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Author Topic: Stereo Battery Drain  (Read 5139 times)

Offline Ants84

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Stereo Battery Drain
« on: November 23, 2014, 01:06:13 pm »
Hey guy's, I recently bought a mk5 golf 1.4 tsi gt 170 2006/7, it came with a mk6 stereo installed (RCD510 6 disc touch screen) after a few days of owning the car I noticed the battery seemed to be weakening overnight then it died! Jumped no probs. Did some googling & found that this stereo can cause battery drain issues unless you update the canbus. So......for the last week or so I've been removing the radio fuse overnight and had no issues with the battery since! I've been looking at aftermarket units on ebay (possibly an android one) but I don't want to buy if I'm gonna have another drain issue! Most say they come with a canbus decoder but I'm not sure what this would do to stop drain issues, any advice would be a great help.....Thanks. Ps sorry for the long post!
« Last Edit: November 23, 2014, 01:19:52 pm by Ants84 »

Offline skard

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Re: Stereo Battery Drain
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2014, 03:37:45 pm »
If you change the CAN gateway to a later revision, it will definitely stop battery drain IF the problem is not a wiring issue elsewhere.
What you need to do is find out the part number of your existing CAN gateway, with the letter on the end being the important bit.

Have a search, there are hundreds of posts about this.

You can replace them with a used gateway if you have access to VCDS, or Eddie-NL can supply one pre-coded for your car and new.
Used to have Edition 30 - number 009 and a GT TDI 140.
Now have an S4 B8 Avant (stage 2)

Offline Ants84

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Re: Stereo Battery Drain
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2014, 03:46:33 pm »
Thanks for the reply skard. I've seen various posts mentioning Eddie-NL....He has a good rep! Do you think I would still require a new gateway with a non oem stereo? I do want a new stereo with gps, bluetooth etc but I can't really afford a gateway aswell! Thanks again.

Offline Degudodger

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Re: Stereo Battery Drain
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2014, 04:00:24 pm »
Eddie-NL is the guy to talk to for pre-coded Gateways :)

You will not need a new gateway if using an aftermarket stereo.
2016 Mk7 Golf GTD - Reflex Silver with stuff.

VCDS Hex+Can - Will code for beer!

Offline skard

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Re: Stereo Battery Drain
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2014, 04:02:54 pm »
The battery drain is in relation only to OEM third generation stereo's (RN510, RCD510 etc).

However, with aftermarket stereo's, you need to give it a switched live as it is not integrated into the quadock plug.
Preferably an aftermarket HU should have a CAN interface box - giving it a switched live, MFSW controls, dash dimming, track info on MFD etc. This is a different box to the CAN gateway and only applies to aftermarket HU's.
Used to have Edition 30 - number 009 and a GT TDI 140.
Now have an S4 B8 Avant (stage 2)

Offline Ants84

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Re: Stereo Battery Drain
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2014, 04:08:45 pm »
Cheers for the advice Degudodger!

If anyone has any experience with aftermarket stereo's (pref android ones) please share! Thanks.

Offline Ants84

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Re: Stereo Battery Drain
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2014, 04:13:57 pm »
Cheers skard, very informative reply....helped me a lot!

Take it easy