New Battery is drained

[lordathey]

Hello Everyone, 

 

My truck is a 2014 silverado with the 5.3 liter. In December the original battery died, which was weird because it was perfectly fine the night before. I figured the battery was old, so I replaced it. Everything has been fine until today when I go to start my truck and I'm getting clicking from the starter. The battery wasn't completely dead because the radio and the lights turned on, but weird because I had just drove the truck 6 hours prior to that. The only mod I have that would be related is a heated steering wheel. I didn't have time to troubleshoot it much this morning. I threw a trickle charger on it and will check on it later. I have been keeping an eye on the volt meter and it seems to be above 14, so I don't think it is the alternator. Any ideas to try? 

[1SLOW1500]

Date battery is low or dead and truck runs it should idle a little higher even after temp is 180* +. And if you look at the gauge it should lot odd as it should be around 15+volts. 15.1v on my digital gauage. However if your saying the radio and lights where on you need the pcm looked at because the truck should have turned those off anyways then when it sees the temp or voltage low it should really start shutting items down. 

I have had a few days the radio settings are gone after driving for 5 minutes they come back. 

[lordathey]

Going to start it up when i get home after leaving it on the trickle charger. The volt gauge was reading around 15 yesterday when I was driving it, but I can check it with my volt meter. Well when I first turned the truck on the lights came on, but after the third time turning the key the lights were off. I guess I will keep an eye on it to see whats going on. 

[Donstar]

Before diving too deep into potential gremlins, rule out the simple stuff.  Your new battery could be faulty or you could have a poor connection to the battery terminals.

[lordathey]

I was thinking the new battery maybe bad. Can they test the battery while in the vehicle? I always just take it in, but I don't have an extra car anymore. I will double check the connections on the terminals tonight to verify, but I torque them to spec when I installed the battery. 

[alexg]

mine did the same thing and found out one of the terminals was loose.....and worked fine for couple months before went out.....and when i replaced it seemed like the terminal doesnt tighten very well u can still move very little if u twist but hasnt given me any issues w new battery yet

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[wforrest08]

21 minutes ago, lordathey said:

I was thinking the new battery maybe bad. Can they test the battery while in the vehicle? 

Yes any dealer, independent shop, battery shop, or most auto parts stores can. These trucks are also prone to problems with the negative cable I wouldn’t rule that out either.

[lordathey]

Thanks @wforrest08 if I get to drive it tomorrow I will take it over to the napa where I bought the battery and have them test it. I might just buy a new negative cable to be on the safe side. Can anyone link a part number for an updated battery cable?

[lordathey]

Called the local dealer and got the part number 84319729. They wanted 116 dollars, so I ordered one off ebay for 67 dollars and some change. 

[L86 All Terrain]

I don't drive my 6.2L in the winter, but I go out and start it every once in a while. My OEM died last year and a put a new gel battery in. I can leave the truck for a month and go start it in -10f no problems. You definitely have a large parasitic draw somewhere to kill a new battery overnight. The only issues I have heard of were the negative cable as Forrest noted. You don't have a dozen things plugged into your 12v's overnight right? Swap that cable out and try again, or just check the ground where it connects to the chassis, sometimes it can get corroded.  

[lordathey]

The only thing plugged in is a 12v phone charger and I don't have anything plugged into that. 

[Donstar]

1 hour ago, lordathey said:

Called the local dealer and got the part number 84319729. They wanted 116 dollars, so I ordered one off ebay for 67 dollars and some change. 

Keep the new cable in its original packaging in case this isn't the problem. No sense replacing a perfectly good cable.  

[lordathey]

Charged the battery and the truck fired up. I cleaned and re-tighten the battery cables on Monday. Everything was good till this morning when the truck wouldn't start again. Check the battery cables and re-tighten them again. Used a jump box to get the truck started. New cable will be here today. Going to go over to napa and have them test the battery.   

[lordathey]

I also checked the alternator and it is charging at 15.1 volts. 

[Logan Lanfear]

Sounds like you got a bad battery if the cables are tight and making good connection.  See what NAPA says. Any warranty on the battery? What brand was it?