Symphony II + Battery Drain

[Airflite40]

I installed my symphony II + about 1 month ago, bought a harness from www.euro-parts.us coded it with VAG-COM and everything works great.

I first noticed my battery died after I went out of town for 3 days and the car sat. It was completely dead. I thought maybe the battery went bad, it was very cold (Chicago) and the battery was original.
Bought a new Bosch battery and swapped it in. Everything has been good since until this weekend. The car sat for 2 days as I was busy working on my house. Leaving for work and the battery is barely alive, had to jump start it.

I drove to work and pulled the radio fuse just to be safe but will do a current draw test when I get home. The radio itself works great, is this a typical kind of failure? I have a non-Bose system, and specified that when I ordered the harness. The radio itself the seller stated it was a non-Bose radio, but who knows if that is the case.

Any ideas appreciated. Could it be the radio? Harness?

[SlickFix]

I'd be very surprised if it were the Symphony II+ doing that. I've got one installed in my S4, and haven't had any similar issues.

Do you have a blue tooth OBDII dongle that you leave plugged in? Or maybe a USB charger plugged into the cigarette lighter?

[gmudan]

Its the radio. The same thing happened to me, bought a harness from euro-parts and got the radio off a friend (Symphony ii+). Battery died couple days after not driving it for 2 days. Bought a new optima red top and threw away my old battery (stupid me, it was perfectly sound). Same thing happened after about a week. After a 8hour shift at work my car would be dead and i would have to jump it. I gave the radio back and now i have a RSN-E with the same harness and no dead batteries.

[MNAudi101]

weird, never had any issues with my symphony 2+ along with europarts harness

[xhackerekx]

check harness when u no have bose system with bose spec harness u battery draining .

[Airflite40]

Can you elaborate? What are the differences between the two harnesses that I can easily discern?

[Charles.waite]

thats not true. The only difference between a Bose harness and a Non-bose harness is the Bose pin is either grounded or its not. Shouldn't make a single bit of difference in power draw.

Its possible your Amp is staying active but that would be a problem with the harness. I have run both a S2+ and an RNS-E in my car. The only time I've dealt with a battery drain issue was with my Dice iPod adapter that connects to the SAT module in the trunk. Never had an issue with it until I upgraded to an RNS-E recently. It was keeping my radio system active for too long (the RNS-E keeps everything on for 30 minutes after the car is off for whatever reason) and the iPod module wasn't shutting down properly and keeping a 2A draw on the radio. I disconnected it and have had no issues since. Annoying since that Dice module worked perfectly with my S2 and S2+ before...

Anyway, OP do you have any aftermarket addons plugged in like an iPod adapter? try unplugging those and see if the drain goes away. You can also do a draw test with your multimeter across the radio fuse. Give that a shot. Thats how I narrowed down my draw to the Dice Module.

[Airflite40]

No extra modules, have the AUX cable from euro-parts also. No Bluetooth, no SAT, GPS, etc. Just the Symphony II+. I will definitely do a draw test when I get home to confirm.

[Airflite40]

Finally got around to doing the current draw test.
First test was without pulling any fuses, and the car is drawing almost 2 Amps!!!
I removed the radio fuse and that cut it down to .8 Amps (800mA).
I went through some other fuses to see if I could knock it down any further, but so far nothing seems to change. I tried the central comfort, cigarette lighter, etc and haven't found a culprit so far. I will just start pulling all fuses one by one I guess and see which one does it.
I noticed when I touch my meter to the cable and battery I hear a click from the trunk area.

[Airflite40]

Any ideas? Any things I should check that are common culprits?

I did some searching and reading and I read that for the first 30 minutes there could be a higher draw. Should I be connecting the meter in series to the negative cable and then waiting 30 minutes or so before checking the draw?

[Charles.waite]

Any ideas? Any things I should check that are common culprits?

I did some searching and reading and I read that for the first 30 minutes there could be a higher draw. Should I be connecting the meter in series to the negative cable and then waiting 30 minutes or so before checking the draw?

Only the rnse should have the 30 minute turn on feature. The symphony 2+ should not do that.

My first thoughts are bad amp wiring in the conversion harness or maybe the day box, given the noise you're hearing. I would try disconnecting the sat box then retesting. Then disconnecting the amp, and retesting.

If it still draws power, you've either got a wiring issue with the harness or a bad headunit.

[Airflite40]

I assume you mean disconnecting the Amp and Sat box in the trunk? I don't have Sat so that eliminates one. I will try disconnecting the Amp see if that is it.

[Airflite40]

Update:

I pulled out the radio, unplugged everything, unplugged the amp in the back, and the sub speaker.

I am still drawing .8 amps and I cannot track down where it is coming from. I am still hearing the click when I touch the multimeter to measure and ground out the battery. It sounds like it's coming from the rear passenger side.

Where is the fuse for the alarm? It's not one of the fuses in the main fuse to the left of the drivers side dash. I checked the ECU box, really clean and dry.

Should I just pull out ALL of the fuses at one time and then check draw? then one by one put them back in? I will have to recruit a helper to measure while I pull fuses or something.

[xhackerekx]

maybe u alarm module is wet ?

[Airflite40]

As far as I can tell the alarm works normally. Chirp when I lock the car, never goes off on it's own, etc. I will check it out.

[Airflite40]

Getting back to this issue.

I bought another Symphony II+ and the current drain is still there. Exactly the same. There's no chance that two radios have the exact same fault causing a drain is there?

I double checked my harness against the DIY threads and all of the pins are correct, the only one I'm confused about is the BOSE ground pin. I don't have a BOSE system, and I've read that the BOSE pin on the radio therefore should be grounded out. My harness doesn't have anything in the BOSE pin spot.

[Airflite40]

Another thing I've noticed is that both radios seem to give me random "CD Service" errors. It usually happens within a few minutes of turning the car and radio on. Can anyone verify my coding? Here's how I coded the radio:

0100022

0?x0xxx: Options 3
+1 = Analog Input (AUX)
+2 = Multifunction Steering Wheel
+4 = Telephone
0x?0xxx: Options 2
+1 = Digital Sound System
+2 = CD-Changer
+4 = Satellite Radio
0xx0?xx: Options 1
+1 = Leather Interior
+2 = Diesel Engine
0xx0x?x: Sound System Correction
0 = Sound System (No passive Speakers/No Correction)
1 = Sedan/Coupé with passive Speakers
2 = Wagon/Avant with passive Speakers
3 = Cabriolet/Roadster with passive Speakers
0xx0xx?: Country
1 = Europe
2 = North America
4 = Japan
5 = China

[Charles.waite]

Getting back to this issue.

I bought another Symphony II+ and the current drain is still there. Exactly the same. There's no chance that two radios have the exact same fault causing a drain is there?

I double checked my harness against the DIY threads and all of the pins are correct, the only one I'm confused about is the BOSE ground pin. I don't have a BOSE system, and I've read that the BOSE pin on the radio therefore should be grounded out. My harness doesn't have anything in the BOSE pin spot.

Non-Bose should have nothing there so you're ok there.

I doubt it's the radio then. It must be the adapter.

[Airflite40]

I'm gonna try to change my coding to 0120022 since I have a CD changer in the trunk but I've never used it.

[PreciseD]

I'm gonna try to change my coding to 0120022 since I have a CD changer in the trunk but I've never used it.

Since you don't have Bose and I assume you have leather you should be at this.

0120102

[Airflite40]

Thanks, I was wondering about that too. My seats are the perforated vinyl, should I still select leather? Is anything "leather-ish" fall under leather vs cloth interior used in ROW?

[Airflite40]

Wait I thought passive speakers are Non-BOSE systems.

[PreciseD]

Thanks, I was wondering about that too. My seats are the perforated vinyl, should I still select leather? Is anything "leather-ish" fall under leather vs cloth interior used in ROW?

I am not even sure what leather interior has to do with the radio but its worth a shot. I thought all B6s had leather but I guess not.

[PreciseD]

Wait I thought passive speakers are Non-BOSE systems.

you might be right, sorry about that. For some reason I thought they are passive.

I was used to Passive subwoofers that require an amp to power them vs active.

[Fast4esT]

Have you reinstalled the original radio and checked if it still draws 2 amps?

[Airflite40]

I tossed the old radio unfortunately

[B5_t]

Repost

[B5_t]

I am not even sure what leather interior has to do with the radio but its worth a shot. I thought all B6s had leather but I guess not.

Off topic : That they don't. Have cloths in mine but actually like it cause the bolsters are better and actually find them more comfortable

[PreciseD]

Off topic : That they don't. Have cloths in mine but actually like it cause the bolsters are better and actually find them more comfortable

Oh I know they have cloth. I didn't know they had vinyl.

[Airflite40]

So I went in this morning to recode my radio and I realized I don't have a CD Changer. I thought I had on in the trunk but all I have back there is an amp and the factory subwoofer. There isn't one in the glove box either. So I recoded it to 0100122. At first the VAGCOM started throwing errors at me and wouldn't accept the coding. I backed out and tried again and it took.
I scanned the radio for DTC and I'm getting the antenna code, which is fine, and another code for "No communication to CD Changer" even though I coded no CD Changer. Really weird. Will check for current draw tonight when I get home.

[Charles.waite]

So I went in this morning to recode my radio and I realized I don't have a CD Changer. I thought I had on in the trunk but all I have back there is an amp and the factory subwoofer. There isn't one in the glove box either. So I recoded it to 0100122. At first the VAGCOM started throwing errors at me and wouldn't accept the coding. I backed out and tried again and it took.
I scanned the radio for DTC and I'm getting the antenna code, which is fine, and another code for "No communication to CD Changer" even though I coded no CD Changer. Really weird. Will check for current draw tonight when I get home.

If you didn't clear the radio codes after recoding then it would still show the cd changer code. The factory location for the external cd changer was in the glovebox btw.

[Airflite40]

I did some more testing tonight.

I am getting a steady 1.3 amp draw on the radio fuse when I turn the radio off. After 30 seconds it goes to .7 amps and stays that way. I am suspecting the amp unit is bad. Unplugging it doesn't change the draw but the amp kept cycling on/off when I would turn on the radio. I will replace the amp and see if that helps.

[Airflite40]

Just wanted to close this issue out for the archives. The current draw was caused by the radio in both cases. I really didn't want to believe that I could be so "unlucky" and buy two radios with the exact same fault, but it turns out this was the problem, just not in the way I thought about it.

Apparently when you ship a radio you have to put it in "transport mode" before it is disconnected following the instructions on top of the radio. If this isn't done it will ruin the cd changer inside. Some people have been able to fix their radios post shipping by adjusting and moving arms around inside the radio. I wasn't so lucky, as both of my radios (purchased on ebay) the sellers neglected to follow those instructions.

I'm guessing the radio, once turned off, still draws power due to the internal cd changer trying to perform some action that it cannot.

[Fast4esT]

Huh weird, I never knew they had a transport mode either. I'm sure mine was not shipped that way, but the cd changer does work. Was your cd changer jammed up?

[Airflite40]

Yes it was, there was an arm that was stuck blocking the main cd selector. I moved that arm out of the way and the cd changer started moving around and trying to shuffle things when I plugged it in but it would shortly stop and throw the "CD Service Error" on the screen.

Now that I have a working symphony II + bought from someone on here I might open it up to see what the CD changer does when it's plugged in to see if I can fix the other two. When the radio first starts it sounds like the cd changer is trying to cycle through the cd trays to check them or see if there are discs.

[Charles.waite]

There is a sticker on the top of each radio explaining how to put it into transport mode. I just sold one on ebay and was VERY careful to place it in transport mode before unplugging it and boxing it up.

I would imagine careless sellers aor people who simply don't know would neglect to put it in transport mode. That happened to me on my first S2+ (incidentally, the one I just sold). The CD changer had 6 CDs in it and one had jammed in transit and was showing the CD Service Error. I opened it up, jiggled a pencil int he CD holes to reseat them and everything worked perfectly ever since.

[Airflite40]

I think having the cd's inside may have helped you by keeping things from shifting around. Both of my first two didn't have any cd's inside. I wish I would have known about the transport mode sooner, could've saved myself some cash.

[Charles.waite]

I think having the cd's inside may have helped you by keeping things from shifting around. Both of my first two didn't have any cd's inside. I wish I would have known about the transport mode sooner, could've saved myself some cash.

Looking back I bet the sellers mistake of leaving them in turned out in my favor too.

I made sure to record a video of me putting the radio into transport mode before shipping it off, just in case the seller breaks it, haha.