04 keeps dying overnight

[bsims3996]

my 04 tahoe battery keeps going dead overnight. i can jump it off and its fine all day but the next morning its dead. the battery is a Optima redtop about 6 months old. the battery and the alternater test good. i've unhooked my system (amp) thinking that might have something to do with it but it still dies overnight. its beginning to piss me off, does anyone have ideas what it could be?

 

[Rivieraracing]

When you say you unhook your system, are you talking about your stereo system or the whole truck?

 

[bsims3996]

When you say you unhook your system, are you talking about your stereo system or the whole truck?

stereo system

 

[Shaggy]

Its sounds like your alt is bad.

 

[Rivieraracing]

Well if you stereo is unhooked and it's still draining the battery, then something else is staying on in your truck to drain the battery! Try unhooking everything in the truck from the battery and see if the battery still drains to rule out just a bad battery!!
Do you have any aftermarket stuff added to your truck recently? GPS, CB, ect.?

 

[bsims3996]

i have no other accesories , and the shop i took it to says nothing is wrong, the alternator test good so does the battery which is only 6 months old. its just crazy that i can jump it off, drive for 10 min, then the truck sits for 10-12 hours then it starts right up. but after that i drive for another 10 min and it sits overnight 8-10 hours and its dead.
could it be a need a bigger alternator

 

[Rivieraracing]

Might be the starter, the silonoid might be haywire!

 

[yukon23]

Sounds like a parasitic drain, Check out this website it explains how to check for one http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain Oh and if you dont happen to have a meter just use a test light , clip the alligator clip to the neg terminal you just disconnected and probe on the neg of the batt and pull one fuse at a time.

 

[bsims3996]

well after unhooking aftermarket amps and buying a high output alternator. finally went and bought a better multimeter since i my old one wasn't working right and i finally found a 1.98 draw, after pulling fuses found out it was the factory bose amp staying on. now the draw is .17. does anyone have any idea why its not turning off. the radio turns off when the door opens so shouldnt that turn the amp off as well. or does the power from the amp comes from a different source? just trying to get a idea before i start tracing wires down

 

[theautoman21]

Well you might have a couple dead cells in the battery which sounds more likely becuase if your driveing it during the day it will stay charged meaning that your chargeing system is working adequitley so the battery will stay hot and then after it cvools down its dead so even if it checked good which it probably was checked while hot you might not get a good reading from it and under a load anyway hope this helps

 

[yukon23]

I know the radio sends the signal for on and off, and the orange wire is power from the battery. I would just unplug the amp and verify it is the amp by checking for a draw while its disconnected. If no draw and it is the factory amp I believe it will be in the amp itself.

 

[bsims3996]

I know the radio sends the signal for on and off, and the orange wire is power from the battery. I would just unplug the amp and verify it is the amp by checking for a draw while its disconnected. If no draw and it is the factory amp I believe it will be in the amp itself.

i've already unplugged it at the amp and the draw is the same as with the fuse out.

 

[TacHoe]

i've already unplugged it at the amp and the draw is the same as with the fuse out.

What did you ever find out /do about this? Sounds like it wasn't your amp and that you tested for a draw and found one...ever find what the culprit is? I have nearly identical situation (and truck and battery) and can't figure this out for the life of me.

I have rear roof rack lights hard wired in to my system - otherwise nothing aftermarket in the electrical system.

 

[PatDTN]

USB chargers can draw a lot of power and the 12v outlets aren't switched so if you leave one plugged in even without anytime plugged into it it will draw. I pull mine loose any time I'm not charging my phone.

 

[TacHoe]

USB chargers can draw a lot of power and the 12v outlets aren't switched so if you leave one plugged in even without anytime plugged into it it will draw. I pull mine loose any time I'm not charging my phone.

Yea I got nothing plugged in, its happened over a long period but it is very intermittent - 2 days in a row now, though, I have driven late and woken up early and she won't start. No lights on, nothing plugged in. I do have a driver door switch plate issue, where the lock switch doesn't stay in the door and thusly creates an instance where the lock mechanism can get stuck... thinking it may be that it stuck making the system hot and burning up the Red top optima.

Still trying to see what else there may be...found an interesting article on it here

He references " Automatic Dual Zone HVAC Battery Draw TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN Reference Number(s): 02-01-39-007B" and I am wondering if anyone has experienced this or been able to trouble shoot it to this.

 

[Jamo]

Mine '04 was dying after two days of not running it. Some said it was onstar, some said the stereo, but my wrench nephew found something completely different. He found my dash cluster was drawing when the Tahoe was shut off. He swapped the fused wire that stays on when ignition is off, to a fuse terminal that powers off when the ignition is off, and added an inline fuse. Problem solved...for now. My Tahoe is always whining about something electronic, like check this or check that, on and off with messages within the same drive. Whiney *****...but I still love her...

BTW: my clock stays set, as well as station presets, etc

 

[Danny3737]

Agree with theautoman. That would be the first thing I check. Cold mornings will compound the issue as well. The easiest test for the alternator is use a multimeter to test the voltage with the vehicle off and then test it again with the motor running. If the voltage is at least 2 to 4 volts higher, then it probably isn't the alternator. My issue was a batter with a dead cell and the phone unavailable message playing while the car was off. I upgraded the battery as well and also pulled the INFO fuse under the hood and have not had a problem since. Good Luck

 

[Jonrobinson84]

Mine '04 was dying after two days of not running it. Some said it was onstar, some said the stereo, but my wrench nephew found something completely different. He found my dash cluster was drawing when the Tahoe was shut off. He swapped the fused wire that stays on when ignition is off, to a fuse terminal that powers off when the ignition is off, and added an inline fuse. Problem solved...for now. My Tahoe is always whining about something electronic, like check this or check that, on and off with messages within the same drive. Whiney *****...but I still love her...

BTW: my clock stays set, as well as station presets, etc

Do you have any more details on this change your nephew did? Sounds like it could help out my situation possibly.

 

[Jamo]

He pulled the line that fed the instrument panel and moved it to an unfused terminal that went off when the ignition was off. He added an inline fuse to that new line so all is protected still. I could take a picture of the main fuse box (power distribution box?) under the hood to show what he did. Mine is working fine now, but I haven't let it sit for more than a week.
I just had another situation where my battery was dying, but it turned out to be the alternator. My gauges all died, heater motor quit, and the radio went to mostly static like I was out of the area. Then it started running like crap. skipping and missing. Nephew said low voltage and the BCM was going into life support mode. I just installed a new alt., and all is good again (only putting out 4 volts). Lots of electrical gremlins on these things...first GM I've had since '77 GMC pickup. I'm happy with it though, more room than my old Explorers...and a great ride...

 

[gtoguru]

Yea I got nothing plugged in, its happened over a long period but it is very intermittent - 2 days in a row now, though, I have driven late and woken up early and she won't start. No lights on, nothing plugged in. I do have a driver door switch plate issue, where the lock switch doesn't stay in the door and thusly creates an instance where the lock mechanism can get stuck... thinking it may be that it stuck making the system hot and burning up the Red top optima.

Still trying to see what else there may be...found an interesting article on it here

He references " Automatic Dual Zone HVAC Battery Draw TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN Reference Number(s): 02-01-39-007B" and I am wondering if anyone has experienced this or been able to trouble shoot it to this.