Chevrolet Truck - Battery Dies Overnight - Part I
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Date: 2020-08-05
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Comments and reviews: 10
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I bought a truck for my brother-in-law as he is one SSI and his truck was broke down and it would cost more to fix it then it was worth. We bought a used Chevy SUV that was in very good shape. It ran good, had good mileage etc. but the battery would die in a few days. I replaced it and check the alternator which was good. Could NOT find the problem so I took it to a garage I have known for many years. He said on the phone, I have to remove the dash, Something is wrong in there and I can get to it so I said OK, even though it would cost ME over 300 in labor. What he found was a GPS locator wired into the Continuous Hot circuit. I took it back to the dealer but they refused to reimburse me for the cost. It DID solve the problem though. Took the GPS locator to a friend in the local PD and he said it was a company car and the GPS was there to make sure the driver didn't use it for personal use. He did however say it should NOT have been wired the way it was though. Odd.
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I bought a truck for my brother-in-law as he is one SSI and his truck was broke down and it would cost more to fix it then it was worth. We bought a used Chevy SUV that was in very good shape. It ran good, had good mileage etc. but the battery would die in a few days. I replaced it and check the alternator which was good. Could NOT find the problem so I took it to a garage I have known for many years. He said on the phone, I have to remove the dash, Something is wrong in there and I can get to it so I said OK, even though it would cost ME over 300 in labor. What he found was a GPS locator wired into the Continuous Hot circuit. I took it back to the dealer but they refused to reimburse me for the cost. It DID solve the problem though. Took the GPS locator to a friend in the local PD and he said it was a company car and the GPS was there to make sure the driver didn't use it for personal use. He did however say it should NOT have been wired the way it was though. Odd.
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Hank
So it appears you have an intermittent high resistance short in the cluster somewhere. I was in the electronics business for 40 years repairing all kinds of electronic products, mostly televisions in the day. A problem like what you are dealing with would usually be attributed to a connection somewhere that is corroded, perhaps by moisture? That corrosion would usually be on a B+ or voltage source connection close to a ground connection on the pc board. Curious, did United Radio say what the problem turned out to be? I used to send auto radios there for repair many years ago as I didn't have time to fix those and United was geared for it. Didn't know they were still up there in Buffalo. By the way, I don't fix cars but find your logical way of approaching every job similar to the way I worked. People like you are far and few between. I can watch your video's for hours. Stay well my friend.
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So it appears you have an intermittent high resistance short in the cluster somewhere. I was in the electronics business for 40 years repairing all kinds of electronic products, mostly televisions in the day. A problem like what you are dealing with would usually be attributed to a connection somewhere that is corroded, perhaps by moisture? That corrosion would usually be on a B+ or voltage source connection close to a ground connection on the pc board. Curious, did United Radio say what the problem turned out to be? I used to send auto radios there for repair many years ago as I didn't have time to fix those and United was geared for it. Didn't know they were still up there in Buffalo. By the way, I don't fix cars but find your logical way of approaching every job similar to the way I worked. People like you are far and few between. I can watch your video's for hours. Stay well my friend.
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darknature79
My 04 will go dead after about 4 or 5 days but I think it's a aftermarket starter kill and the previous owner lost keys so they didnt have any remotes so instead of ordering and reprogramming a 20 fob they disconnected a few wires while leaving most hooked up.
I got a new fob and will hook it all back up.
I also had this problem on a Chrysler new Yorker Landau and the ac compressor would stay engaged no matter what.
I unplugged the nonworking ac and it was perfect after that.
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My 04 will go dead after about 4 or 5 days but I think it's a aftermarket starter kill and the previous owner lost keys so they didnt have any remotes so instead of ordering and reprogramming a 20 fob they disconnected a few wires while leaving most hooked up.
I got a new fob and will hook it all back up.
I also had this problem on a Chrysler new Yorker Landau and the ac compressor would stay engaged no matter what.
I unplugged the nonworking ac and it was perfect after that.
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Thomas
I want you make life easy on yourself. Disconnect disconnect the positive lead on, put a multimeter on 12 volts DC in series between the positive lead and the battery. This will identify a voltage draw. Now have somebody watch the meter while you go and pull the fuses has one at a time until there's zero on the multimeter. When the voltage reading goes away you identified the circuit in which the draw is. Now it's easy to identify what components are on that circuit and correct the problem.
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I want you make life easy on yourself. Disconnect disconnect the positive lead on, put a multimeter on 12 volts DC in series between the positive lead and the battery. This will identify a voltage draw. Now have somebody watch the meter while you go and pull the fuses has one at a time until there's zero on the multimeter. When the voltage reading goes away you identified the circuit in which the draw is. Now it's easy to identify what components are on that circuit and correct the problem.
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Bezaleel
Just a word of caution when measuring the voltage drop across a fuse remember if the fuse is blown it may have the full +12 to +14V across it so make sure the range you are using on the meter can tolerate without damage the full +14V or has an auto-ranging function with that capability. Measuring the voltage drop across the fuses is the least invasive way of doing the parasitic current draw test but not all fuse types offer the terminals on the upper surfaces.
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Just a word of caution when measuring the voltage drop across a fuse remember if the fuse is blown it may have the full +12 to +14V across it so make sure the range you are using on the meter can tolerate without damage the full +14V or has an auto-ranging function with that capability. Measuring the voltage drop across the fuses is the least invasive way of doing the parasitic current draw test but not all fuse types offer the terminals on the upper surfaces.
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Grampa
1997 K3500 battery would die after 3 days. Turned out to be the clock in the radio. The display wouldn't turn off at all, so I just pulled the fuse for the radio. It would still turn on and play, but the memory would clear each time I shut the truck off. I don't listen to the ONE local radio station anyway, and when you're hauling a big trailer with logs or equipment, I don't watch the radio clock, either. Strong truck, just substandard (Chinese) electronics.
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1997 K3500 battery would die after 3 days. Turned out to be the clock in the radio. The display wouldn't turn off at all, so I just pulled the fuse for the radio. It would still turn on and play, but the memory would clear each time I shut the truck off. I don't listen to the ONE local radio station anyway, and when you're hauling a big trailer with logs or equipment, I don't watch the radio clock, either. Strong truck, just substandard (Chinese) electronics.
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Lexi
I'm having the same problem with my 2007 chevy suburban 2500. Almost 300k miles. I got my battery and alternator checked out it came back fine. It is dying overnight. I don't want to get jacked over by taking it to a random shop, I'm not near my regular mechanic, I'm pretty tech savvy but I dont have a probe on me. Anyway I can rent one? Or do you have a mechanic recommendation in San Diego?
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I'm having the same problem with my 2007 chevy suburban 2500. Almost 300k miles. I got my battery and alternator checked out it came back fine. It is dying overnight. I don't want to get jacked over by taking it to a random shop, I'm not near my regular mechanic, I'm pretty tech savvy but I dont have a probe on me. Anyway I can rent one? Or do you have a mechanic recommendation in San Diego?
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Born
Another wonderful problem with these vehicles is the BCM (body control module) going out. Mine thinks the rear hatch is open when it is closed so it turns on the interior lights and drains my battery over night. I pushed in the button by the light switch to kill the lights when you open the door and that makes it stop. I'm just not up to doing the whole BCM replacement.
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Another wonderful problem with these vehicles is the BCM (body control module) going out. Mine thinks the rear hatch is open when it is closed so it turns on the interior lights and drains my battery over night. I pushed in the button by the light switch to kill the lights when you open the door and that makes it stop. I'm just not up to doing the whole BCM replacement.
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Zach
Hey man I have a 04 tahoe that's having this same issue I followed your steps but with the key off an all doors shut n waiting 30 min in between checking fuses an every fuse in the engine bay still has power including the ones on the side of the dash so any chance of isolating the draw has me stumped any help here would be greatly appreciated thanx!
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Hey man I have a 04 tahoe that's having this same issue I followed your steps but with the key off an all doors shut n waiting 30 min in between checking fuses an every fuse in the engine bay still has power including the ones on the side of the dash so any chance of isolating the draw has me stumped any help here would be greatly appreciated thanx!
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Abel
This might not be important to you but is confusing to me, is not that 17 milliamps instead of 170. I asked because this always, always confuses me. I dont know if am wrong but 170 would be written 0. 17 but you have 0. 017. Correct me cause more than likely I am wrong but I would appreciate if you can explain it to. Thanks.
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This might not be important to you but is confusing to me, is not that 17 milliamps instead of 170. I asked because this always, always confuses me. I dont know if am wrong but 170 would be written 0. 17 but you have 0. 017. Correct me cause more than likely I am wrong but I would appreciate if you can explain it to. Thanks.
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