Radio lights/draining battery

[Aygowner]

Hi,

We have a 2012ish era Aygo. Last week my partner went out to find her Battery flat, the light on the radio was still on. We can't seem to turn the radio lights off so it will continue to drain the Battery. I looked at it again this evening (after paying for a new battery). When you turn the ignition off and pull the key out the lights stay on (can still turn the radio on as well). When the car if off if I turn the headlights on and then off again it causes the radio panel lights to flash intermittently.

 

Can anyone help with what might be wrong? Or perhaps this is normal? I haven't driven that car for a good 5-6 years as I gave it to my partner so can't remember! 

[steveo3002]

top left power button allows me to turn the radio on with no key...try that

otherwise i would suspect a faulty radio , unplug it for now

 

[fordulike]

The radio has a feature where you can turn it on and off, even with the ignition off and key out of the barrel.

IIRC, if you use this feature, then it should automatically switch off after 30 minutes to save Battery.

I suspect the same as Steven, it's possibly faulty and the only way you will know is if you disconnect the radio plugs. The radio fascia is fairly easy to remove for access and all it requires is a screwdriver and some trim removal tools. The tools are pennies on eBay!

[Mooly]

16 hours ago, Aygowner said:

When the car if off if I turn the headlights on and then off again it causes the radio panel lights to flash intermittently.

Is the radio a standard fitment or has it been replaced at some time? Flashing lights on the radio when you turn headlights and ignition off in a certain order is reminiscent of an Audi issue where new vehicles were fitted with Sony Radio/Cassette units and there was an error with the wiring harness, Official fix was simple, just snip one of the multiple 12 volt feeds to the unit.

 

 

[Aygowner]

Thanks for the replies. The radio is the standard one that came with the car, no upgrades/changes made to it. Maybe it has just always been that way and the missus just hasn't noticed it and I don't remember from nearly a decade ago 🙂 

[Wiz201]

I've always been able to run the radio on the 12 volt without the engine on and it never drained the Battery on any of the cars I've driven.

[fordulike]

I agree Isobel, but what the OP has stated, is that the radio is on all the time.

For sake of argument, let's say the Battery in the Aygo is a 12v 44Ah Battery. The radio on standby may be drawing 12 watts of power. That means that for every hour that the radio is left on, it is depleting the Battery by 1Ah. So, if the radio is left on, then it would only take 44 hours of not using the car, for it to completely drain the battery.