If you have mouse seat belts and your battery is draining read this... | FerrariChat
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If you have mouse seat belts and your battery is draining read this...

Discussion in '348/355' started by Volair, May 14, 2013.

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  1. Volair

    Volair Karting

    Apr 11, 2013
    241
    Carmel, Indiana
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    Bart
    #1 Volair, May 14, 2013
    Not sure if this was covered already but here it goes....

    If you have the mouse seat belts and they don't work well, or at all, you may have a current drain on your battery while off that can discharge your battery in few days. I found out that if the mechanism does not stop the latch all the way at the end stops, there is as much as 0.7A current draw. Worst, this draw is intermittent so if you measure with current probe at one time, you may not find it. I spent good 2-3 hours hunting for the current leak until I stumbled on this as my brand new battery was drained dead in one week. The way to fix it permanently is to disconnect both control boxes that are on the left side of passenger footwell under the cover held with 4-5 phillips screws.

    HINT: if your mouse belt is stuck in the wrong spot (say midway), you can open the corresponding box and manually trigger the relay (with a small screwdriver) to move it to the desired position before disconnecting it permanently. After that, remove the boxes (or leave disconnected) but put a piece of electrical tape over the connectors to protect them (in case you will ever want to reconnect the mouse - yeah right).

    Hope this helps those with mysterious current leak...

    Now, I left my car for over a week and absolutely no drain on battery.
     
  2. SoCal1

    SoCal1 F1 Veteran
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    #2 SoCal1, May 14, 2013
    WOW never would have thought. Great find!!!

    Will have to check mine this week as I plan to play with some wiring mods
     
  3. ghardt

    ghardt Formula 3

    Apr 18, 2004
    1,260
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    Jerry
    #3 ghardt, May 14, 2013
    My Passenger side is stuck midway. Do I have to crack open the box, or is it screwed together? Once inside, do I have to remove a relay cover or is it open and obvious?
    Thanks.

    Any pics of inside of the boxes?
     
  4. Volair

    Volair Karting

    Apr 11, 2013
    241
    Carmel, Indiana
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    Bart
    #4 Volair, May 14, 2013
    You have to open the controller box up. It is 4 screws. Then plug it in. You will see two relay coils inside that are open. These control the movement of the motors. You can actuate these mechanically with a nonconductive element to make the belts move. Pretty obvious at least to me but proceed at own risk! Don't short anything and be extra careful.

    Over weekend I will try to take some photos to illustrate this better.
     
  5. ghardt

    ghardt Formula 3

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    #5 ghardt, May 15, 2013
    Thanks. I'll have a look this weekend as well.
     
  6. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #6 ernie, May 15, 2013
    Nice job Bart, and thanks for sharing the info. I'm looking forward to seeing the pics.
     
  7. vvassallo

    vvassallo F1 Veteran

    Aug 4, 2006
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    #7 vvassallo, May 15, 2013
    I have this same deal on my pass side so I am interested in the pix.
     
  8. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #8 ernie, May 16, 2013
    Oh, and welcome to The 348 Brotherhood.
     
  9. Volair

    Volair Karting

    Apr 11, 2013
    241
    Carmel, Indiana
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    Bart
    #9 Volair, May 18, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Here is the photo inside the mouse belt ECU with the relays indicated by the pencil. You can move the contacts in the relays manually to actuate the mouse belts provided the mechanism in the belts is working. Hope it helps.
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  10. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #10 ernie, May 18, 2013
    Awesome!

    Which way do you move the contacts?
     
  11. Volair

    Volair Karting

    Apr 11, 2013
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    Bart
    #11 Volair, May 18, 2013
    There is only way to move the contacts. I think one relay controls one direction of the belt travel and the other controls the return direction.
     
  12. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #12 ernie, May 19, 2013
    Got it.

    And, thanks for the beer Bart, next one is on me.
     
  13. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #13 ernie, Mar 8, 2015
    I completely removed the mad mouse seat belts and the ecu that controls them a while back.

    Fast forward to today. After having left my car sit in the garage since Halloween of 2014, with the battery STILL connected, I just checked it today, Mar 2015, and it has 50% power!!!!!!! So basically the majority of the fall, and almost all winter with the battery connected and it still has juice in it! There is NO WAY that would have ever happened in the past. When I still had the stupid mad mouses in I could not leave it for more than 3 days before the battery would be stone flat. Matter of fact by day 2 it would be drained pretty badly. But not anymore.

    I have the battery charger on it now, putting on a nice slow 2amp charge until it's full. Weather is warming up, gotta start getting it ready to come out of hibernation.
     
  14. TrojanFan

    TrojanFan F1 Veteran
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    #14 TrojanFan, Mar 9, 2015
    Ernie, explain again why you moved? It was close to 80 here today and still technically Winter.
     
  15. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #15 ernie, Mar 9, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Because there are 49 OTHER States in this country of ours to live in. ;)

    But let me see......

    There is Super Cross, GP of Indy, Indy 500, Brickyard 400, Super Race Weekend, NHRA Nationals, FIA Moto GP. Oh yes and there is an NFL football team here too. :p

    This particular State doesn't have stupid front license plate laws, nor does it have bi-annual smog checks. Gasoline is cheaper. Car insurance is cheaper. No stupid CARB hoops to jump through for vehicle improvements. No crv on cans or bottles = cheaper to buy beer by the case. :D Which buy the way, the race track lets you bring in your own cooler full of beer, so long as it's in a can.

    Speaking of, check out this Indycar beer wagon.
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  16. Kaivball

    Kaivball Three Time F1 World Champ
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    #16 Kaivball, Mar 9, 2015
    Ernie,
    do you have the instructions on how to remove the mouse belt ECU?

    Kai
     
  17. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #17 ernie, Mar 9, 2015
  18. Jaybird

    Jaybird Karting

    Jul 7, 2011
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    #18 Jaybird, Mar 9, 2015


    That thing is badass!
     

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