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Chrysler Crossfire
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3, Alarm siren control:From the Crossfire forum I got the tips about that part of the battery drain could come from the alarm siren. Its power amplifier has a battery backup, a NiCd battery, when the battery get old it newer charge to full capacity and take more current than normal. The alarm siren is placed under the windshield wiper's cover panel and it's a bit complicated to reach, because it should be. Before proceeding the battery must be disconnected. If the wiper motor starts when working here it could snap off your fingers, it's very powerful. It could start automatically on some cars if you move the windshield wiper arms by hand and do one revolution. DISCONNECT the battery ! The nut's head is a 13 mm. When I first tried to loosen the nut, it was stuck so tight that I didn't dare to use more force without breaking something. I put some oil on it and waited two days, after that I got it loose easily. The wiper arm sit on splines and you must have a puller tool to get it off the shaft. My tool was a bit oversized but it did the job. I had the nut still on but I have screw it up about 5 mm, it center the tool's bolt and make it easier. When the wiper arms is gone you can unscrew the seven Torx T40 screws. These two clips hold the connector to the lambda sensors, pull the connectors gently downwards from the clips. You need also to disconnect this connector, I think it's the power for the water heater nozzle. After this you can move the cover panel aside, it's still cables and hoses connected to it. Now we can see the alarm siren, the black device. I didn't even know if it still was left here. It's not only a speaker, it has a power amplifier built in and a battery backup. It's the battery that cause problem when it's ages. A bolt with a 13 mm head hold the alarm siren in place, you reach the bolt's head from the engine compartment. In my case this alarm siren has already been replaced by some earlier owner of the car. The new alarm siren sits in another place, but this old broken alarm siren is still here and connected. A three wire cable connect to it, I think it's the ground, 12 Volt power and the control signal. To disconnect it, push at the arrow and unhook it, gently wiggle the connector out from its socket. I will take this alarm siren away and not replace it because it's already a new installed at another place. I didn't find any new alarm siren to buy but I already have a new. If you are lucky it maybe can be repaired. Here is a link that can give ideas how to do it:
I set some tape over the connector to protect it. Fasten it together with the other cable, you must be sure it don't get tangled up with the wiper arms. I reinitiate the alarm to see that it still working. Started the windshield wiper to check that it works, you must carefully get the arms in the correct angle when reinstall them. Later I will measure the standby current to see if there is any change to the better. Stand by current:The day after I could do some simple measurement of the stand by current. Immediately when I connect the battery it took 690 mAmp, earlier it was 720 mAmp. After one minute it drop to 140 mAmp, earlier it was 180 mAmp. And last the most important, after a couple of minutes it drops even lower, to 90 to 100 mAmp, earlier it was 120 mAmp. Now I got the thought, maybe even the new alarm siren has a defect battery, it's eight years old I think, at least. It's placed deep down in the engine compartment and it's difficult to see the wires connected to it. The cable has two wires but here it's three. What I see this alarm siren is of another construction, it's of a piezo squieker type. They have very high efficiency and maybe it's direct connected to the alarm electronic's output. Then there is no battery in it that can fail. I leave it as it's for the moment. From the Crossfire forum it was told the original Infinity radio has a relative high standby current. I wanted a more modern radio anyway and I have ordered a new with 4x65 Watts output. It has USB and Blue tooth also and no CD player.
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