Battery keeps going dead...

johneddie · Apr 15, 2015

The battery keeps going dead on my '03 Suburban. Problem is becoming a real pain in the ass.
New battery a few weeks ago....no change,if anything seemed like it got worse. Replaced alternator last week,thought that took care of problem. Nope!! Drove from house to shop this morning (about 500 ft). It sit for probably 11 hours and was deader than hell...
No dome lights left on. Any help would be appreciated and yes I know it's a Chevrolet.

TBItoy · Apr 15, 2015

rednecklights said:
Sounds like a date with a multimeter and a fuse box

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

X2

Finding a drain is usually pretty easy, especially on factory vehicles...

johneddie · Apr 15, 2015

Thanks guys! I'll give that a try.

Elliott · Apr 15, 2015

Unhook the ground, clip a test light to the lead and the battery terminal, if it lights up you have a short. Start pulling one fuse out at a time until you have the light go out. When it goes out you know its in that circuit.

mna0121 · Apr 15, 2015

Just went through same sort of thing on the D Max. Pulled every fuse and relay at least twice. Turned out to be bad battery from the parts house, in fact both were bad both had just been replaced at the same time. Sounds crazy but I guess it happens. RTR

I know posting this is going to bite me in the ass, now the thing probably will not start in the morning.

poolman · Apr 15, 2015

Elliott said:
Unhook the ground, clip a test light to the lead and the battery terminal, if it lights up you have a short. Start pulling one fuse out at a time until you have the light go out. When it goes out you know its in that circuit.

That's awesome info, and makes perfect sense. Thanks for sharing

BUG-E J · Apr 15, 2015

poolman said:
That's awesome info, and makes perfect sense. Thanks for sharing

If's it 97 model and newer that wont work. You will have to hook a meter in series on the ground side and switch it to ohms and look for less than .05. Computers on communication lines draw amperage no matter what.

TBItoy · Apr 15, 2015

Elliott said:
Unhook the ground, clip a test light to the lead and the battery terminal, if it lights up you have a short. Start pulling one fuse out at a time until you have the light go out. When it goes out you know its in that circuit.

With a radio and ecm you'll have a constant drain on the battery, you also need to hook a meter up and see how many amps it is pulling.

Recently did this on my trail rig, the dome light circuit was pulling 0.7 amps... And it hasn't had a dome light in 3 years....

I eliminated all fuses that it didn't need to run. Now it only draws .01 amps with the key off.

BUG-E J · Apr 15, 2015

TBItoy said:
With a radio and ecm you'll have a constant drain on the battery, you also need to hook a meter up and see how many amps it is pulling.

Recently did this on my trail rig, the dome light circuit was pulling 0.7 amps... And it hasn't had a dome light in 3 years....

I eliminated all fuses that it didn't need to run. Now it only draws .01 amps with the key off.

Holy **** .7 is ALOT! :****:

TBItoy · Apr 15, 2015

BUG-E J said:
Holy **** .7 is ALOT! :****:

Yeah it would drain the battery enough that it wouldn't crank overnight.

No idea "where" the power was going... Probably the rig trying to burn itself from shame. :****:

jta · Apr 15, 2015

If you have an amp clamp that would make this a little easier as you don't have to mess with the alligator clamps and a DMM. You may have to watch the amp clamp until it stops going down. There will be systems running for a little bit after the truck is shut off once the truck is "asleep" you can get started. I would look at anything aftermarket first, alarms, radios, lights, and brake controllers for example.

johneddie · Apr 15, 2015

Lots of good info here. Definitely try to check some things out tomorrow evening.
Thanks for everyone's input. :dblthumb:

June dog · Apr 16, 2015

johneddie said:
Lots of good info here. Definitely try to check some things out tomorrow evening.
Thanks for everyone's input.

When in doubt.." Hardline" can help you figure it out.

BUG-E J · Apr 16, 2015

jta said:
If you have an amp clamp that would make this a little easier as you don't have to mess with the alligator clamps and a DMM. You may have to watch the amp clamp until it stops going down. There will be systems running for a little bit after the truck is shut off once the truck is "asleep" you can get started. I would look at anything aftermarket first, alarms, radios, lights, and brake controllers for example.

The clamp is ok if it is a very high draw. I threw ours in the garbage at work because it wasn't accurate enough. Just moving it around would make it go crazy. I hunted a draw for an hour one time to find out when the batteries get weak in one they keep "re-zeroing" themselves and show a giant draw. If you have a security system you will need to unplug the hood switch and arm the system with the remote

bad80cj · Apr 16, 2015

BUG-E J said:
If's it 97 model and newer that wont work. You will have to hook a meter in series on the ground side and switch it to ohms and look for less than .05. Computers on communication lines draw amperage no matter what.

bingo!

jta · Apr 16, 2015

BUG-E J said:
The clamp is ok if it is a very high draw. I threw ours in the garbage at work because it wasn't accurate enough. Just moving it around would make it go crazy. I hunted a draw for an hour one time to find out when the batteries get weak in one they keep "re-zeroing" themselves and show a giant draw. If you have a security system you will need to unplug the hood switch and arm the system with the remote

If you have a good clamp it will work. I have a Fluke 376 and it works like a champ. Honda sent us one the use and it also worked like a champ, although I can't remember the brand. The Honda's need to be below 50 milliamps and it would read that no problem. Reading ohms isn't gonna get what is needed. You hook the DMM in series but you should still be looking for amps.

jayphizzle · Apr 16, 2015

My 06 Silverado did the same thing, turned out to be the factory radio. It is aggravating as hell!

johneddie · Apr 16, 2015

jayphizzle said:
My 06 Silverado did the same thing, turned out to be the factory radio. It is aggravating as hell!

I think I've read this somewhere before too. Who the hell knows but sure does piss a feller off! Didn't have time to check anything today...just got in house. Don't have a meter so I have to go to a buddy's garage to check it. Maybe tomorrow hopefully.

5BrothersFabrication · Apr 16, 2015

BUG-E J · Apr 17, 2015

jta said:
If you have a good clamp it will work. I have a Fluke 376 and it works like a champ. Honda sent us one the use and it also worked like a champ, although I can't remember the brand. The Honda's need to be below 50 milliamps and it would read that no problem. Reading ohms isn't gonna get what is needed. You hook the DMM in series but you should still be looking for amps.

I'm at a honda dealer and that thing was a pos. If you go to training at the Alpharetta spot ask Brad about them. :****: