I'm certainly not new to the game of car stereos but this one is perplexing. I recently installed an aftermarket double din into my otherwise stock 2001 SS. I removed the factory amp and jumpered the speaker connections at that end. Everything functions perfectly with respect to the new stereo. It sound 10 times better than the OEM unit. My only problem is that now there seems to be a current drain which kills the battery overnight. I've checked the integrity of the battery and the alternator.They are working fine for now. I do know that if I continue to deep cycle my battery it will kill it. The adapter harness I used has the chime module. On a hunch, I disconnected the chime module once and found that it stopped the parasitic drain. Where do I go from here? The radio gets its trigger signal from the module so leaving it disconnected is not an option. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Mike Myrick

 

If i remember right there isnt switched 12V in the radio harness, Your Chime unit is probably powered off unswitched 12V. You could try replacing the wire(s) in the chime harness with switched 12V from the ignition switch. if my memory serves me correctly the red wire is unswitched 12V and orange is switched 12V. but you might want to break out a multimeter to test anyway, also make sure the connection to the ignition switch is fused.

 

Will do. Thank You for the advice. I'll update once I put it in my shop tomorrow.

 

The chime module is supposed to run off of unswitched 12V. If it switches off, it can sound a chime for key left in ignition or headlights left on.

I'd get another module. I installed on for my daughters car and it works fine. for mine I have the original radio installed in the trunk with an extra speaker for it in the dash.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking about doing. Thank You for the reinforcement of that idea. I know they make relocation kits but that seems a waste of money so I'm using some extra CAT-5 cable I used to wire my home. I have an old stand alone speaker that was used for a monitor that I can stick under the driver side dash. I suppose I can tap off the RAP relay output leg for that function and just run separate leads for everything else directly from the fuse block like an old school install. I hate it has to be so complicated but I just do not want to lose my ON star and alter the original functions.
I did however (after an exhaustive search) find the CORRECT jumper sequence to bypass the factory amp. Just connect 1 to 2, 3 to 4, 5 to 6, etc. It works perfectly with all the correct speaker phasing and locations. I really hope this helps someone in the future. Google search freaking sucks now. It is NOT what it used to be.
Cheers, MM