't wait to get this resolved!

[Q451990]

to NICO dysev!

I hope Road Ruler will come back at some point to update us on his fix... looks like it's been a while since he's been here though.

Heath

[linatio]

Im in the same boat.. and just put radio out... now where is the bug locate?.
Is there some ics,transistors, resistors. where to go?? picttures here are not available here.. if sombody can help me to fix this radio. thanks

[Q451990]

Can't say that I've ever seen an actual fix... just places to send your radio/climate control module to have it fixed.

Heath

[kleefaj]

Last week my battery drained completely. Had it jump started and all was well. Brought my 2003 Infiniti G35 in to the dealership for service in preparation for an upcoming road trip. Asked about the battery drain, would it have anything to do with the aftermarket iPod 30-pin connector I had installed a few years ago.

They tested the Bose radio, the iPod gadget, turns out the radio is drawing a charge even when the car is off. I'm told I need a remanufactured console for $800. Looks like this is a known issue. Do I have any alternative? I love this car but it seems to be plagued with electrical issues.

Thanks,
Jeff

[telcoman]

I loved my 06 G35 also

When it was going to require a couple of thousand for brakes, drivers side ballast and a leaking differential seal it was time to say bye bye

I found a new love

Telcoman

[ddemier7]

give us some more details on the changes you made to the radio?

[ddemier7]

If I pull my fuse out of my radio will my battery last longer? J have a aftermarket radio and stereo installed (no factory bose amp) I hardly drive my 03 g35 coupe cuz I have another daily driver.

[joeyod]

Well, it has happened to me. Out of blue my 2003 G35 would not start... completely dead... I bought a new battery, thinking the old one wore out. After two days of not being driven, this battery was drained. After charging the battery to 12.6 volts, I found this forum. I tested the draw on the battery with everything shut off. My amp meter read .86 amps of draw. My understanding is this is high, but not as high as one would expect with the radio/cd problem common to this car. Wait, there's more... as if by some magic the draw is now .08 amps. I have not driven or started the car for 2 days and the battery reads 12.5 volts. Any idea as to what may have caused the initial drain and why it just disappeared. No... I did not leave a dome light on. I'd like to drive this car with confidence it will not leave me stranded. Thanks for any response and insight. Joe a.k.a . joeyod