2016 Suburban battery drain

Jrsmith1406 · February 5, 2019

Hoping you guys can help. I’ve got a 2016 Suburban Z71. We were sitting with the key in ACC position listening to the radio. After a couple of minutes there was a message on the dash saying battery low start vehicle. This has happened several times with sitting anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes. The battery is new from this past September. I’ve had it and the alternator checked and both check out fine. It’s to the point where I keep the vehicle on a battery tender if it sits for more than a couple of days. I’ve also noticed that sometimes when you start the vehicle the radio will go off and the clock resets as well as the radio presets. Has anyone heard of this issue or experienced it?? Thanks for any help.

Oodles · March 6, 2020

Have 2017 Chevy Suburban Premier - just over 1400 miles; wife's car; battery went dead yet had it on a battery tender regularly since she doesn't drive it much & would crank it up every now & then to keep battery up & just run things. DIC was first showing service battery/charging system; then DIC started reading check trailer brake system (mind you, two separate DIC readings now---first it was the charging system, then the trlr brake system). Checked fuses, alternator, trailer brake module inside car----- put in new battery---seemed like that was it. Dead again. Removed trailer brake module inside car, (there are two---one underneath car in back where spare tire is & one inside car driver side dash. Trying to keep it simple, removed only the Trlr brake system module inside car driver side---seemed a bit loose. Plugged it back in. Everything was absolutely perfect!!! No DIC readings, car started right up, & everything appeared to function perfectly. (Note: When we would restart the car at different intervals of trying to source the problem, the DIC would also read "roll driver window, passenger window up and down"! Crazy!!) Everything started right up, all normal indicators. Soooo-----

After a couple days sitting (yesterday) I tried starting car with keyfob---started fine. Later on in afternoon, wife went to start up with push button igition inside car, sounded low on startup. Oh, oh. She didn't drive but sat in car trying to identify DIC readings, there were none except a DIC reading popped up after she closed & locked the door, so she couldn't read the DIC. Went out this morning to trying to start---deader than a doornail.

Bought service manual books because warranty will eventually run out & service dealer has exemplified extremely poor servicing of my local 2018 Chevy Silverado HD3500 Truck ----made me sit 2-3 hours while waiting for a scheduled apptmt to fix truck, then tell me they have to order part & will call when available---has been over a month & they have not called yet---they have never left a message. Have had service on truck when traveling at dealers out of state, & they have been wonderful. (Two issues on truck have a sensor & another computer-related.)

Something is definitely drawing on the battery, so some special notes for you:

-The radio kept coming on when we would start the car; yesterday wife shut it off completely (still learning about how to use features since she doesn't drive much) so we will see if it comes on again after shutting off (assuming I can get the car running again)---did have Sirius Satellite on promotion of vehicle---it just expired a month or two ago; read one guy went through 4 batteries; read another guy was charged $1200 & had same problem after leaving shop;

-Have On Star capability, but do not subscribe to it. Read one guy found that the drain was the On Star feature;

-Haven't checked my rear trlr module yet.

-Also read somewhere yesterday that you can reset the computer system back to the original defaults---haven't tried yet. Have to find that info again, get the car going again, & may try that first.

-Also read somewhere that it can take a couple of hours for computer system "things" to shutdown after car turnoff---

-I do have a slight spark when I reconnect battery. (You do have to "fake" the hood closed when starting it when hood up.)

Haven't been able to drive car for at least 3 weeks.

After 7:00am this am restart try, dead battery again, recharged battery, reconnected--(still arcing). Now 10:30am today, restarted car via push button ignition inside car (not keyfob start), everything seems ok---still got DIC msg to roll driver/passenger window down & up on initial startup. A few minutes later after full shutoff & door locking, restarted it a second time via inside care press button ignition (not keyfob start) ---did NOT get the "window up & down message". Now letting car sit to see how it drains off again & going back to researching problem.

Did you find out what your problem was? We think it will continue to drain off again---

Black02Silverado · March 6, 2020

Just a thought but just because it is fairly new doesn't mean it is good. You can have it checked. Where did you get it from?

Oodles · March 7, 2020

You are right in what you are indicating----I am giving up and planning on taking it in next week as it is under warranty (praying that it holds a charge on the way to the dealer) & do like another person I read did---leave it running when I get there, or the dealer will have to push it. On the flip side of the coin, if I don't learn how to do this myself when it's no longer new, & given I have already had 2 issues on my new 2018 truck (I'd love to tell you my experiences with those---on long distance trips---not good!! Again, out of state dealers on those two issues were great, but situation tenuous/unsafe for me & my wife while travelling) until we got to the dealers. This will be an an ongoing cost issue, & unsafe travelling situation, not only for me---this is a major consumer issue---I've always repaired my own vehicles---always. & as I mentioned earlier, our local dealer still hasn't called to tell me my part is in for my truck & it has actually been over two months---this is not a shipping problem from China---if the dealer can't be responsible for taking care of my truck properly, I don't trust them to work on my new car. When a vehicle costs more than my first house did, and they have to go into the dealer within the first 2-3 years---our society has major problems & that is why the car manufacturers & dealers are having major problems. Other people are having issues on their new vehicles as well---there is absolutely no excuse---none whatsoever. However, I do appreciate your input---if you have an idea on what the problem could be, please let me know. Am reading my manuals & forums over the weekend in the meantime so I can try to learn---thanks again for your input.

Oodles · March 10, 2020

RE JR1406's issue: Fair warning to all re changing battery if under warranty---don't change battery! Warranty will not cover anything that is not GM after initial factory install. Also, EVERYTHING involves the software---read the Warranty part about the software. Call the GM Towing Assistance # & have your vehicle towed to save the warranty!!! Also, read the part about the software----anytime you disconnect a battery, for whatever reason, the radio definitely loses its preset. Also, we discovered re our '18 Chevy Silverado HD 3500 Diesel from an out of state Chevy dealer, if you only drive the vehicle for very short distances regularly after servicing, the speedometer may not read correctly after work performed on it. Recommendation, after changing a battery/disconnecting/reconnecting a battery, get in that vehicle & take it out for a drive running it over 55 mph. The computer program will reset/reprogram everything. We had given up on our Chevy 2017 Suburban Premier after having changed the battery, & decided to take it in. Started fine this morning, but got another DIC service warning (Service Park Assist) before driving it out of the driveway. Got down to dealer, got ticked about changing a battery voids warranty, decided to leave dealer, started vehicle to go back home, everything perfect!!!! So now we are home, letting the vehicle sit & will start it up again later on to see how it does. Also, in all of our research, came across when you are in Accessory mode, don't sit with your foot on the brake. (Pg 5 of "Getting to Know Your 2017 Tahoe/Suburban"). LOTS of tech stuff on these. As a note, we do not use our vehicle hardly ever---& when we do, we just start it up but don't drive it anywhere (2017 with 1100 miles on it). This could be part of our problem because we put a battery tender on it as the User Manual/Care Maintenance states for low use/"storage". So putting the battery tender on keeps reconnecting/connecting all the computer programming stuff. & we haven't been driving it after we remove the tender---so we will see as time goes on here. Hope this helps someone.

Oodles · March 27, 2020

Oodles here again. Problem continuation....New battery does not hold charge---new battery is definitely not the issue. Made a special temporary adapter for battery & negative cable so could easily switch to charger w/o disconnecting negative cable from battery & messing up computers. car seems to hold charge with this temporary adapter for battery & negative cable rig, but when remove & let negative cable work alone, starts to drain battery rapidly. Have read somewhere, not necessarily in this website, there have been issues in earlier models with bad negative cables. Been 4-5 weeks w/o a 2017 Chevy suburban with only 1025 miles on it. Any ideas would be appreciated. Still studying. Have also checked fuses under hood for parasitic drain---all are good.

Madb63 · September 29, 2020

Hey guys, I have the same problem on our 2016 ltz. Any new info on this problem?

AFS · December 29, 2020

I have noticed that the computer will start up when you open doors and won't shut off for a while. My phone will hook up to bluetooth by just walking by, or stay hooked up after I have parked for hours.