Nbs Battery Drain (overnight, Many Days)

[ak63]

So my 30 month old 2007 NBS 2500HD has started to develop an intermittent overnight battery drain this winter, even after replacing the battery. It is going into the dealers to get checked and hopefully get some TSB's addressed related to this problem.

 

Even if that does fix the problem I was wondering about installing a battery auto-disconnect switch e.g. a Battery Brain Platinum or Battery Brain Gold (Type III). Both connect to the battery and auto-disconnect if the voltage falls below 11.8V. They also have a wireless remote control you can use to remotely and manually disconnect/reconnect the battery which is useful if you are going to be leaving it parked for a period of time.

 

Does anyone have experience with this, and in particular whether effectively turning off and on the battery power causes any issues with the trucks electronics? Normally the trucks electronics are permanently powered by the battery except for a few times when the battery is changed etc. I do know that when turning back on the power I better have the door remote control with me, as the trucks security system will sound the horn until the door control is activated.

 

I am also wondering about purchasing a trickle charger for the battery when it is parked in the garage at home e.g. a Battery Tender Plus 12V Charger, either the 1.25 Amp or 5 Amp versions. It seems that using the pre-wired connectorized cable would allow for easy connection and disconnection of the battery, and keep the battery topped up.

 

Any experiences with either approach? Thanks.

[miande]

I use a battery attender on occassion but do not have it permanently connected. I do notice that when I give my battery a full charge every couple of weeks, my alternator doesn;t have to work as hard. When fully charged, my dash gauge consistently reads below 13V. Otherwise, it is consistently above 14V. So, I do feel there is a good argument for adding a tender and charging it up every couple of weeks.

[d3athsong]

Maybe your new battery is no good? Take it to somewhere that sells em, and get them to test it. I have had new batteries before that were no good and drained on me.

[ak63]

I will have the dealer check that, but I am positive it is not the battery. The 'intermittent' part is not regular enough, especially when it happens overnight. Also I know these trucks have a heavier drain, and over the winter I tend to drive shorter round town and less frequently, so the battery may not be getting a full charge.

[Thurman]

I only had to take my '07 NBS back into the dealer five (5) times with a dead battery complaint, three they came to get it. I insisted, begged, and finally got it documented that they do a "parasitic drain test". There was a "parasitic drain" problem caused by the BCM. The "new, updated" BCM program was installed, along with a new battery, and all has been well since. David

[desrtrat]

BCM has been a issue since 02 on battery draining. also see if they will do a bench test of your alt. to check for bad diodes. if ine is bad it will let current flow back to ground and drain your batt..

 

good luck

 

[r1byker]

I can speak to the benefits of Battery Tender; I have three of them that I use on my motorcycles and boat. I think they're great and do the job as advertised. I have the leads permanently connected to the batteries and just switch them around as needed.

[ak63]

I think I found two TSB's that apply:

TSB 09-08-44-001: Intermittent Dead Battery (Reprogram Radio), February 03, 2009

TSB 06-06-03-013C: Intermittent Low Battery Voltage, Engine Will Not Crank … (Reprogram BCM), July 14, 2008

 

I'll see what the dealer says.

[sno]

Don't know about the trucks, but the Suburban & Avalanche have had a horrible time with battery drain issues. I think there have been a few programming updates available.

 

The strangest thing with the SUVs is that it just starts happening. Our Suburban had no problems for over a year then, out of the blue, started having the battery drain problem. Had to call roadside assistance twice to get it started. The last programming update seems to have resolved the issue for a while now anyway.

[jblakeney]

So my 30 month old 2007 NBS 2500HD has started to develop an intermittent overnight battery drain this winter, even after replacing the battery. It is going into the dealers to get checked and hopefully get some TSB's addressed related to this problem.

 

Even if that does fix the problem I was wondering about installing a battery auto-disconnect switch e.g. a Battery Brain Platinum or Battery Brain Gold (Type III). Both connect to the battery and auto-disconnect if the voltage falls below 11.8V. They also have a wireless remote control you can use to remotely and manually disconnect/reconnect the battery which is useful if you are going to be leaving it parked for a period of time.

 

Does anyone have experience with this, and in particular whether effectively turning off and on the battery power causes any issues with the trucks electronics? Normally the trucks electronics are permanently powered by the battery except for a few times when the battery is changed etc. I do know that when turning back on the power I better have the door remote control with me, as the trucks security system will sound the horn until the door control is activated.

 

I am also wondering about purchasing a trickle charger for the battery when it is parked in the garage at home e.g. a Battery Tender Plus 12V Charger, either the 1.25 Amp or 5 Amp versions. It seems that using the pre-wired connectorized cable would allow for easy connection and disconnection of the battery, and keep the battery topped up.

 

Any experiences with either approach? Thanks.

 

This is becoming quite a problem with nnbs...... I have heard this on here a couple times and have had several at my store with the same problem (with OE battery and my battery)...... I do not know what the fix is..... We need some wisdom from a GM tech....

 

However, there is duds in every bunch.... It is possible to get a dead batter out of the box.... When we get batteries in our shipment it is usually 5 or 6 pallets of batteries. That is more batteries than you want to look at, just in case you was wondering. Their is a percentage that the battery manufacture considers "OK" to be defective out of X number of batteries.

 

Jbo

 

Edit: I am seeing them with in the 3 year period with low mileage......

[zvmax]

I'll be glad to hear the tech report as well. I have had to have my '07 jumpstarted a few times after listening to the radio for a short period outside with the engine off. Once jumpstarted - everything goes back to normal like nothing happened until a month or so later and it occurs without warning again. Fortunately it has always been in a busy parking lot where I can readily get a jumpstart. This and an intermittent airbag system warning a couple of years ago have been the only problems I have had with the truck over the 3 years I've had it.

[ak63]

jb...interesting. My truck is 32 months old and about 28k miles. I reckon that the original battery failed early because of the continued drain and a couple of times it was completely flat. Will be interesting to see what the dealer says/does. The truck is there right now.

[ak63]

I just got the truck back from the dealer, and they found a battery drain and reprogrammed the radio to solve the problem. So the above TSB must have applied. Hopefully that is the only issue with this.

[Gregorio]

I hope they gave you a new battery. Once they go dead, they are never the same. I had the same problem with a 2007 Denali. Two updates solved the problem. The strange thing is that now the charging volts are all over the map. Sometimes much higher or lower than before too.