Battery keeps going dead

[Chaney3000]

I got an OBS 2000 GMC 3500 truck. The issue started about a month ago when I was at work. The truck wouldn't start so I got a jump and drove home. Got in it the next morning and it started up but when I got ready to leave to go home that night, dead again.

Took the battery to get tested and they said it was good but low so they charged it at the store. Took it home pulled the alt and took it to get tested and they said it was good.

Meanwhile I decided to leave the battery unplugged in the truck for the night. Took it back to the store and tested it and they said it was good but low? So, I figured bad battery.

Truck has been sitting outside about 2 weeks cause of the holidays and not working everyday. Now, this morning I go get in the truck to go to work and its dead. I don't think the battery should die in 2 weeks. I'm going to jump start it tonight and let it run and see if it starts in the morning.

The only thing I have on it are some mods HIDs from DDM, LED interior lights and 4 beam HI.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[bowtie44s]

You need to get a multimeter set it on amps and unhook the negative battery cable. Put one of your multi meter leads on the negative cable and the other on the negative battery terminal. If you have more than 50 miliamps you have a parasitic draw. Once that is determined start pulling fuses until the number drops and that is your problem circuit.

[NEUMANNZZ]

glovebox light or underhood light might be stuck on.

[kyviabama]

X2 on the draw. If u have a simple test light, its easier to check for draw by urself. Just make sure doors are shut, cause dome light will be drawing voltage too.

[kylepmcculloch]

clean the terminals helps alot

[Chaney3000]

You need to get a multimeter set it on amps and unhook the negative battery cable. Put one of your multi meter leads on the negative cable and the other on the negative battery terminal. If you have more than 50 miliamps you have a parasitic draw. Once that is determined start pulling fuses until the number drops and that is your problem circuit.

I got the battery charging to test it. Thanks for the idea about the multimeter.

glovebox light or underhood light might be stuck on.

Didn't leave anything on in the truck.

X2 on the draw. If u have a simple test light, its easier to check for draw by urself. Just make sure doors are shut, cause dome light will be drawing voltage too.

I don't have a test light that works. And no lights were left on.

clean the terminals helps alot

Just bought new battery terminal bolts. (its a side post battery connection)

[TiredFarmer]

Drive it to Oreilly's or Autozone they can test battery and alternator system. If both test ok then you have a parasitic drain somewhere. Also do you have voltmeter? What does it read KOEO and KOER?

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

[kyviabama]

I don't have a test light that works. And no lights were left on.

Just saying when you test it for draw, make sure your doors are shut and everything else is off and unplugged from cig lighter.

Definitely test for draw!!!! Pick up a cheap test light or multimeter for less than $5.

You don't have your gauges pulled out for some reason, do you?

[Chaney3000]

Drive it to Oreilly's or Autozone they can test battery and alternator system. If both test ok then you have a parasitic drain somewhere. Also do you have voltmeter? What does it read KOEO and KOER?

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

I just used the multimeter to test the battery and it showed around 1.11 draw on it with everything off. It was showing 2.08 but I unplugged the underhood light and it went down to 1.11

Is this too much draw on the batter? I don't have anything plugged in or left on.

I don't have a test light that works. And no lights were left on.

Just saying when you test it for draw, make sure your doors are shut and everything else is off and unplugged from cig lighter.

Definitely test for draw!!!! Pick up a cheap test light or multimeter for less than $5.

You don't have your gauges pulled out for some reason, do you?

I do have the gas needle removed because the stepper doesn't work (didn't want the wife to run out of gas thinking it worked). Would this have a problem with current draw? I wouldn't think it draw current when the dash is off.

[kyviabama]

For my 94... gauges complete the charging circuit (think it's the voltmeter). If you only have the gas needle pulled, I wouldn't think it would be the problem, can't say for sure. But with the whole gauge cluster out, battery will not charge.

1.11... Volts? if so, you have a major draw somewhere... start pulling fuses one by one until the measure is less than 50mA. When the measure drops, that's the circuit you have a draw on. Then figure out what all is on that circuit and go through each component and as much wiring as you can. If it's a short in the wiring, can be nearly impossible to find. A "fox and hound" tool comes in handy here, you can narrow down the area of the short before ripping everything out.

electrical problems are such a biatch!!! sorry your having trouble... I spent 3 weeks going through mine and am still having (minor) problems, but I know what I need to do to fix it. Need to get off FSC and get my @$$ in gear!

[bowtie44s]

I don't know what you were testing but you should have been testing amps, not volts and with everything off on mine it is 20miliamps which would be the clock on the radio. if you had 1.11 amps that is 1,110 miliamps and that is a severe draw, start pulling fuses until it drops below 50 miliamps.

[SilverT]

Drive it to Oreilly's or Autozone they can test battery and alternator system. If both test ok then you have a parasitic drain somewhere. Also do you have voltmeter? What does it read KOEO and KOER?

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

I agree with the drain. This same thing happened to me once. Auto Zone usually runs the battery test for free. If you have to replace it because of the drain, try to get one with light indicator so you don't wake up in the morning with it dead.

[Chaney3000]

For my 94... gauges complete the charging circuit (think it's the voltmeter). If you only have the gas needle pulled, I wouldn't think it would be the problem, can't say for sure. But with the whole gauge cluster out, battery will not charge.

1.11... Volts? if so, you have a major draw somewhere... start pulling fuses one by one until the measure is less than 50mA. When the measure drops, that's the circuit you have a draw on. Then figure out what all is on that circuit and go through each component and as much wiring as you can. If it's a short in the wiring, can be nearly impossible to find. A "fox and hound" tool comes in handy here, you can narrow down the area of the short before ripping everything out.

electrical problems are such a biatch!!! sorry your having trouble... I spent 3 weeks going through mine and am still having (minor) problems, but I know what I need to do to fix it. Need to get off FSC and get my @$$ in gear!

It was amps not volts. Sorry for not being specific about it. I used the 10amp option on my multimeter (free harbor freight multimeter)

I don't know what you were testing but you should have been testing amps, not volts and with everything off on mine it is 20miliamps which would be the clock on the radio. if you had 1.11 amps that is 1,110 miliamps and that is a severe draw, start pulling fuses until it drops below 50 miliamps.

I will be pulling fuses this coming weekend to try and locate the problem.

[sinned113]

Just wondering, would an unplugged actuator draw power? my recirculating actuator was making a really bad clanking noise, and living in alaska, i only really use the pass thru to keep the truck warm. i left the truck without starting it for 5 days, and came back to a dead batt.

[bowtie44s]

No, mine is unplugged too.

[LeoP]

there are many things that have "Keep Alive" memory other than the radio, just about all the onboard computers have some kind of need for power all the time.

[Chevy53]

Shut off the truck with a headlamp bulb hooked up between neg cable and neg post of battery then let truck sit for a hr so all of te modules can shut off then start pulling fuses, don't open any doors or turn the key on during this process


-Ziggy-