Please help me diagnose this apparent retained power issue

[767Jockey]

My vehicle is a 2005 Trailblazer with a six cylinder engine. All has been well until yesterday. I awoke to a dead battery. I charged the battery and started trying to figure out what it could be that killed it. Now having power, I noticed immediately that the radio no longer powered off when I open the door. I tried the passenger door, and it's exactly the same issue, the door opens and the radio doesn't turn off. I did notice that the lights down by the driver and passenger foot area go off with the opening of either door. I don't know what else is supposed to turn off, but I can tell you that the foot area lights go out and the radio stays on. What else can I easily check that is supposed to go off with the opening of a door?

The radio is aftermarket, a Kenwood KDC-X599, hooked up to the factory power/speaker plug with a Metra 70-1784 Wire Harness adapter. When I turn off the radio, the lights on the radio stay on even with the power switch off. The clock, I guess, stays on with this model.

I'm stumped. How do I diagnose this? Has anyone ever seen something like this? Any ideas?

 

[gmcman]

Did you get the yellow and red wire reversed when you hooked up the harness? Is the harness plug and play or do you need to splice the wires.

I have had my radio act up like that and I turned the key back on then off and it was fine. Maybe it's an ignition switch failing, not sure but they seem to have their own way of acting screwy when they start to go bad.

 

[Blckshdw]

I've had the same issue with the radio, multiple times. Each time it was the Metra radio adapter. After going through 3 of them, I moved on to a different brand.

 

[767Jockey]

The radio was installed about a year ago and there has been no problems since. It's a plug and play, no splicing involved. Can the adapter go bad? There's no moving parts, it's just a plastic piece with some brass terminals and wires inserted into it.

 

[Blckshdw]

Can the adapter go bad?

Yes they can. That's what I was suggesting.

 

[littleblazer]

I agree with the adapter as well, mine went bad and left constant power on as well.

 

[767Jockey]

I agree with the adapter as well, mine went bad and left constant power on as well.

Ha! My bad, as I did two radios at once in two separate cars. The old Benz I did had essentially a plastic terminal block, which led me to believe what could possibly happen to that. I remembered now that the T'Blazer actually had a complicated interface with circuitry and stuff, so that can easily go bad.

In looking back at my purchase receipt from September 2015, I see that the interface I used is a Crux SOCGM-17. I purchased it from Crutchfield, they say that they have in fact heard of these units occasionally failing to a constant power on situation. However, they don't handle the warranty on these, they sent me directly to the manufacturer, who told me to send a copy of the receipt and they'll replace it. Hopefully they'll do it quickly, and that'll solve the problem. Once I get it and install it, I'll let you guys know if that did the trick.

Have any of you had any issues with this Crux adapter?

 

[Blckshdw]

Never heard of that brand. Usually they are Metra/Axxess, Scosche or PAC.

 

[littleblazer]

I was able to make mine work for a few weeks by unplugging it then plugging it back in. That's how I determined it was the issue.

 

[Mooseman]

I've had 3 Metra/Axess adapters fail just like that. Went to Pac , no issues since.