sexyvic1

hello, everyone,

i have a 2001 chevy tahoe.

something is draining my battery and i have no clue what it is/

does anyone know how i can isolate the problem, or what i have to do in order to test to find the draw.

it can be anything from an accessory to the actual things that came factory with the truck.

please help.

any and all tips and ideas are appriciated.

thank you

smoknta

I had the same problem. It was the glove box light stuck on. The mount for the switch was broke and the switch had fell down and was staying on. I would first check for a light left on some how. If you dont find anything that way you can check for a drop in voltage.
Using a voltmeter measure your battery voltage. Then start pulling fuses one at a time, checking the voltage after each fuse is pulled. Your looking for the voltage to come up. If you pull one and the voltage comes up, something on that circuit is pulling it down.
If that doesn't yield any results you can try and check for a current draw. With the mulimeter on amperage, break the circuit to the battery and insert the meter inline. Read the amperage draw. Use the same procedure as above, except look for the current draw to go down.

hope this helps

Super Speed

iTrader: (8)

2001 meaning the battery is probly 5 years old i'd go get it tested these battery's are known for premature failing

sexyvic1

SMOKNTA : i will check that but i do not see any lights on anywhere, plus i hit the switch that cuts off all the interior lights when the doors open.

LS1 GG : yea i thought that might have been the problem so i went out and bought a brand new optima yellow top and i am having the same problem

smoknta

Yeah...buy dont forget about glove box light and console compartment light. Those can be on with the doors open or closed.

sexyvic1

i tried the dmm on the positive side and the ground side and the meter read nothing, i checked the meter to make sure it was on the correct settings and it was.

then i tried the test light in line with the positive side and it lit up. so i started pulling fuses and it still stayed on then i disconnected all me stuf fand my alarm and it still was on.

i am so confused

the only thing that bothered me was that my truck has 4 or 5 different ignition fuses, 2 of them are maxi fuses under the hood, which when i pulled the fuse out and tested each side they were both hot even though the car was off.

the other little fuses did not have power untill the ignition was turned on.

i spoke to someone and they told me the reason why both of the others have power is because of a short somewhere and that would cause that to happen.

does this give anyone any ideas i am dumb founded.

any ideas why the meter did not read anything but the test light lit up?

i appriciate all ur time and help

spanker

what meter is it ? you need it on the amp scale you can use the ten amp scale make sure the fuse is good in the meter go between the neg cable and neg terminal on battery wait 20 minutes and check reading or use the test light and disable circuits one at a time until the intensity on the test light dims the brighter the test light the higher the draw

GMmexican

iTrader: (7)

im having the same problem but it only happens when i put the car in gear its perfectly fine idling i took the alternator back and had it tested and they say its perfectly fine

sexyvic1

the meter is a FLUKE 77 III .

i think maybe the fuse is blown, or i was impatient and did not wait a while, i put the meter on and waited like 5 minutes and there was no reading.

i will try this again today or sunday and post back.

thank you for the help

sexyvic1

i checked and the fuse for the meter was blown. i can't seem to find them anywhere though.
does anyone know were i can pick them up the models are

BUSS FUSE DMM-44/100
and
BUSS FUSE DMM-11A

they are for the Fluke 77 III meter

thanks

Danny2tek

iTrader: (1)

radio shack

sexyvic1

ok fellas

i found the short in my tahoe. ( my meter's fuse's were blown, i used my friends meter and it worked )

as soon as i connected the meter it read 145.5 mA , the it droped to 115.5 mA , then it finally came to a rest at 44.9 mA.

i pulled the alarm and it automatically went down to 14.60 mA i found which wire it was is the alarm and pulled the fuse for it.

is 14.60 mA a good resting point or is there something else still drawing?

the alarm i have is the autopage RS-850LCD

the problem wire was on a 5 pin white plug.

it was the RED wire that has a 3amp fuse on it. it controls the system 12 volt power / constant and is also connected to RED w/ WHITE stripe wire which is the Parking Light Relay Power Input.

now do u guys think this is something i can fix, or is it internal and i should send the brain back to autopage ?

thanks for everyones help i really appriciate it alot

sexyvic1

i called autopage and told them the problem and the tech said to send in the brain. i asked him how and he said that i would have to go back to were i purchased it from and they would have to return it.

what B.S. he said that they do not deal with consumers. i told him i am willing to pay for the repair i just want it fixed and he said it doesn't matter they will not accept it.

so know i gotta find a dealer ( there aren't any near by me ) to send the unit in.

last time i buy autopage.

i had DEI in my grand cherokee and the brain had gone bad the DEI people accepted it from me fixed it for free and sent it back all within a week of when i sent it. i guess thats the way to go from know on

sexyvic1

oh also is a 14.60mA draw too much while the truck is off ? thanks

sexyvic1

k guys, i got the alarm back from autopage and they said there was nothing wrong with it.

i don't understand because while the alarm was out to them, the car sat for over 2 weeks and the battery didn't die. so it makes me think the alarm is the problem.

the autopage tech said it may be the passlock from dei 555L . he said that the blue with white wire might cause the battery to die.

i checked that wire with the car and alram not armed and it read 11.94volts. i went out and bought a new one and the new one read 11.91v

any ideas?

also under my hood in the fuse box the iggnition fuse has power on both sides??? even when i pull the fuse out i have power on both sides.....that can't be right because if there is power on both sides then there wouldn't be a fuse.

any ideas on this too?

i am so agrivated, all of this happened while the car sat for 3 weeks in my garage. i feel like burning it down but i have so much labor into it :o(