Battery drain 2011 Tahoe LTZ

[hailbun]

Hello. I have a problem that I created when I was working on my outside mirrors. I was going to replace the motors that fold the mirrors in and the gears associated with them. When I pulled the drivers mirror off I found the plastic piece that holds the worm gear in place was broken. I decided to just put extendable towing mirrors on instead. I was on the fence before, the broken piece just made up my mind.

The new tow mirrors do not power fold like the originals, but they heat, adjust and have blinkers. When I had it all apart I cleaned the contacts up in the drivers door control with alcohol, contact cleaner and Q tips. Windows up down etc. The new mirrors only have one connection to the control unit, not 3 like before. The new mirrors function as they should.

Now, something is draining the battery. In just a couple of hours the vehicle will no longer start. Once in a while a clicking, sometimes nothing. I get 15v at the battery when the vehicle is idling. I have not fully charged the battery as this has been a daily occurrence for the past week. I've just been jumping it and driving around for 10 minutes. Battery is one year old.

The interior light goes off after the ignition is turned off and the instrument panel and radio goes off after I open the drivers door. I have unhooked then new mirror from the drivers control and it still drains the battery. I do see the little light on the door control that tells you whether the left or right mirror is ready to be adjusted stays on for at least 10 minutes after I get out. It does go out eventually.

I have read some post on parasitic drain. Before I get too involved I'd like to know if I am missing something obvious. Thanks to all.

 

[Doubeleive]

Hello. I have a problem that I created when I was working on my outside mirrors. I was going to replace the motors that fold the mirrors in and the gears associated with them. When I pulled the drivers mirror off I found the plastic piece that holds the worm gear in place was broken. I decided to just put extendable towing mirrors on instead. I was on the fence before, the broken piece just made up my mind.

The new tow mirrors do not power fold like the originals, but they heat, adjust and have blinkers. When I had it all apart I cleaned the contacts up in the drivers door control with alcohol, contact cleaner and Q tips. Windows up down etc. The new mirrors only have one connection to the control unit, not 3 like before. The new mirrors function as they should.

Now, something is draining the battery. In just a couple of hours the vehicle will no longer start. Once in a while a clicking, sometimes nothing. I get 15v at the battery when the vehicle is idling. I have not fully charged the battery as this has been a daily occurrence for the past week. I've just been jumping it and driving around for 10 minutes. Battery is one year old.

The interior light goes off after the ignition is turned off and the instrument panel and radio goes off after I open the drivers door. I have unhooked then new mirror from the drivers control and it still drains the battery. I do see the little light on the door control that tells you whether the left or right mirror is ready to be adjusted stays on for at least 10 minutes after I get out. It does go out eventually.

I have read some post on parasitic drain. Before I get too involved I'd like to know if I am missing something obvious. Thanks to all.

if it is killing the battery that fast then finding it should be easy, disconnect the battery ground and connect a multimeter between the ground cable and battery negative note the voltage, starting pulling fuses one at a time

 

[hailbun]

if it is killing the battery that fast then finding it should be easy, disconnect the battery ground and connect a multimeter between the ground cable and battery negative note the voltage, starting pulling fuses one at a time

I will put the battery on a charger and start when it is fully charged. Thanks for the info and video.

 

[hailbun]

if it is killing the battery that fast then finding it should be easy, disconnect the battery ground and connect a multimeter between the ground cable and battery negative note the voltage, starting pulling fuses one at a time

The battery read 11V at 7:00 this morning. Tahoe would not start. Put the charger on until around 2:00, battery read 13V.

When I follow the video above, I get no reading at all, 000 between the negative terminal and the negative cable. It doesn't matter if I have the red cable on the left or right terminal. When I say cable, I'm talking about the leads to the multi tester, not the Tahoe battery. I even bought a new meter, a cheap one, but a new one. Pic attached.

I am 67 and have been going all day. Now, tired. As they say, I don't know how I got it all done when I was working and raising kids. Having something like this, that is not in my wheelhouse, definitely disrupts my "to do" list. I looked at another video on parasitic drain on this site. It too required some sort of drain on the meter in order to move forward with the tracing.

With no drain showing, I'm not sure where to turn next. Additional thoughts, much appreciated.

 

[Doubeleive]

The battery read 11V at 7:00 this morning. Tahoe would not start. Put the charger on until around 2:00, battery read 13V.

When I follow the video above, I get no reading at all, 000 between the negative terminal and the negative cable. It doesn't matter if I have the red cable on the left or right terminal. When I say cable, I'm talking about the leads to the multi tester, not the Tahoe battery. I even bought a new meter, a cheap one, but a new one. Pic attached.

I am 67 and have been going all day. Now, tired. As they say, I don't know how I got it all done when I was working and raising kids. Having something like this, that is not in my wheelhouse, definitely disrupts my "to do" list. I looked at another video on parasitic drain on this site. It too required some sort of drain on the meter in order to move forward with the tracing.View attachment 456136
With no drain showing, I'm not sure where to turn next. Additional thoughts, much appreciated.

you still have battery positive cable on?, this test only works with the positive battery cable attached the negative cable disconnected and meter connected between the battery negative post and battery negative cable.

 

[Fless]

The downside of just pulling fuses, then replacing them, is that you could be waking up a module when reinserting the fuse.

Wherever you have the access to the test points on a fuse (like a mini-fuse, not a JCase fuse) then the initial test doesn't need the meter in-circuit as an ammeter. Measure the voltage drop across the fuse test points and convert it to mA using the PowerProbe charts that are available online (https://www.powerprobe.com/na/en/download-list). Essentially any fuse that has voltage drop is supporting a circuit that has current going through it. Testing this way doesn't wake up or disturb the modules.

 

[hailbun]

you still have battery positive cable on?, this test only works with the positive battery cable attached the negative cable disconnected and meter connected between the battery negative post and battery negative cable.

Yes, the positive battery cable is hooked up to the battery.

 

[hailbun]

The downside of just pulling fuses, then replacing them, is that you could be waking up a module when reinserting the fuse.

Wherever you have the access to the test points on a fuse (like a mini-fuse, not a JCase fuse) then the initial test doesn't need the meter in-circuit as an ammeter. Measure the voltage drop across the fuse test points and convert it to mA using the PowerProbe charts that are available online (https://www.powerprobe.com/na/en/download-list). Essentially any fuse that has voltage drop is supporting a circuit that has current going through it. Testing this way doesn't wake up or disturb the modules.

I will look into this some more today. One of the advantages of being retired is you have time to do things you wouldn't normally do. Because you have the time and it's nice to learn new things. Sometimes it's better to take it to the shop.

I just know how hard it can be to track down drains even in the shops, so I thought I would spend a little time myself. RV camping starts in 2 weeks so I have to get this resolved shortly. As always, the help proviced is much appreciated.

 

[Doubeleive]

I will look into this some more today. One of the advantages of being retired is you have time to do things you wouldn't normally do. Because you have the time and it's nice to learn new things. Sometimes it's better to take it to the shop.

I just know how hard it can be to track down drains even in the shops, so I thought I would spend a little time myself. RV camping starts in 2 weeks so I have to get this resolved shortly. As always, the help proviced is much appreciated.

here is another video, maybe it explains it a little better

 

[hailbun]

here is another video, maybe it explains it a little better

Well I was doing the happy dance in the Battery Warehouse parking lot an hour ago. I went to Rural King this morning, came out, Tahoe wouldn't start. I put it in neutral and it did start. I got to thinking, start with the simple. Went to BW, my 4 year battery was 5 years old and no good. He replaced the battery and I've been running around town with no issues. Hence the happy dance at BW.

Sometimes in life, there are coincidences. Fingers crossed. This was one of them. Thanks to everyone who helped me.
A great forum.