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. i am getting really aggriviated and i feel like an idiot not being able to figure this out.

any and all tips and ideas are appriciated.

thank you

HiTechGent

I'd put an ammeter in line with the battery, and remove fuses from the fuse box one at a time to see if I could identify the circuit it was on. That would at least narrow down the possibilities.

sexyvic1

my friend had told me to put a test light btwn the battery and the wire that goe to the car. he said to pull each fuse out and if the light goes out then that is the thing to check. i tired that and got nothing. the test light stayed on the whole time.

should i try removing relays too?

thank you i really appriciate your time

EDS01SS

iTrader: (30)

first off are you sure the battery is good and that the alternator is actually charging?

sexyvic1

yep, it had killed my original battery so i went out and bought 2 optima yellow tops brand new.( i have a dual battery setup but i only have one in for now the other was solely for the stereo, which is disconnected until i find this draw).

i have a midtronics tester and the new batteries are excellent.

the alternator is perfect too.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Disconnect one of the battery cables, and put your ammeter in between the battery cable and the terminal to make the connection. Anything over about ~25-30mA is too much draw, but you need to leave it connected for at least about 10 seconds so the reading steadies out.

If it is over 30mA, start pulling fuses.

Oh, and make sure you are using about a 10A fused ammeter...mine will make an instant draw of about 1A for a split second, which was more than enough to fry a cheaper multi-meter I was using.

JoeKnowsBaseball

iTrader: (5)

you could always do it drag style and put in a battery cut off key. lol just stick it on the ground wire and you'll never have to worry about loosing battery life again. lol it's $13 on ebay. probably cheaper at tractor supply

cbrich

What type of accessories do you have on your tahoe besides the stereo system, that was not installed by the factory?

If you or anyone has made splices post what you spliced in and to what?

sexyvic1

Joesknowsbaseball : i thought of that but my radio has a 13 band eq on it and i will lose all my setting everytime

Meentss02 : i am gonna try that does it matter which side of the batery i use? i already tried it with a test light, i had put it btwn the positive side of the battery and the wires that goto the truck. i pulled each fuse to see if the light goes out but i got nothing. i am gonna try it with my meter though like u said.

cbrich : i have ton of stuff in the truck but most of it is hooked up to ignition with a switch in between so i don't think any of those would draw when the truck is off right.

thanks guys i really appriciate the time u are taking out to help

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

2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

How do you know that its something draining your battery?

It could be that your alt is not charging or it could also be that your battery is not holding a charge.

Both are very common electrical failures.

Make sure those two main components are good and we will go from there...

sexyvic1

the car is dieng after it sits a while, the alt is 100% charging the battery i check all the time, also the battery is brand new i just ran out and bought a optima yellow top. thinking my old battery was shot and that was the reason, but it turns out it wasn't

i have a midtronics battery tester that does load tests on the battery and also checks iits cca and ca . the battery is perfect.

the reason i believe there is a short is when i put a test light in between ( disconnect the battery terminal ) the battery's positive terminal and the main wire that was connected to the positive terminal the test light turns on. that is suppose to mean that there is a draw. i pull fuses and the light still is on. i disconnected my accessories and still the light stays on.
i am dumb founded.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Well, there will still be current going through there...depending on how big (or small) your test light is, there might be enough to light it up no matter what.

If your test light is lighting up, your ammeter should be showing a current flowing through it. Double check that it is on DC current, and try it again. It should matter which side of the battery you do it on, as you are using the ammeter to make the connection that would normally be there if it was hooked up to the battery.

Like I said above, about 30mA is pretty typical for modern cars. Anything above that is too high, and you'll have to trace it down.

Two other possibilities are that you have a wire from your starter that broke and is grounding out to the case, or one from the alternator, same story, same result.

HiTechGent

On most multimeters, there 3 jacks to plug the test leads into. One common jack for the negative (black) lead, one positive for DC current measurements only, and one positive for all other measurements. Make sure you move the red test lead over to the current jack for current measurements. Also, the meter will likely have fuse on this jack. Make sure it's good.

Make sure you have the polarity correct. If checking between the positive battery terminal and it's cable, red lead goes to the battery side. If checking the ground side of the battery, black lead goes to the battery side, red lead to the ground cable.

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

HiTechGent

Here you go:

http://www.testpath.com/Product.aspx?pn=116-237

http://www.testpath.com/Product.aspx?pn=116-230

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

HiTechGent

No. 14mA sounds about right to me. And it shouldn't drain your battery unless you let it sit for a long time. A typical car battery should be able to supply that trickle of current for weeks.