Need Help Solving Electrical Gremlin! 03 Tahoe 5.3
08-27-2010, 03:57 PM
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Need Help Solving Electrical Gremlin! 03 Tahoe 5.3 Alright here's the deal - 03 Tahoe 5.3
This thing keeps sucking batteries dry (3 so far). New battery was put in after each change and every time it was sucked dry (not even a click when you turn the key), if you put a charger on it, it would start right up no problem. Problem is most common after sitting over night (my guess was a short). Alternator was checked and tested good, problem continued - new alternator - still continued. Dealership ran a full test to see if there was anything draining the battery while the vehicle was off or if it was pulling more charge than it should under any conditions they could put it through. No one can tell wtf is wrong with this thing but it keeps killing batteries. Any insightful help would be appreciated. Please note this is a family car so descriptions may not be 'perfect' - I'm just going off of how things were explained to me. Multiple mechanics and a couple dealerships don't have a clue what's going on here so help me out, tech! Thanks.
This thing keeps sucking batteries dry (3 so far). New battery was put in after each change and every time it was sucked dry (not even a click when you turn the key), if you put a charger on it, it would start right up no problem. Problem is most common after sitting over night (my guess was a short). Alternator was checked and tested good, problem continued - new alternator - still continued. Dealership ran a full test to see if there was anything draining the battery while the vehicle was off or if it was pulling more charge than it should under any conditions they could put it through. No one can tell wtf is wrong with this thing but it keeps killing batteries. Any insightful help would be appreciated. Please note this is a family car so descriptions may not be 'perfect' - I'm just going off of how things were explained to me. Multiple mechanics and a couple dealerships don't have a clue what's going on here so help me out, tech! Thanks.
08-27-2010, 08:38 PM
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Pretty serious draw to kill it overnight (as in more than just an LED or something like it).
Get an ammeter that will measure more than just a couple of amps. Hook it inline with the + terminal of the batt. Pull fuses one by one until the draw goes away. Once you find the right circuit, start looking for the problem component.
Get an ammeter that will measure more than just a couple of amps. Hook it inline with the + terminal of the batt. Pull fuses one by one until the draw goes away. Once you find the right circuit, start looking for the problem component.
08-28-2010, 11:46 AM
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I'm sorry if my first description was a lil misleading - the dealership tried to put an ammeter to it (milliamps) and found no abnormal draws were found. It doesn't do it over night but after 2 to 4 weeks (normal driving it around every day), one day when they go out to start it in the morning, it'll be dead - not even a click.
I did suggest that he get an ammeter and test it every now and then as I think the draw is intermittent, if it shows then he can try and track it down. Any more insight would be appreciated!
I did suggest that he get an ammeter and test it every now and then as I think the draw is intermittent, if it shows then he can try and track it down. Any more insight would be appreciated!
