Battery drain & 1/4 tank-no start problem

[JFranks]

My wife's 2004 Tahoe wont start when it has a 1/4 tank of fuel. It also has a mysterious battery drain. I installed a new battery, checked the alternator, not sure what to check next. As for the fuel issue, i'm having her keep the tank at least half full until I can get the battery issue fixed. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have limited time to work on it, so when I do I have to make it count.

 

[oh1yukonslt]

My wife's 2004 Tahoe wont start when it has a 1/4 tank of fuel. It also has a mysterious battery drain. I installed a new battery, checked the alternator, not sure what to check next. As for the fuel issue, i'm having her keep the tank at least half full until I can get the battery issue fixed. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have limited time to work on it, so when I do I have to make it count.

If you had your alt checked you need to do a parasitic draw test with a multimeter to find where your drain is. As for the 1/4 tank no start. I had a friend who had that problem and gauge read 1/4 tank so we dropped the tank only to find it was empty. Sending unit wasn't reading it correctly

 

[JFranks]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to start checking now. Do you happen to know what is an acceptable level on the security system or any other items that may still draw power?

---------- Post added at 03:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:18 PM ----------

I've think I found the source of the battery drain. The Instrument Panel Cluster/ Driver Information Center (IPC/DIC ). The multimeter showed it was pulling 1.8 amps. Any suggestions on what to do or where to look next. Thanks again for the help!

 

[JFranks]

I'm leaving the fuse out overnight to see if it will stay charged. As for the fuel tank, I will try and drop it next weekend. Anybody got any pointers on dropping the tank. Also is the sending unit repairable or do I need to plan on replacing it.

 

[oh1yukonslt]

I'm leaving the fuse out overnight to see if it will stay charged. As for the fuel tank, I will try and drop it next weekend. Anybody got any pointers on dropping the tank. Also is the sending unit repairable or do I need to plan on replacing it.

Yep leave the fuse out and see if the batt is dead in the morning. I would just replace the unit since your already dropping the tank. Never dropped a tank on these NBS rigs before but I did on the OBS several times. Make sure you have everything disconnected ie: fuel fill etc etc. And its best to drop the tank when its empty ask me how I know that one when I got a gas bath thinking I can do it with 3/4 tank full of gas.

 

[wreedps]

Do you have any after market stereos or accessories that could be causing the drain?

 

[JFranks]

No, its all factory. Its been sitting since yesterday with the fuse out and the battery is fully charged. I found the problem, I just need to know what I need to replace. I've been reading some other threads and I'm thinking I may need a new instrument cluster. I have had an issue a few times when I cranked it the gauges took about 30-45 seconds before they started working. Any suggestions?

 

[wreedps]

You can get full replacement clusters programmed from USSpeedo. Kinda pricey but very high quality.

---------- Post added at 11:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 PM ----------

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FOR-SALE-FU...:2004|Model:Tahoe&hash=item5643f03fdb&vxp=mtr

Check this out too!

 

[JFranks]

Thanks, $200 seems like a good price. Does anybody know if you can just repair the cluster you have? or what part actually causes it to pull the battery down?

 

[mattluttrell]

On other vehicles, not running when low on gas is a fuel pump failing symptom.