Parasitic Battery Drain

[MeanGreen03]

I've been having some issues with my battery draining if I let my Tahoe sit for a week or so. I realized it was happening when my alarm kept going off and nothing was setting it off. Come to find out it was a drop in low voltage that caused it to set off. Today I started pulling all of the fuses under the hood. Here's the amp draw I found with the following fuses associated:

LO HDCP-L - 0.007A
TBC BATT - 0.011A
IPC/DIC - 0.039A
HVAC/ECAS - 0.004A
LBEC - 0.008A

This comes out to a total of 0.069A draw with the largest coming from the IPC/DIC. I've read that less than 0.035A is normal. After putting all of my fuses back in I left the probes from the DMM connected to see what would happen after a period of time. Well after ~15 seconds it dropped to 0.008A which would be acceptable. Is this normal or is there something else causing my battery to drain?? Maybe reinstalling all of the fuses helped some of the connections and fixed it?? Any help is appreciated.

 

[rich5368]

I'm having the same problem with my 03 except it's dying overnight and I'm not there to fix it and it's my wife's only transportation.

 

[bldn10]

My 02 is constantly dying when not driven for longer than overnight. I did a draw test and it was over 2 amps - amps not milliamps! And that is w/ a bunch of unnecessary fuses already pulled. One of the first I pulled under the hood is one of the many RADIO fuses, and that dropped it over an amp. However, that covers not just the radio but climate control - read HEAT - and instrument panel display - things I can't do w/o. So how do I go about running these things down?

 

[Physh1]

To the OP...your numbers are fine. Nothing even remotely excessive in your numbers. How old is your battery? 3-5 years is an average life & with winter rolling in anything around that age can be iffy.

To rich5368...how old is the battery?

You see a meter to probe circuits to see what is using excessive power when the veh is off. Also, you should check alt output & battery age. Anything aftermarket installed?

Cameron

 

[clandr1]

To the OP...your numbers are fine. Nothing even remotely excessive in your numbers. How old is your battery? 3-5 years is an average life & with winter rolling in anything around that age can be iffy.
Cameron

Agreed. I left a truck outside for two nights when a cold front came through a couple of weeks ago, and it would barely turn over the truck.

I'd bet you just need a new battery. Take it down to the local automotive parts store and have them test it.

 

[Marv02]

A very long time ago I had a Truck that the alternator was the problem that where the drain was coming from.

Or if you have a aftermarket ALARM this will cause the same problem.

My wife's old Buick did this.

 

[SLCHOE]

Agree with everyone else. Draw seems fine. Most likely cold temps killing an already weak battery.

 

[b robinson]

I'm having some of the same problems mentioned here. I have a brand new battery and it's still acting up. Any problems with the Yukons that seem to be specific to this model and year?

 

[SLCHOE]

I've been having some issues with my battery draining if I let my Tahoe sit for a week or so. I realized it was happening when my alarm kept going off and nothing was setting it off. Come to find out it was a drop in low voltage that caused it to set off. Today I started pulling all of the fuses under the hood. Here's the amp draw I found with the following fuses associated:

LO HDCP-L - 0.007A
TBC BATT - 0.011A
IPC/DIC - 0.039A
HVAC/ECAS - 0.004A
LBEC - 0.008A

This comes out to a total of 0.069A draw with the largest coming from the IPC/DIC. I've read that less than 0.035A is normal. After putting all of my fuses back in I left the probes from the DMM connected to see what would happen after a period of time. Well after ~15 seconds it dropped to 0.008A which would be acceptable. Is this normal or is there something else causing my battery to drain?? Maybe reinstalling all of the fuses helped some of the connections and fixed it?? Any help is appreciated.

First off, what do you mean by alarm? Is it aftermarket?

Something was setting it off. Check all of your door switches and hatch switch. Something is triggering the alarm thus draining your battery, not the other way around. If your battery went low enough voltage, the brain of your alarm wouldn't even function.

check all the interior lights and make sure they go off when they should (glove box and visors included).

A Tech2 would tell you if all the switches were working properly.