Battery drain on a 99 Tahoe

[97YukonNZ]

The covers were broken on the side of the switch. I disconnected them

Yes.
When I bought my 97 Yukon a few years ago it had had the same issue so the previous owner disconnected them

 

[djfive45]

Thank you for your input.

 

[Eman85]

Unfortunately nothing was learned from this thread other then our experience is the answer. This is like the feed a man a fish deal.

 

[wilcfr]

Anyone have this problem after vehicle sitting for 4 or 5 days? Battery is new.

You said you're using a battery tender. Know this sounds weird, but it's happened to me twice. I had a battery tender on my 97 Tahoe and the battery went totally dead. Bought a new battery. Put the tender on my 2010 Express. It killed it in 2 days. I was able to recharge it with a different charger. Something to consider.

 

[djfive45]

Thank you for the input. I believe it was the vanity visor lid that is broken on the side where the on and off switch is. It disconnected them couple of days ago.

 

[djfive45]

Unfortunately nothing was learned from this thread other then our experience is the answer. This is like the feed a man a fish deal.

I appreciate learning from others experiences. I did learn something thank you for the help

 

[51Davek]

Check the Body Control Module. This is a source of many power drains and intermittent electrical/electronic issues. Even ECU issues. The BCM controls the power distribution network. Sometimes removing and cleaning the contacts and harness connectors resolve many issues.

 

[2008yukonxlslt]

I don’t always agree with Scotty but I used this method on a 97 civic and found several draws. The battery would go dead in about a week. The 1 ohm resistor method is great as you can hook up the shunt and monitor your voltage over time and the battery is still hooked up so all the modules stay powered. I checked it after an hour because this gives ample time for all the modules to go into sleep mode. At that point you should be down to somewhere less than 50 millivolt across the 1 ohm resistor which conveniently equals 50 milliamps. If you are substantially higher than that then start pulling fuses till you find the circuit responsible. My civic was the power door locks, fixed those and got it down to 35 milliamps and she’s fine now. here is the link to Scotty. Eric O at South Main Auto also did a great video on the instrument cluster, highly recommend checking that out if you are dealing with similar issue.

 

[dmhscorpio]

Anyone have this problem after vehicle sitting for 4 or 5 days? Battery is new.

I did the same dog and pony show on my 99 Tahoe 2 door.
As a certified electronics technician, I spent way too much time on this. In the end it turned out the ignition key was so worn it didn't always turn everything off. The engine would die, but leave a / some circuits hot. YMMV

 

[2008yukonxlslt]

Oh wow!! Sometimes you just never know. That’s a great tip to check that first before moving on to fuses. I had a 66 wildcat that I could take the key right out of the dash without turning it off!!