Brian

I have a 97 Explorer with the JBL soundsystem. While driving home own
day, I heard the bass drop out and I was left with only treble. Shortly
thereafter, I noticed the car was getting harder to start and then
finally would not turn over at all. I bought a new battery and not to
long afterwards, the battery died again. When I took it in, I mentioned
that I thought it might be the alternator but the shop tech said it the
alternator was fine. He traced the drain on the battery to the
radio/JBL system and pulled the fuses for both. Since then, I have had
no radio but the battery has performed fine. I am tempted to go and get
a new radio however, I don't want to run into the same problem again if
it turns out to be a larger problem than the radio alone. Does this
problem sound familiar to anyone? I have not taken it to the
dealership yet and would prefer to stay away.

Brian

Phil

Sounds like the JBL amplifier system is defective and draining the battery.
Getting a new radio will not fix this problem. If you really want to fix
your drain problem, you need to identify which module is "shorted" and
draining the battery.

"Brian" <brianp6981@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1127602590.068105.63780@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> I have a 97 Explorer with the JBL soundsystem. While driving home own
> day, I heard the bass drop out and I was left with only treble. Shortly
> thereafter, I noticed the car was getting harder to start and then
> finally would not turn over at all. I bought a new battery and not to
> long afterwards, the battery died again. When I took it in, I mentioned
> that I thought it might be the alternator but the shop tech said it the
> alternator was fine. He traced the drain on the battery to the
> radio/JBL system and pulled the fuses for both. Since then, I have had
> no radio but the battery has performed fine. I am tempted to go and get
> a new radio however, I don't want to run into the same problem again if
> it turns out to be a larger problem than the radio alone. Does this
> problem sound familiar to anyone? I have not taken it to the
> dealership yet and would prefer to stay away.
>
> Brian
>

carbide@egine.com

Brian wrote:
> I have a 97 Explorer with the JBL soundsystem. While driving home own
> day, I heard the bass drop out and I was left with only treble. Shortly
> thereafter, I noticed the car was getting harder to start and then
> finally would not turn over at all. I bought a new battery and not to
> long afterwards, the battery died again. When I took it in, I mentioned
> that I thought it might be the alternator but the shop tech said it the
> alternator was fine. He traced the drain on the battery to the
> radio/JBL system and pulled the fuses for both. Since then, I have had
> no radio but the battery has performed fine. I am tempted to go and get
> a new radio however, I don't want to run into the same problem again if
> it turns out to be a larger problem than the radio alone.

I would think the problem is with the radio or its wiring. Modern
radios are partially powered and draw a small amount of current when
the key is in the off position to hold the station presets, run the
clock, etc.

I doubt that the JBL amp would be powered with the key in the off
position, though. You could verify that by replacing the fuse for the
JBL system, but not the radio fuse. If your battery doesn't lose it's
charge, you've narrowed it down to the radio. Or do they use the same
fuse?

I don't have specific knowledge of your particular sound system, but am
an electronics tech.
-Paul