Electrical Problem (Maybe)

I did try searching but may have not used the right terms so no yelling at me please.

Here's the problem I'm having. Bought a 93 XJ Sport about two weeks ago. Drives great, looks great, etc. Only issue when I bought it was the radio was hard wired to the always on fuse in the fuse block. Previous owner (person I bought it from) said he had no idea why the owner before him did it but he left it and ran new speaker wire.

I wanted keyless entry so I decided last night to dig in to everything and go from there. Upon taking the steering wheel off I decided to remove the radio and dash bezel. The stereo was hard wired with speaker wire. Long story short...very frustrating.

Fast forward to this morning. I changed the ignition switch thinking maybe that's why he had no radio when the ignition was turned on. No dice.

So I hooked a volt meter up and this is the question/maybe problem. Hooked avoltmeter to the incoming power of fuse 2 (radio) and when I turn the ignition to on/run or ACC I get the 12 volts but when I turn the key off the voltage doesn't drop to zero instantly, it slowly drops little by little. Now, if I flick the blinkers on or off or the wipers it immediately goes to zero. Removed the windshield washer CB (20) and the power went to zero from that switch. I didn't check to see if I still had power to that #2 fuse in Ign/ACC with the CB removed but I will when I get home.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I know it's a long post and I apologize, just trying to be detailed.

Cliff Notes: When turning key to IGN/ON/ACC radio fuse gets 12 volts of power but when turned to OFF the voltage slowly drops (over ten minutes).

Man, I'm no electrical person.., and cannot address your specific problem(s), but in the past I always run a hot lead from any radio to the positive post on the battery, and a good ground anywhere. (Seems I get lost with a hundred wires going every where, changing colors, etc., lol). But the advantage I have experienced is the rather clean juice.., i.e., static free, and free of sparking plugs. Seems too in the past I have had little luck with aftermarket sound supression filters.., so I just bypass the whole problem by direct hard wiring. Simple drill bit through a handy spot in the firewall, installation of a rubber grommet, passing the wire through, and a little plumber's putty, etc., to seal it up!

I don't have a problem with directly wiring the radio to the battery, in fact I've done it as well for the reasons you listed. But using speaker wire and shoving the wire in to a fuse block is a little iffy for me.

But after reading the wiring schematics again I'm going to remove the windshield washer pump and wiper motors and test them to see if the issue is there.

Your slow voltage countdown is likely a capacitor discharging. Did the previous owner install one of those massive power capacitors?

I'm currently fighting a draw also from the radio, I believe the capacitor is a silver cylinder under the dash by the steering column.