Nav system draining battery

[lml999]

've got an RNS-E installed in my '99 A6, seems to be killing the battery.

We installed the RNS-E almost 2 years ago, along with a CANBus adapter and a PhatBox. There is also a Motorola speakerphone setup, with wiring to the speaker circuit and radio mute. Everything has been working fine until recently.

I noticed that the dash lights are acting weird -- for a while I wasn't getting any LCD readouts (odometer) and now I've got a faint glow from the LCD when the car is shut down.

My mechanic says I've got a 2.5 amp drain coming from the Nav system, which kills the battery over a two week period if the car is parked.

Has anyone else run into this? I updated my software a few months ago, can't imagine that would have had an effect, but nothing else has changed.

I unplugged the Nav system and the glow remains. I'm not sure if the CANBus emulator gets power even if the Nav is unplugged.

Also, the glow in the odometer LCD goes on about 5 seconds after the key is removed. It stays on, except for a very brief flash approximately once a minute.

Need help! Could the CANBus emulator have gone bad?

I found a reference to some early nav systems in Touaregs keeping their RDS on with the car off and that was draining batteries (and resolved with a software upgrade)...but I don't know if that's relevant.

Unhooking the Phatbox had no effect.

What else should I look at? This car is a bit unusual...I don't think there are many early '99 preCanBus, analog IC, single DIN console cars with RNS-E systems...

(Don't ask about the console...yes, it require a complete R&R)

[agoltz]

The RNS-E has a timeout where it will stay active and some XX amount of time after the doors close it will turn off. Make sure you are measuring the drain 20 or 30 mins later and not at the time you lock the car.
When you did the RNS-E update - I wonder if you have checked the VAGCOM coding? Perhaps somehow the codings got messed up (I would not know what they are for yours but places like the ROSS-TECH site with their excellent VagCom (now renamed) software has a wiki that can help with configuration. Lastly - I have a canbus emulator (on my 2003 Allroad) to inject a reverse signal into the RNS-E for a backup camera and have had no problems with powering down.

I suspect wiring gone bad, canbus box gone bad (or deprogrammed). Maybe one of the wires that runs from the canbus to the back of the instrument cluster (in mine its can high and can low and speed) wiggled loose?

[evenflow2]

What was the answer for this one I have a 99 a6 4.2 if I pull the radio fuse no problem if I leave it in I lose battery power 36 hours

[Stampy]

Haha, you misspelled Australia....

Might want to hit up AW for this one. The Archives over yonder are beast.

[BostonDriver]

Try unplugging the CANBUS adaptor, which (depending on the wiring for your install) might get power from another source. Then see if your car still has that power draw after shutoff.