Battery drains after sitting for a week or so..

[Oldewing]

Mine did this, so I had never a battery in since I have had it, I put one in it. So I got a new Interstate . The dude at the battery shop said, oh yeah, Big GMC and Subs are prone to run down the battery. He tried to sell me a tender or battery cut off.

then I was poking around on Chevy's website and under Suburban's, there are about 6 diffident choices to get a tender straight from Chevy with a new truck.....



Anyone know about this....

 

[OR VietVet]

The older the battery the more susceptible it is to just sitting and draining down. there is a constant allowed keep alive memory for a few things that will drain it but the longer it sits and the older it gets, it does it quicker. Was it the original 6 year old battery?

 

[Oldewing]

It did it with the old battery, and yes, it did it with the new 770CCA Interstate. Granted it was cold all week, but it should stay up for 6 or 7 days me thinks..

 

[Fless]

I've dealt a bit with this on an NBS; mine has an intermittent parasitic draw although it hasn't shown up lately. When mine is totally asleep it draws less than 30ma. However, I have found documentation that the automatic HVAC control can take up to a little over 4 hours to go to sleep; mine does it in about 3.5 hours and, until then, draws an extra 45ma or so. Your newer gen most likely can take a while for the modules to go to sleep.

For your test procedure, testing the voltage drop across fuses is perhaps a better way to avoid waking up modules after reinserting pulled fuses, so the video on this post might give you some ideas. Absolutely not as accurate as an inline ammeter, but much more convenient:

https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/parasitic-draw.124147/#post-1528201

 

[OR VietVet]

It did it with the old battery, and yes, it did it with the new 770CCA Interstate. Granted it was cold all week, but it should stay up for 6 or 7 days me thinks..

In your original post you said you replaced the old battery but did not say you still experienced the same thing with the new battery. I was working with the info given.

 

[Oldewing]

Yes, it has done it with the new battery.

 

[avalonandl]

If you get a battery tender get one with a De-Sufurator mode like batterymindr 1510. On Amazon...it wiill EXTEND the battery life....

 

[Fless]

You might want to measure the draw when it's fully asleep. That would give you an idea if the draw is normal or not, and go from there.

 

[OR VietVet]

^^^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^^

 

[Oldewing]

Roger on the measure when it's asleep, and I have a tender. As this truck is not a daily driver, I will "plug her in" ......

 

[Fless]

Roger on the measure when it's asleep, and I have a tender. As this truck is not a daily driver, I will "plug her in" ......

Not sure if yours is like mine, but modules may stay awake when the tender is operating -- and the draw obviously is incorrect at that time, since it's not a draw but charging. Or modules may wake up when it's disconnected. My PCM2 circuit sometimes, not always, draws around 80 or 90ma and stays on after disconnecting the tender. If I don't use the tender it doesn't draw. Something to watch.

 

[Oldewing]

So I guess the fix is to make it my Daily driver, instead of my 06 Tacoma with well north of 200k on her....

Not the worst fix I can think of.......

 

[iamdub]

The dude at the battery shop said, oh yeah, Big GMC and Subs are prone to run down the battery

Maybe I'm lucky, but mine always sits for 1, 2 sometimes 3 weeks at a time. Here's a vid I made after it sat for 2 weeks and started in cold temps. It dragged a little on the start, but I believe that was just from the cold battery:

I know there have been some posts here about draining batteries after sitting. They're usually resolved, IIRC.

 

[Just Fishing]

If you get a battery tender get one with a De-Sufurator mode like batterymindr 1510. On Amazon...it wiill EXTEND the battery life....

What is this "de-sufurator" feature?

 

[iamdub]

What is this "de-sufurator" feature?

Pretty sure he meant "desulfator"

https://www.chargingchargers.com/tutorials/battery-desulfation.html

 

[Just Fishing]

Maybe I'm lucky, but mine always sits for 1, 2 sometimes 3 weeks at a time. Here's a vid I made after it sat for 2 weeks and started in cold temps. It dragged a little on the start, but I believe that was just from the cold battery:

I know there have been some posts here about draining batteries after sitting. They're usually resolved, IIRC.

Mine has been doing that here and there.

My S10 started doing it with the original starter right around 180 or 200k.
it started getting super slow, so i thought at first it was the battery.
Warranty replacement thanks to costco,
no change.
So built new battery cables out of some 0 gauge and 4 gauge i had laying around (0 gauge welding, and 4 gauge amp leads).
(Soldered connections, marine grade sealed etc)
No change.
So i finally changed the starter.
Fixed!

I have been thinking about tossing in a new starter for good measure on the hoe now...
Just something to think about, probably dirty connection inside of the solenoid or something.

 

[iamdub]

Mine has been doing that here and there.

My S10 started doing it with the original starter right around 180 or 200k.
it started getting super slow, so i thought at first it was the battery.
Warranty replacement thanks to costco,
no change.
So built new battery cables out of some 0 gauge and 4 gauge i had laying around (0 gauge welding, and 4 gauge amp leads).
(Soldered connections, marine grade sealed etc)
No change.
So i finally changed the starter.
Fixed!

I have been thinking about tossing in a new starter for good measure on the hoe now...
Just something to think about, probably dirty connection inside of the solenoid or something.

This was the first time I've ever had it drag like that. But, I've also never had it outside in near- and sub-freezing temps. It's always kept in a well-insulated shop that may get down to mid-40s if we have a week straight of cold weather. I went for a drive about two hours ago and it acted exactly the same and at the same temperature (32°).

That's a classic failure on the old Vortec engines. My '02 S10 always started fine, but it was really weak on a hot restart. I thought it was the battery being cooked by the exhaust since it was relocated to under the bed, just in front of the axle on the RH side. I routed the turned-down exhaust out the side, added a heat shield and confirmed the battery was no warmer than one in the stock location under the hood. It still did it. That project stalled and I rarely drove it so I eventually sold it. The current owner replaced the battery thinking it was bad and then replaced the starter, fixing the hot start issue. The up side to this is it kinda forces us to do what needs to be done regardless- upgrade the wiring.

 

[avalonandl]

The de-sulfurator mode re-juvenates a lead acid battery. My 2017 Camaro battery was down to 60% strength after sittin awhile. 2 weeks on a desulfator and it was back to 90% strength....

 

[exp500]

I'm always chasing these problems for friends. Seems to be pretty consistant at 100 MA good for a week, 200MA 2-3 days. Like to see about 60MA, but seems to always be closer to 100MA the older they get. Aftermarket stereos the worst especially with backyard ducttape installs.

 

[bobsyouruncle]

fwiw... my 2018 Yukon Denali's battery failed after two years. It took a few trips to the dealer after needing jump starts before they discovered an intermittent defective cell in the battery. Replaced it under warranty.