Hi. I installed an aftermarket android NAV that hookup to the radio / CD player wiring harness. I noticed that the unit never really turn off (the screen goes black but the backlight is still shinnig behind). I was afraid that it might drain and kill the battery so I took some measures to see just how much juice it was sucking.


So it's about 200 mA for the android gps unit but what shook me is that the radio player is using 1A and that it's never fully of aswell. Even with the keys out of the ignition it's using 1A and I think the android unit doesn't goes to sleep because it's using the same wires.

Is it normal for the radio player to use that much even with the keys out of the ignition? Any tips on how to make sure that it's getting power only when the key is in the ignition? Is there a wire running behind the cd player that is powered only when the ignition is on that I could use to power the cd player and the android unit?

I have the basic cd player. Regards.

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Oh, a member for over a year and with a question as their first post

The car doesn't go to sleep instantly.
You need to take the keys out of the ignition lock the car and wait for about 15 minutes, then check for current draw. Obviously you would need to wait inside the car because if you then unlock the doors the car becomes awake.

Awake and "ignition on" are very different, there are also different levels of asleep - locked for a several of weeks and the car goes into deep sleep, where the remote no longer works, and you need to open the car manually - don't park the car with the left door against a wall as you will not be able to access the manual lock on the left door. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Also double lock the car.

Thanks for the answers. I plugged the multimeter in, double locked the car and after 15 minutes everyting is still on.

Could it be a faulty timer relay? Do you know which relay have to cut the power after 15 minutes?

For now I added a button to turn off both the radio and the android unit. Old school solution but at least I'm sure it's not draining the battery anymore.