2004 GMC Yukon..battery dead...3weeks worth of parts...

[AzDiamondBlue]

Hello,

Thank you for this forum. Looks like many others have also had dead battery issues. Which just suck!

I have darn near tried all the tricks, and need a fresh pair of eyes...and brain. Thank you in advance for any suggestions! Here is what I have tried, so far.

Had my cell phone charging, 4th of July, while doing choirs outside. At first, we thought we left one of the doors opened by mistake, jumped the truck, drove around, got home all is well. A few days later, dead battery again. The truck is an 04 GMC Yukon, we bought in 2017. Battery said 04 on it. Changed out the battery...all was well, until a few days later. We also had the "service tire monitor" message. Took the truck down, got 4 new tire monitors, changed out the auxiliary power charger, as that is what my cell was plugged into. AC stopped working on the driver's side, changed out the driver's side HVAC blend actuator. Unplugged alternator, the battery was still charged. Great, we found the problem. Installed a new alternator yesterday...(drove the jeep to work) ..dead battery this afternoon. We have put the voltmeter on it, and nothing seems to stand out as the draw. We actually have 2 voltmeters we are going to double-check everything, right after dinner.
If anyone has any suggestions....it would greatly be appreciated!

 

[Big Mama]

Have you noticed any other electrical problems? What does the gauge say voltage is while driving?

 

[swathdiver]

Hello,

Thank you for this forum. Looks like many others have also had dead battery issues. Which just suck!

I have darn near tried all the tricks, and need a fresh pair of eyes...and brain. Thank you in advance for any suggestions! Here is what I have tried, so far.

Had my cell phone charging, 4th of July, while doing choirs outside. At first, we thought we left one of the doors opened by mistake, jumped the truck, drove around, got home all is well. A few days later, dead battery again. The truck is an 04 GMC Yukon, we bought in 2017. Battery said 04 on it. Changed out the battery...all was well, until a few days later. We also had the "service tire monitor" message. Took the truck down, got 4 new tire monitors, changed out the auxiliary power charger, as that is what my cell was plugged into. AC stopped working on the driver's side, changed out the driver's side HVAC blend actuator. Unplugged alternator, the battery was still charged. Great, we found the problem. Installed a new alternator yesterday...(drove the jeep to work) ..dead battery this afternoon. We have put the voltmeter on it, and nothing seems to stand out as the draw. We actually have 2 voltmeters we are going to double-check everything, right after dinner.
If anyone has any suggestions....it would greatly be appreciated!

My daughter ran down our battery by mistake last year and we had to get a jump. All kinds of lights and warnings went off but I knew to ignore them. The next day we had a long run to make and I watched it take 3 hours for the alternator to fully re-charge the battery.

If you have re-charged your battery with a charger and it is still going dead, you need a bi-directional scan tool, like the Tech-2, to look for the source of the discharge. It could be a shorted module for example. I know the Tech-2 can see and do these tests on the generation after yours, but do not know if this menu option is available on yours. There are guys on here with GMT800s and Tech-2, maybe they can check for you.

 

[AzDiamondBlue]

Have you noticed any other electrical problems? What does the gauge say voltage is while driving?

Hello @Big Mama Nice Ride, by the way! This is the wife, Jo, as my hubby Russ is out working and making a paycheck. I have been married to Russ 27 years, and make a decent mechanic assistance.....but I am not the brains behind this. To answer your questions...a few months back, when we had the pups at the vet, that is when we notice the HVAC actuator starting to go bad, driver side was "hot" all others we cool. 4th of July, when he plugged in his phone to charge, using the aux outlet, not cig lighter, had the pups in the back chilling under the tree.
Truck off. all doors closed, back hatch window opened. Somewhere right in there, the radio would not turn on.. but that only lasted that day.I am disabled with cancer, and do not drive very often....so it seems right after that is when we had the tire sensor warning on the dash. We put new tires on the beginning of the year and talked about changing out the sensor then..in which we just did at 350. Since the 4th New battery. New alternator. New drivers side HVAC actuator. cleaned battery cables. The only thing that stands out in my mind is the "Homelink" 3 buttons for garage, gates, etc. the one we use, "looks stuck" We did take out the fuse for that last night. Today was doctor appt day, used the Duramax and my hubby took his work truck this am When he returns tonight will be the test and more research. Also, I might be missing something...but the above is all I can think of currently. About 888.00 worth of new parts. Thank you again for your time and any thoughts!

 

[AzDiamondBlue]

My daughter ran down our battery by mistake last year and we had to get a jump. All kinds of lights and warnings went off but I knew to ignore them. The next day we had a long run to make and I watched it take 3 hours for the alternator to fully re-charge the battery.

If you have re-charged your battery with a charger and it is still going dead, you need a bi-directional scan tool, like the Tech-2, to look for the source of the discharge. It could be a shorted module for example. I know the Tech-2 can see and do these tests on the generation after yours, but do not know if this menu option is available on yours. There are guys on here with GMT800s and Tech-2, maybe they can check for you.

Hello @swathdiver. Thanks for your thoughts. This is the wife, Jo. Hubby is out making the paycheck. I have been researching a Tech-2...to no avail. Is there a brand name you would recommend? or webiste? My hubby has been wrenching since he was big enough to crawl under a car +/- 45 years I actually was trying to buy him a scanner for his birthday, but could not find one, worth buying. I did see the nice snap-on ones for 3k...found one on eBay for 350.00...don't think it would be worth our time buying from Amazon...however, any recommendation for a name, other than Snap-on....would be greatly appreciated!! Rock on

 

[swathdiver]

Hello @swathdiver. Thanks for your thoughts. This is the wife, Jo. Hubby is out making the paycheck. I have been researching a Tech-2...to no avail. Is there a brand name you would recommend? or webiste? My hubby has been wrenching since he was big enough to crawl under a car +/- 45 years I actually was trying to buy him a scanner for his birthday, but could not find one, worth buying. I did see the nice snap-on ones for 3k...found one on eBay for 350.00...don't think it would be worth our time buying from Amazon...however, any recommendation for a name, other than Snap-on....would be greatly appreciated!! Rock on

Hi Jo! You can buy the Tech2 off Ebay. Most come from overseas so I would suggest choosing a seller with good feedback and who has sold more than a few. You want the latest software, 33.004. This is the tool GM techs at dealerships use or used to use. It has since been replaced but can do everything needed for your truck. Going rate is about $350 without the case.

 

[Big Mama]

Hi Jo love your spirit. thanks for the on my buggies. I have no idea how long the button would have to be stuck to drain your battery but as James stated it may not be getting fully charged. He’s the Tech2 guru here (search for “a case for the Tech2 “). I hate for you to spend more money but that’ll pay for itself many times over. All of the problems you mentioned can be from a lack of power. Let us know what hubby finds.

 

[AzDiamondBlue]

Hi Jo love your spirit. thanks for the on my buggies. I have no idea how long the button would have to be stuck to drain your battery but as James stated it may not be getting fully charged. He’s the Tech2 guru here (search for “a case for the Tech2 “). I hate for you to spend more money but that’ll pay for itself many times over. All of the problems you mentioned can be from a lack of power. Let us know what hubby finds.

@Big Mama Both of us this time Agreed we do need to buy a Tech2 or +=, We have a 03 Duramax, 04 Yukon & 99 Jeep. Seems like between the 3 it would save us a ton. We have only lived in CA a few years, and don't know many peeps....let alone trustworthy peeps. This forum has been a huge help! Hubby got off late, and tomorrow is his Friday, will be searching to buy a Tech2 and working a little more with the amp meter to rule out the obvious. You & @swathdiver has already been huge helps! This will be "to be continued...."

 

[AzDiamondBlue]

Hi Jo! You can buy the Tech2 off Ebay. Most come from overseas so I would suggest choosing a seller with good feedback and who has sold more than a few. You want the latest software, 33.004. This is the tool GM techs at dealerships use or used to use. It has since been replaced but can do everything needed for your truck. Going rate is about $350 without the case.

@swathdiver Excellent help! Thank you for the info and software number. As we told
@Big Mama ...tomorrow is our Friday and we will have more time to shop on the internet. Rock On! "This will be.....continued" )

 

[AzDiamondBlue]

I think we found what ya'll are talking about Tech2 Scanner on eBay. From China, sold 35. 30-day return policy https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tech2-Diag...hash=item23aa607f88:m:mPMlUUoIr_J_GR4ATq9YgPw Also "states it is the 33.004 software. Switched from Google Chrome to Yahoo...****! Damn near to old to figure some of this stuff out

 

[swathdiver]

@Big Mama Both of us this time Agreed we do need to buy a Tech2 or +=, We have a 03 Duramax, 04 Yukon & 99 Jeep. Seems like between the 3 it would save us a ton. We have only lived in CA a few years, and don't know many peeps....let alone trustworthy peeps. This forum has been a huge help! Hubby got off late, and tomorrow is his Friday, will be searching to buy a Tech2 and working a little more with the amp meter to rule out the obvious. You & @swathdiver has already been huge helps! This will be "to be continued...."

It won't work on the Jeep, it's a GM specific tool. Unless you did an LS swap or something on the Jeep!

 

[HiHoeSilver]

I think we found what ya'll are talking about Tech2 Scanner on eBay. From China, sold 35. 30-day return policy https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tech2-Diag...hash=item23aa607f88:m:mPMlUUoIr_J_GR4ATq9YgPw Also "states it is the 33.004 software. Switched from Google Chrome to Yahoo...****! Damn near to old to figure some of this stuff out

You can also look here.

Www.chinacardiags.com

Flash sale right now at $285

 

[KatGV]

Hello,

Thank you for this forum. Looks like many others have also had dead battery issues. Which just suck!

I have darn near tried all the tricks, and need a fresh pair of eyes...and brain. Thank you in advance for any suggestions! Here is what I have tried, so far.

Had my cell phone charging, 4th of July, while doing choirs outside. At first, we thought we left one of the doors opened by mistake, jumped the truck, drove around, got home all is well. A few days later, dead battery again. The truck is an 04 GMC Yukon, we bought in 2017. Battery said 04 on it. Changed out the battery...all was well, until a few days later. We also had the "service tire monitor" message. Took the truck down, got 4 new tire monitors, changed out the auxiliary power charger, as that is what my cell was plugged into. AC stopped working on the driver's side, changed out the driver's side HVAC blend actuator. Unplugged alternator, the battery was still charged. Great, we found the problem. Installed a new alternator yesterday...(drove the jeep to work) ..dead battery this afternoon. We have put the voltmeter on it, and nothing seems to stand out as the draw. We actually have 2 voltmeters we are going to double-check everything, right after dinner.
If anyone has any suggestions....it would greatly be appreciated!

I know you just purchased a NEW battery but the ONLY thing that stopped our YEARLY dead battery issues was to purchase an Optima Redtop battery had one on my older 90's Tahoe and now on my 2005.

 

[SnowDrifter]

See if anyone around you has a thermal camera. Let the car sit for a few hours / overnight to get rid of any hot spots. Then start poking. A module or relay turned on will have some heat. Maybe not enough to feel, but enough for the camera to pick up. IMO it makes diagnosing this stuff rather trivial. Just look for the red!

 

[AzDiamondBlue]

Hello All! I hope you had a great weekend! This is Jo. Just wanted to write a quick update. We shopped some this weekend for a Snapon Ethos Pro...found a few on auctions ....meanwhile, we pulled 5 fuses (the process of elimination) and let the Yukon sit overnight. Taking pictures of the ones we had pulled and added a new fuse back in every night, to see if it would start or not start the next day. We have narrowed down the parasitic draw to the (again I am not a mechanic to one of the HVAC fuse and the dash assemble fuse. Meaning, we might have found the cause...as the dash assemble, a few gauges have had a mind of their own. When we moved the Yukon 50 feet under the apple tree so my husband could finish painting, the "check engine" light came on and this was 5 pm last night. Tonight he has a meeting. Tomorrow after work will be the final outcome of our little test. To be continued. @KatGV thanks for the info on the redtop battery. Once we get this little experiment completed, we will look into that! PS The fuse pulling only represents what it powers, as meaning, we know the fuse its good, its what the fuse powers is what we are testing. PS my poor hubby works all the time, he worked 50 hours last week, plus 3 doctor appt for me, chores I can no longer due plus work on the Yukon and finished the painting house. Not bad for a 50++ year old Good guy I think I will keep him

 

[Big Mama]

Pretty good detective work Jo. In all of this have we mentioned your ground cables? When you mentioned the gauges acting up it made me think of that and of course a short somewhere. The cables are known to corrode. Follow it from the battery backwards. If full of crud wire brush until you see metal and use dialectic grease.

 

[Bowtie29]

Just went thru this on my sons 04 Tahoe. Checked amp draw with meter and also by pulling fuse to instrument cluster. Amp draw went away and would come back as soon as plugged fuse back in. There was no issue with the gauges, they worked fine could also hear what sounded like something running when put ear to cluster. This was after car had been off for about 30 min to allow modules to go to sleep. Removed instrument cluster and sent off to have repaired. This took care of the problem. Talked to repair shop and they do about 5-6 of these a week with the parasitic drain.

 

[AzDiamondBlue]

Hello All! @Big Mama @swathdiver I hope this finds you all well!!! What a crazy couple of weeks. Russ is actually a boss for the city, water department...and has been working none stop. We did the process of elimination with the fuses..and are 95% sure it is the dash assembly....causing the parasitic draw. We stumbled across a YouTube.com video about this company https://www.unitedradio.com/automotive-electronics/repair-and-remanufacturing/ face value quote is $175.00 we pay shipping there with a 1-year warranty and return shipping. Our Duramax dash panel will also be shipped to them, as the odometer is English one time and changes to various other languages other times. Then Russ needs a week of vacation to get all of this done! Meanwhile, the scanner 2, got put on hold. We need to add that tool to our collection....but I don't want the responsibility of ordering the wrong one by myself! Thank you very much for all your help this far, I am happy we came across this forum with kind peeps!

 

[AzDiamondBlue]

Pretty good detective work Jo. In all of this have we mentioned your ground cables? When you mentioned the gauges acting up it made me think of that and of course a short somewhere. The cables are known to corrode. Follow it from the battery backwards. If full of crud wire brush until you see metal and use dialectic grease.

Hello @Big Mama ...Yes, thank you for the mention of the ground cable. Russ did clean those up, there was one, slightly questionable, that we replaced.

 

[AzDiamondBlue]

Just went thru this on my sons 04 Tahoe. Checked amp draw with meter and also by pulling fuse to instrument cluster. Amp draw went away and would come back as soon as plugged fuse back in. There was no issue with the gauges, they worked fine could also hear what sounded like something running when put ear to cluster. This was after car had been off for about 30 min to allow modules to go to sleep. Removed instrument cluster and sent off to have repaired. This took care of the problem. Talked to repair shop and they do about 5-6 of these a week with the parasitic drain.

@Bowtie29 ...sounds exactly like our problem! We just found this company unitedradio.com that we will be sending the panel/cluster to....Russ just needs a vacation to get all of this done! Thank you for your reply.