The blinking light in the back of the car is strange, never heard of this type of thing. Typically blinking lights when the car is off suggests an alarm.

The blinking light may be just an indicator of some component status, removing the bulb may not actually turn off the component.

Yes, would expect an expert to be able to run down the problem a little better.

 

Today is a happy day.

Left the car to a local repair shop, one of those old school workshops next to a gas station. No fancy place, just a simple garage.

The drain was caused by an alarm that some previous owner had installed (thus the small blinking lightbulb located in the brake light in the rear window). I thought it was a fake-alarm but didn't know how to disconnect it. Simply removing the bulb didn't change the drain.

According to the repairman he started to troubleshoot by listening to which relay was clicking when he connected the minus cable to the battery.

The thing he noticed was that the right indicator lit up everytime he connected the battery, apparently evidence of that there is some kind of leakage.

Under the panel beneath the steering wheel he found to electrical boxes connected that were associated with the alarm. After disconnecting the cables the drain went down to 0,01A.

Hallelujah. So apparently doing what I did to troubleshoot the alarm (removing the blinking bulb) is not enough to stop a drain caused by an alarm.

Conclusion: Alarm systems are evil (at least mine)


What pisses me off here is that I first took the car to an car electric specialist and they kept it for five days. Result: They removed an electric box that controls the electric door lock. The drain decreased from 0,19A to 0,13A. Charge: 130 €

Then this local repairman works on the car, finds the problem, fixes it and charges 20 €...

I now know who I'll visit first in the future...

Thanks to all the people here who have helped me. I've learned a lot.

Some things left unclear to me:

* Why didn't removing the alarm indicating bulb stop the drain?
* How can I tell a fake alarm from a real one? (Other than breaking in to my own car..)

 

IMO, the best way to tell if the alarm is real (or at least factory) is by a specific fuse for the alarm. Yes, aftermarket alarms will lack the specific spot on the fuse block, so you'll have to search around, first thing would have been find where the wiring for that light was leading to. If it looks unprofessional, it was probably a thrown together diy job.

I too had a cheapass diy alarm in my camry that I was unaware of until it randomly went off one night pressing the break pedal. This crapjob alarm simply had its wires wrapped around the fuses for things such as my wipers (which hadnt worked) and a couple otehr items. After removing the alarm, and replacing the fuses, everything worked great.

 

Yes, unprofessional would be the word. The DIY installations stand out clearly from the OEM wiring and other component installation.

The issue is the light it typically just an indicator that unit it on Like the indicator ON/OFF light on a computer monitor power switch.

Neither the monitor or the alarms power goes through the light as it would a fuse. In both units the light taps into the elecrical circuit and draws only enough power to make it light up.

Removing the light does nothing to turn the power to the monitor or alarm on or off.

 

Ray, my '89 needs a new INTEGRATION RELAY but I can't find it. It is mentioned in my repair manual but there is no picture of the relay or location.

It is mentioned on the page showing the relays near the Fuse Block #1 Driver's side kick panel, but unlike the other relays on that block there is no picture of it or arrow showing it's location. Only it's name in parenthesis (?).

Can you describe this relay or help me find it?

Thanks
-David