I have a 1999 Skoda Felicia 1.3 liter 5 door.

At the moment it can't start under its own power because the battery is flat. If you jump/bump start it then it runs fine, all the electrics come on so the alternator is fine. The battery also seems to charge a little, ie I can turn the engine off and if I have been driving for long enough it can then start under its own power again but usually you only get one shot at it because you will drain enough power to flatten the battery again. But if I leave it for an hour or so and come back I will find the radio is now turned on at full volume, turn it down and turn it off, go away for an hour, come back and the radio is on at full volume.... The battery seems to charge unusually slowly though and I think repeat jump starts aren't doing it any good (for the car donating power or the skoda really, not to mention the impracticality of it).

I think the best solution is to replace the battery, that is easy enough (there is no record of the battery ever being changed in the service manual although that doesn't mean one of the 3 previous owners didnt change it themselves, it doesnt look like a 13 year old battery but its not dated). Theres some sort of strut across the engine bay but I have a haynes manual or can just pay halfords to change it, I can overcome those issues anyway.

Only problem is the fact the battery is being drained when the car is stationary. I've checked all the lights and everything and they do turn off properly when the key is turned fully to the stop position but it has come to my attention that the radio is permanently fed power when the electrics are supposedly off and I think the fact it is turning itself on repeatedly is possibly the source of the battery drain.

I can live without a radio at the moment, the main trip for the car is just a 7 mile trip in the morning and back again in the afternoon.

I have the removal tools for a vauxhall corsa, they have a larger spacing than the felicia's radio but I might try bending them to fit, I am borrowing them from someone though so I am reluctant to do that even though he did give permission for me to bend them (he says he doesn't really need them and if he does he can try bending them back).

I have tried bending a coat hanger into shape already and couldnt get the thing to come out.

I also tried leaning into the passenger foot well and unplugging the wiring harness from the back of the unit however I was down there for 20 minutes and just could not contort my hands and arms in that limited space into the correct position to be able to pull the harness out of the back of the unit (did discover part of the transmission tunnel is perfectly shaped in order to support my phone with a flashlight app facing at the perfect angle for lighting though).

I have looked around online and in the haynes manual and have identified 2 further methods which I would like to ask for some advice on though.

1) Fuse F22 appears to be related to the radio, cigar lighter and left hand side and tail lights. Someone suggested removing this fuse although it looks to me like I will lose my side and tail lights which would be illegal. I assume that I am correct in thinking that I will lose my lights so cannot do this?

2) On the wiring harness cut the red and yellow wires (not got my manual to hand but between them they seem to be the power supply), I can leave the black as it is just the ground lead and not a supply. I can always solder in a switch at a later date if I wish to restore radio functionality while keeping the ability to disconnect it from power. Would this be safe to do?

Are there any other considerations. I am going to try simply removing the unit first but option 2 seems somewhat doable to me.

...but it has come to my attention that the radio is permanently fed power when the electrics are supposedly off and I think the fact it is turning itself on repeatedly is possibly the source of the battery drain.

I can live without a radio at the moment...

...

I am going to try simply removing the unit first...

You have the cause and you have the solution.

Such temperamental and power hungry radio belongs to the bin.

Edited 15 December, 201213 yr by adurer

Well I might investigate option 2 in future for if I do start missing my radio but for now:

I got away without bending the tools. I managed to get one side to pop using both tools, pulled it as far as I could and then did the other side and managed to wiggle the thing out.

Don't know if its the original radio or not, its a grundig 3301 RDS. From what I gather grundig are german and skoda are owned by VW so I guess its possible that its the original radio. But its out now and hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to see if the problem is solved.

Hi, my headunit power arrangement is much the same & earlier this year I had the problem of inadvertently leaving it on stand-by over night & finding a virtually flat battery in the morning!! The battery was around 5-6 years old and changing it essentially solved the problem. Careful not to leave anything on now but in most cases it doesn't kill the battery. The old Grundig does look like the original unit & brings back memories of my old Fellys

Don't know if its the original radio or not, its a grundig 3301 RDS.

Felicia was fitted either with Grundig RS201 or with Blaupunkt Casablanca radio units.

I made this illustration to help you trace the connections from radio back socket A to car wiring (in parenthesis).

I had the problem of inadvertently leaving it on stand-by over night

problem with mine is that it was "possessed". It would turn itself on. I left it in the school car park (6th form student), came back at break time to check on the car and the radio was on, turned it off, came back at lunch and it was on again.....

I am still considering cutting the cables on the connector and soldering some switches in there (or possible chuck a microcontroller in there, see if I get on hackaday :p ) so I can at least use the radio yet prevent it from draining the battery every night.

I made this illustration to help you trace the connections from radio back socket A to car wiring (in parenthesis).

Hmm, now I think of it, can I get the radio working standalone outside of the car :p

Good news though, I gave the car a nice little run (20 mile round trip maybe, not huge) after removing the radio. Left it on my drive for a few hours and when I came back later in the evening it started first time. I went off to a party, came out, again it started first time. Might not be significant to most people but that never used to be possible. Only time will tell if it will stay that way (not sure if its survived the night yet)

Edited 16 December, 201213 yr by 6677

Was your radio by any chance originally installed in 'Christine'!!

Change the headunit & break the curse, good luck 6677.

Just been outside to do a very quick errand, car has been sat idle since 8pm on saturday, its now about 8pm on the monday so a good 48 hours-ish. Started first time. Problem solved

Just been outside to do a very quick errand, car has been sat idle since 8pm on saturday, its now about 8pm on the monday so a good 48 hours-ish. Started first time. Problem solved

Well done that man!

I've read on a Polish forum that your battery drain is because the wire from output pin for +12V antenna (A-5 on my schematic) is having a short circuit to ground. You should check the wire harness (socket) where your radio was plugged in.