2012 Sierra 2500HD Battery dieing

[SpecRacerDriver]

Purchased this truck from the original owner with 30K miles. If I leave it sit for five days the battery is dead. I took it in to the dealer just before the bumper to bumper warranty ran out and had them run an extensive diagnostics check on the electric system that took all day. They did not find any excessive battery drain and the battery tested ok. I welcome information concerning this issue. For now I am using a battery tender/trickle charger to keep it charged. Thnxs

[gmtech4]

I would need to see the receipt they gave you saying what the tech did , can you provide it ? Blocking out dealer name of course

[Doug_Scott]

Easiest way to check this is to disconnect the battery at both terminals the next time the truck is going to sit for the week. If battery is dead at end of week, you have a bad battery. If it is not dead, then you have something in the truck killing the battery.

What modifications have been done to the truck? Mostly looking for mods that involved any wiring at all.

[SpecRacerDriver]

Rob, they did not give a print out of their test, they just said they hooked up an analyzer to the battery circuit it ran a test of the trucks electrical system. This took several hours to do the test. I will look for the receipt.

 

Doug, good idea. I have added factory driving lights, DIC buttons, new steering wheel to add steering wheel radio controls, and heated towing mirrors. All items ordered from GM Factory Direct.

 

Either of you know how long a truck should be able to sit without needing charged? I appreciate your help.

[gmtech4]

Several hours ? I doubt that very much ,

 

They should've done a parasitic draw test ,

 

Should last quite awhile with exceptable draw of 25 ma

[Doug_Scott]

Rob, they did not give a print out of their test, they just said they hooked up an analyzer to the battery circuit it ran a test of the trucks electrical system. This took several hours to do the test. I will look for the receipt.

 

Doug, good idea. I have added factory driving lights, DIC buttons, new steering wheel to add steering wheel radio controls, and heated towing mirrors. All items ordered from GM Factory Direct.

 

Either of you know how long a truck should be able to sit without needing charged? I appreciate your help.

 

depends on the environment. I would expect a good, fully charged battery should still be able to start the truck after 3 months of sitting, in a colder environment. Not too cold, somewhere between 10 and 60 degrees F. This also depends on the temp when you try to start it as well. If it has been sitting for 3 months and you go out on the one day when it is 35 below 0, it likely will not turn fast enough to start. But then again, chances are the truck left overnight that day likely would be hard to start.

[02suburbanZ71]

Definitely they should have done a parasitic drain test.

[gmtech4]

Definitely they should have done a parasitic drain test.

That's why I need to see the receipt , the tech always writes in the "correction " line of a GM work order

[502ss]

Had a similar problem with my 07 Avalanche. Took it several times to the dealer and they couldn't find the problem. It would only do it randomly, could go months without doing it and then I would drive to work, come out in the afternoon and the battery would be completely dead. Ended up putting an electronic battery disconnect on it. Problem continued to happen for the entire 200k+ miles I owned the truck but never left me with a dead battery thanks to the disconnect!

[GlenS]

Had same thing with my 2500.. Check and see if the beacon light switch is turned on. Dealer had my 2011 for close to 2 weeks to figure out same problem. Its up on center head console. Just a little orange light on it.. HTH

[SpecRacerDriver]

Would you mean the running/marker lights on the roof? I do not have a beacon. I will check on that tomorrow when I go out. I have looked for the receipt/work order with no luck. I do believe that the check the dealership ran was a parasitic drain test. Thank you to all for you input and help.

[GlenS]

Do you have a overhead console up by the interior lights? Is there a switch up there? Not the outside marker lights. It is a switch that Gm put in for people that run a beacon. That is what was giving my my problems. Even with my dual battery setup it would not start after 2 days of being parked. It has a little orange light when its turned on. Not sure if your truck has it or not.

[SpecRacerDriver]

Who New! There is a switch on the passenger side of the over head console and its little yellow light was lit. I thought it controlled the marker lights. It must control a relay to pull that much power out of the battery to drain it in only a couple of days when there isn't any light attached to it. I turned it off and disconnected the trickle charger. I will check again in a couple of days to see if the battery is still charged. I use the truck mostly to pull my 5th wheel and it doesn't get much use otherwise. I thank you for the information and will pass it along to my dealership so they know what to check on for anyone else having this issue.

[Doug_Scott]

Swap the light for an led and it should draw a lot less power, or just remove the bulb.

 

I would have thought that circuit would be in the 10 minute power thing. Or were they thinking that you many need to leave the beacon on with truck shut off?

 

Incandescent bulbs can pull enough amperage to drain a battery. In the olden days, a glove box light or trunk light would kill a battery over night. Used to get a kick out of putting the newest lube guy in the trunk and tell him to see if the light came on by itself, then take a road test down the worst road in town. Still brings back a smile.

[SpecRacerDriver]

Thanks Doug. Per the owners manual the circuit is fused at 30 amps, for use with aux lighting. I do not think it is hooked to anything except maybe a relay for that much current. I do not have any other lights except the marker lights on the roof. It does not seem to affect the roof mounted marker lights at all. You probable correct that a roof mounted beacon would need to stay on for more than the 10 min auto power cut off system. I pity the fools who feel for your joke, good one though.