Battery seems to drain too quickly

[mattjones]

How long should my battery last if I want to play music at a tailgate or something while the engine is off?

Usually I'll keep the interior lights off and turn the key one click instead of two, where I can play music but the gauges on the dash don't come on. It seems to drain my battery REALLY fast. The music will still play, but when I try to start the Tahoe it either won't start or it will seem very labored on start and the clock will go back to 12:00, etc. I essentially have to leave the engine on while tailgating.

Is this normal or is there a problem with the battery? How difficult/expensive is it to install one of those double-battery kits?

EDIT: Just remembered, about a week ago I noticed that when I turned the key one click without starting (enough to listen to music), the check engine light was on. If I actually started the engine, the check engine light turned right off.

 

[yates ™]

How old is the battery?

 

[mfdrookie516]

My 2010 does this as well. When altering my tune, in the 5 minutes it takes, it'll give me the low battery message on the DIC. I'm guessing I have the factory battery, which is only 3.5 years old, but from what I've read online, this seems to be a very common issue with tahoes.

 

[AmazinglySmooth]

I had a battery fail early due to undersized battery cables. You could also check that the terminals are clean.

 

[mattjones]

How old is the battery?

It's an '08 Tahoe that I got almost exactly a year ago. Battery very well may be the original, I'm not sure.

 

[yates ™]

I would try replacing that, maybe take a look and see if it has a date on it.

 

[Vigh_J]

Im having the exact same issue with my 97.

 

[Anonymous]

Take the battery into the parts store, have them charge and test it. Make sure they test it for cranking amps, cold cranking amps, and reserve capacity. If it won't take a full charge or the CA, CCA, and RC won't meet the numbers printed on the battery, replace it. This test will take a while, 2-4 hours. Choose a battery with the highest reserve capacity (RC) which will fit. This will give you the most time to listen to music and still have enough charge to crank over the truck. Your listening time will be about what the reserve capacity is. You can get an optima yellow top if you want, but you can get the same performance out of a standard battery at a lower price. Optimas are great for off road and racing, but overkill for tailgating. It goes without saying to make sure your battery terminals are clean and free of corrosion. Replace damaged terminals and cables as needed. The extra resistance can kill a battery.

Make sure you are turning the key to the accessory position, not the ON position. (1 back from lock on my 01). Even if you think you have everything else turned off, many vehicle systems are activated when the key is in the on position, including the ECU, ignition coils, cabin blower fans, and other things which will drain power. The ECU itself can gulp down a fair bit of juice because it has the driver circuits for the fuel injectors and ignition.

If the battery is up to snuf, you are using the accessory position, and you are still having problems, consider upgrading the "big 3" battery cables. Replace alternator to battery +, battery to starter +, battery to chassis -, and engine block to chassis ground cables with larger diameter, lower resistance aftermarket cables.

If you still aren't getting enough time on the battery at the tailgate or can't find a battery with enough reserve capacity to suit your needs, you will need to install a second battery with a charging isolater. This will allow the alternator to charge both batteries when the engine is running but will disconnect the starting battery when the engine is off, keeping it charged to start the engine at the end of the day.

 

[Vigh_J]

Take the battery into the parts store, have them charge and test it. Make sure they test it for cranking amps, cold cranking amps, and reserve capacity. If it won't take a full charge or the CA, CCA, and RC won't meet the numbers printed on the battery, replace it. This test will take a while, 2-4 hours. Choose a battery with the highest reserve capacity (RC) which will fit. This will give you the most time to listen to music and still have enough charge to crank over the truck. Your listening time will be about what the reserve capacity is. You can get an optima yellow top if you want, but you can get the same performance out of a standard battery at a lower price. Optimas are great for off road and racing, but overkill for tailgating. It goes without saying to make sure your battery terminals are clean and free of corrosion. Replace damaged terminals and cables as needed. The extra resistance can kill a battery.

Make sure you are turning the key to the accessory position, not the ON position. (1 back from lock on my 01). Even if you think you have everything else turned off, many vehicle systems are activated when the key is in the on position, including the ECU, ignition coils, cabin blower fans, and other things which will drain power. The ECU itself can gulp down a fair bit of juice because it has the driver circuits for the fuel injectors and ignition.

If the battery is up to snuf, you are using the accessory position, and you are still having problems, consider upgrading the "big 3" battery cables. Replace alternator to battery +, battery to starter +, battery to chassis -, and engine block to chassis ground cables with larger diameter, lower resistance aftermarket cables.

If you still aren't getting enough time on the battery at the tailgate or can't find a battery with enough reserve capacity to suit your needs, you will need to install a second battery with a charging isolater. This will allow the alternator to charge both batteries when the engine is running but will disconnect the starting battery when the engine is off, keeping it charged to start the engine at the end of the day.

Very helpful info, thanks a lot man.

 

[mattjones]

Take the battery into the parts store, have them charge and test it. Make sure they test it for cranking amps, cold cranking amps, and reserve capacity. If it won't take a full charge or the CA, CCA, and RC won't meet the numbers printed on the battery, replace it. This test will take a while, 2-4 hours. Choose a battery with the highest reserve capacity (RC) which will fit. This will give you the most time to listen to music and still have enough charge to crank over the truck. Your listening time will be about what the reserve capacity is. You can get an optima yellow top if you want, but you can get the same performance out of a standard battery at a lower price. Optimas are great for off road and racing, but overkill for tailgating. It goes without saying to make sure your battery terminals are clean and free of corrosion. Replace damaged terminals and cables as needed. The extra resistance can kill a battery.

Make sure you are turning the key to the accessory position, not the ON position. (1 back from lock on my 01). Even if you think you have everything else turned off, many vehicle systems are activated when the key is in the on position, including the ECU, ignition coils, cabin blower fans, and other things which will drain power. The ECU itself can gulp down a fair bit of juice because it has the driver circuits for the fuel injectors and ignition.

If the battery is up to snuf, you are using the accessory position, and you are still having problems, consider upgrading the "big 3" battery cables. Replace alternator to battery +, battery to starter +, battery to chassis -, and engine block to chassis ground cables with larger diameter, lower resistance aftermarket cables.

If you still aren't getting enough time on the battery at the tailgate or can't find a battery with enough reserve capacity to suit your needs, you will need to install a second battery with a charging isolater. This will allow the alternator to charge both batteries when the engine is running but will disconnect the starting battery when the engine is off, keeping it charged to start the engine at the end of the day.

Couldn't ask for a much better response. I have been making sure to keep the key in the accessory position rather than "on." Looks like I'll probably be having the battery tested soon. If I do need to replace it, do you have any recommendations? I had been thinking of going the Optima route but if I can get the same performance from something cheaper I'd be interested.

 

[Anonymous]

Couldn't ask for a much better response. I have been making sure to keep the key in the accessory position rather than "on." Looks like I'll probably be having the battery tested soon. If I do need to replace it, do you have any recommendations? I had been thinking of going the Optima route but if I can get the same performance from something cheaper I'd be interested.

You can get a duralast gold with similar CCA, CA, and RC as a Optima Yellow Top for around $100 less. Same electrical performance, you just can't invert it or beat on it like a yellow top. But you don't need a bomb proof battery for a DD/tailgate rig. I like to get the batteries with both side post and top post. Hooks right in to the factory cables and gives you extra set of posts for powering accessories right off the battery. If you do have to jump it (or jump someone else), the top post are so much better then the side posts. I hate trying to hook jumper cables to the little 1/4-20 bolts on a side post battery.

 

[Erebos]

I have the same problem, but mine was actually contributed by the fact that I was not using my car for an entire week, so there were no charge on the battery. Took the car to Autozone for a free battery check and found to only have 15% charge left on it. I needed to use the car for work so I couldn't just wait 2-4 hours for a recharge, I ended up buying a new battery while leaving the original/old one to recharge. Now everything worked and I now have an extra battery which I want to setup a dual battery setup like someone has mentioned.

Overall, I think that the battery should stay charged longer since I have left my other car unused for more 1 week and didn't have any problem starting it up again.