Chrysler Concorde Battery Drain, FYI

Last post on Oct 20, 2008 at 11:34 AM

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#1 of 1 Chrysler Concorde Battery Drain, FYI by jparke8 Oct 20, 2008 (11:34 am)
FYI: Recently I encountered a battery drain on my 2002 Chrysler Concorde. Using a volt meter setup for amps connected in series with the ground terminal of the Battery cable. I discovered the drain amounted to slightly more than 2 amps. Utilizing the fuse removal method, I discovered that the removal of fuse 18 (Horn/Amplifier) located in the inside fuse box. This fuse box is behind a pull panel on the side of the dash and can only be accessed when the door is open. The 2 amp drain would go away. Remember when searching for a drain on later model cars you must allow enough time for the automobile to go into sleep mode. This may take a much as a minute. The total current drain on the 2002 Concorde after the sleep mode is reached is about .014 amps. Most information I found said that an automobile in the sleep mode should be less that .025 amps. I checked the horn circuit by unplugging the horn relay. This did not isolate the problem. After consulting an automobile forum, I was able to locate the amplifier (audio) on the passenger side kick plate behind the glove compartment. When I removed the connector to the audio amplifier the 2 amp drain disappeared. When I consulted the Dealership I found that a new audio amplifier is around $300.00. Checking with local junk yard and eBay I was able to find them for around $100.00. At this time I needed my vehicle and didn’t want to do without a radio. So I removed the amplifier card from the case in order to determine which component may be causing the problem. Since the current drain was only about 2 amps it was not obvious which component had failed. About the time my problem started I notice that my right rear speaker not sounding good. When I discovered the audio amp problem I new the two were related. In order to determine which component was bad I connected the amplifier card to it’s connector with out using the case which serves as a heat sink for the amplifier chips. With the switch off one of the amplifier chips instantly over heated. I immediately removed the connector so as not cause any more harm to the amplifier card. In order that I may have use of my car and have a radio, I removed the component from the board using a pair of small diagonal pliers. I am sure this would not be recommended by the dealer. However I am a technician with an electronics background not to mention I had nothing to loose, it worked. I will just have to do without one speaker until I can replace the audio amplifier. After more research I have discovered that this amplifier is used in many year and models of Chrysler ranging from 1998 to present. The Chrysler part number is P04760293AD.

#1 of 1: Chrysler Concorde Battery Drain, FYI by jparke8; Oct 20, 2008 (11:34 am)

FYI: Recently I encountered a battery drain on my 2002 Chrysler Concorde. Using a volt meter setup for amps connected in series with the ground terminal of the Battery cable. I discovered the drain amounted to slightly more than 2 amps. Utilizing the fuse removal method, I discovered that the removal of fuse 18 (Horn/Amplifier) located in the inside fuse box. This fuse box is behind a pull panel on the side of the dash and can only be accessed when the door is open. The 2 amp drain would go away. Remember when searching for a drain on later model cars you must allow enough time for the automobile to go into sleep mode. This may take a much as a minute. The total current drain on the 2002 Concorde after the sleep mode is reached is about .014 amps. Most information I found said that an automobile in the sleep mode should be less that .025 amps. I checked the horn circuit by unplugging the horn relay. This did not isolate the problem. After consulting an automobile forum, I was able to locate the amplifier (audio) on the passenger side kick plate behind the glove compartment. When I removed the connector to the audio amplifier the 2 amp drain disappeared.

When I consulted the Dealership I found that a new audio amplifier is around $300.00. Checking with local junk yard and eBay I was able to find them for around $100.00. At this time I needed my vehicle and didn’t want to do without a radio. So I removed the amplifier card from the case in order to determine which component may be causing the problem. Since the current drain was only about 2 amps it was not obvious which component had failed.

About the time my problem started I notice that my right rear speaker not sounding good. When I discovered the audio amp problem I new the two were related. In order to determine which component was bad I connected the amplifier card to it’s connector with out using the case which serves as a heat sink for the amplifier chips. With the switch off one of the amplifier chips instantly over heated. I immediately removed the connector so as not cause any more harm to the amplifier card. In order that I may have use of my car and have a radio, I removed the component from the board using a pair of small diagonal pliers. I am sure this would not be recommended by the dealer. However I am a technician with an electronics background not to mention I had nothing to loose, it worked. I will just have to do without one speaker until I can replace the audio amplifier.

After more research I have discovered that this amplifier is used in many year and models of Chrysler ranging from 1998 to present. The Chrysler part number is P04760293AD.