2010 SSV Battery Drain issues

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rylwal

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Long time watcher of the threads here but first time poster. (and it might be a long read)

Lately I've been having a couple of issues with my 2010 Tahoe SSV (its retired so none of the electric goodies they come with). The battery has been draining with no rhyme or reason to it and over the last 2 weeks its died 3 times. Being that I live in Wisconsin the temps here have been getting quite cold (-10 F a couple nights ago) so having to get a jump once or twice over the course of the winter is not unheard of but I've never had issues like this. It stays parked on the street and I have gotten into the habit of waking up and letting it run just to make sure it still starts, the last 3 days I've done that its fired right up (Keep in mind this is with sitting 12+ hours in the -10 overnight temps). This morning was no different, started, ran and shut it off around 8AM, was about 12 degrees throughout the day and I jumped in at 2PM and it was dead as a doornail, one click, absolutely no chance of even thinking about turning over. This is consistent with what its been doing over the last couple weeks. sometimes would sit for 3 days and start right up, sometimes would be sitting for 6 hours and be dead, never seemed to be any pattern.

Now, some more information which may be useful
  • Battery was replaced December 28th 2020, so still under 2 months old
  • I do have an aftermarket sub and amplifier, remote wire is on a keyed fuse so it only gets power when the ignition is turned on, and the amp lights up when it turns on, (never seen it light up when the truck is off)
  • I had initially installed 3 aftermarket harnesses, with their own fuses, and relays, hardwired to the battery, but those have been disconnected for some time now.
  • Yesterday I took some time after making sure the battery was actually charged up and did a parasitic draw test, unhooked everything, made sure all the door/hood sensors were not triggered, waited 60 min, and got some odd results which I am hoping someone might be able to speak to. When I hooked up the meter in series with the negative side of the battery cable and negative terminal, even after 60 min, it showed 2.6A draw, so of course I think, "cool time to start pulling fuses," so im watching the meter, and 15 seconds later it goes to 1.4A then 0.7A then down to about 0.2A so at this point im confused. Unhook everything, re attach... same thing happens. tried it twice more and same result ever time. So that concluded my meter test with no success
  • The first time, my battery died, I noticed that my oil pressure gauge was buried at zero (still is to this day been too dang cold for me to get around to fixing the issue), got codes pulled, and ended up being oil sending unit which until I typed this out it never even crossed my mind that they might be related. if a sensor goes bad, is it possible that it could draw constant current? or possibly a gauge?
  • Once in a while the radio display's "CD loading" at random times, unfortunately there isn't a CD within 30 miles of the thing. is it likely the radio just gets into a loading cycle sometimes and continues after even the ignition is off?
  • The passenger rear door lock actuator hasn't worked in months, So I just keep it manually locked because I have a snowboard mounted in the back on a platform so the seat is down anyways and no one ever gets in that side
  • I've checked all vanity lights, nothing is plugged into outlets, no doors are ajar.
Unfortunately with these "retired" Service vehicles, the buffoons that rip the equipment off, seem to do a pretty terrible job of making sure everything still works and they tend to leave a whole slew of dead end wires. So im wondering if there is something else with the wiring that is simply rearing its ugly head due to the cold weather.

If anyone has seem something like this before or has any ideas I would be very much appreciative, sorry for the long first post, but at this point I'm kind of at a loss and hoping there may be some thing I've missed or someone who has had similar issues.

Thanks to all in advance
 

Fless

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It's very normal for the modules to go to sleep over time, which is probably what you're seeing as the draw changes downward. Although mine is an NBS, the HVAC module takes over 3 hours to fully sleep, and that's normal for my gen.

Engine and body grounds are important, so those should be cleaned and reconnected, not just "checked."

Hook up your ammeter in series with the negative terminal and let everything go to sleep -- might take hours but keep your eye on it. Then document the draw when fully asleep.

Eric has some good tips, in case you haven't seen this. He has others, too.

 
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rylwal

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Cleaning grounds and connections will be the next step. I'll also try doing the multimeter test for a longer period. Hopefully this cold will let up in the next week so I can do it without getting frozen.

I have seen a lot of videos regarding the draw, however not that one specifically, so ill give it a look

Thanks much
 

JNVS

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rylwal, wondering if you ever got to the root of the problem. I have the exact same problem now with my 2010 SSV.
Thanks.
 
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