2010 Suburban Alarm Drains the Battery

Steve Grundy · February 9, 2020

I need help. I have brought this in for service several times and they can't find the problem.

I'm now convinced the problem is the factory alarm system that came with my 2010 Suburban. If I park it and push once on the fob to only lock the doors, everything is fine. But if I push twice to lock the doors and activate the alarm, then when I come back a couple days later, the battery will be completely dead. When I charge the battery, almost immediately after connecting the charger, the alarm will go off, honking the horn, blinking the lights, etc. BTW, it does not drain from the alarm running too long without my knowledge. The alarm almost NEVER goes off except in this situation when I connect the charger. For a number of reasons I am positive that the alarm is not going off without my knowledge and running for so long it drains the battery. It is draining the battery without making a sound.

What can I do? I've seen instructions on how to remove the door panel and cut the alarm wires, but before I take that drastic action, is there anything else to try? Is there a way to adjust the alarm to maybe avoid the drain. Is there another way to disable it that is easier and/or less destructive than cutting the wires?

Thanks for your help!

Colossus · February 10, 2020

You have to press lock twice to set the alarm? And this is factory?

Steve Grundy · February 10, 2020

Yes., once locks, twice locks, and alarms, signaled by a horn honk.

KARNUT · February 10, 2020

16 hours ago, Steve Grundy said:

I need help. I have brought this in for service several times and they can't find the problem.

I'm now convinced the problem is the factory alarm system that came with my 2010 Suburban. If I park it and push once on the fob to only lock the doors, everything is fine. But if I push twice to lock the doors and activate the alarm, then when I come back a couple days later, the battery will be completely dead. When I charge the battery, almost immediately after connecting the charger, the alarm will go off, honking the horn, blinking the lights, etc. BTW, it does not drain from the alarm running too long without my knowledge. The alarm almost NEVER goes off except in this situation when I connect the charger. For a number of reasons I am positive that the alarm is not going off without my knowledge and running for so long it drains the battery. It is draining the battery without making a sound.

What can I do? I've seen instructions on how to remove the door panel and cut the alarm wires, but before I take that drastic action, is there anything else to try? Is there a way to adjust the alarm to maybe avoid the drain. Is there another way to disable it that is easier and/or less destructive than cutting the wires?

Thanks for your help!

How old is your battery? I have two vehicles with aftermarket alarms. The batteries in both last about two weeks without driving then the juice is too low to start. The batteries in both last about two years. After the first year after about a week of sitting they need a charge to to start. These are two different vehicles with two different alarms. Alarms activated or not.

swathdiver · February 10, 2020

17 hours ago, Steve Grundy said:

I need help. I have brought this in for service several times and they can't find the problem.

I'm now convinced the problem is the factory alarm system that came with my 2010 Suburban. If I park it and push once on the fob to only lock the doors, everything is fine. But if I push twice to lock the doors and activate the alarm, then when I come back a couple days later, the battery will be completely dead. When I charge the battery, almost immediately after connecting the charger, the alarm will go off, honking the horn, blinking the lights, etc. BTW, it does not drain from the alarm running too long without my knowledge. The alarm almost NEVER goes off except in this situation when I connect the charger. For a number of reasons I am positive that the alarm is not going off without my knowledge and running for so long it drains the battery. It is draining the battery without making a sound.

What can I do? I've seen instructions on how to remove the door panel and cut the alarm wires, but before I take that drastic action, is there anything else to try? Is there a way to adjust the alarm to maybe avoid the drain. Is there another way to disable it that is easier and/or less destructive than cutting the wires?

Thanks for your help!

Steve, Right, how old is your battery and do you drive enough to get it charged up? If the system is working right, the battery will discharge after about 3 weeks depending on the age of the battery and the state of charge the last time it was driven.

If you suspect a problem with the alarm system, you are going to need a bi-directional scan tool like the Tech-2 to see what the computers are seeing and diagnose this properly. A Tech-2 or equivalent can monitor the health of the battery, see parasitic draws and run other tests in addition to a whole lot more.

What kind of battery is in the truck now?

Steve Grundy · February 10, 2020

Thanks for the replies. I'm amazed if you guys are saying that even properly configured a car alarm will drain a perfectly healthy battery in 2-3 weeks if the car isn't driven. It just never occurred to me that if the battery is a couple years old it could be a little as less than a week to drain the battery and that would be "normal". I believe you, that just never occurred to me.

I'm not at my Suburban right now so I can't tell you the battery brand, but I can tell you it was new in the fall when I had the Chevy dealership check this out for the 2nd time. They installed a new battery that cost me $200, so I assume they knew what they were doing and it was a fairly good one.

It is very true I don't drive it very much. It sits for 2-3 days and then I drive it on the highway for about 2-3 hours, then that cycle repeats. I really don't have the need for an Alarm and I never set it intentionally. It gets set when someone borrows my car and then they lock it and arm the alarm. If you guys are saying that the behavior is "normal" then I think clipping the alarm wires in the driver's side door is the way I should go unless you guys have a better way of disabling it?

Thanks again for the responses.

swathdiver · February 11, 2020

19 hours ago, Steve Grundy said:

Thanks for the replies. I'm amazed if you guys are saying that even properly configured a car alarm will drain a perfectly healthy battery in 2-3 weeks if the car isn't driven. It just never occurred to me that if the battery is a couple years old it could be a little as less than a week to drain the battery and that would be "normal". I believe you, that just never occurred to me.

I'm not at my Suburban right now so I can't tell you the battery brand, but I can tell you it was new in the fall when I had the Chevy dealership check this out for the 2nd time. They installed a new battery that cost me $200, so I assume they knew what they were doing and it was a fairly good one.

It is very true I don't drive it very much. It sits for 2-3 days and then I drive it on the highway for about 2-3 hours, then that cycle repeats. I really don't have the need for an Alarm and I never set it intentionally. It gets set when someone borrows my car and then they lock it and arm the alarm. If you guys are saying that the behavior is "normal" then I think clipping the alarm wires in the driver's side door is the way I should go unless you guys have a better way of disabling it?

Thanks again for the responses.

If GM put the battery in for $200, it's probably a 48PG or 48 HPG from ACDelco. I'm not necessarily saying anything is wrong with the alarm system, I'm suggesting that your battery is not fully charged and when they are low, they can create electrical gremlins here and there. Put a battery tender on it.

swathdiver · February 11, 2020

Just thought of something, see if your truck has "Transport Mode", might have to google around.

Steve Grundy · February 11, 2020

Oh man, Transport mode would have been the perfect solution for me. It looks like that wasn't added to Suburbans until 2015 or so. When I try to turn it on in mine, nothing happens. I was hoping for an alternate solution like that.

Any other things like that to try short of cutting the wires?

xranger90 · February 12, 2020

Battery tender is a good addition, I would try it first.

swathdiver · February 12, 2020

15 hours ago, Steve Grundy said:

Oh man, Transport mode would have been the perfect solution for me. It looks like that wasn't added to Suburbans until 2015 or so. When I try to turn it on in mine, nothing happens. I was hoping for an alternate solution like that.

Any other things like that to try short of cutting the wires?

No, cause I don't think the alarm is the problem, you're not driving it regularly is. I've been ill for the last six months and haven't driven mine much either. The battery was out of warranty and getting weaker and weaker and would not hold a charge even after a long run. I was getting ready to replace it when I came across this item doing research. I bought it and not only is the battery kept on trickle charge, after a week it completely restored the battery to like new condition, likely extending its life another year or so.

https://www.batteryminders.com/1510-12-volt-maintenance-charger-desfulator-with-warranty

Bought it from Amazon.

Steve Grundy · February 13, 2020

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the advice. I have a battery tender, so I'll try using that for a while. It's typically on my Harley, so I'll need to buy another and I'd like to find one with a quick/easy disconnect so if one of my kids jumps in the Suburban and they forget to unplug it, it doesn't rip the outlet out of the wall. Any suggestions on one like that?

Also, just so it's clear, I don't think anyone is saying the alarm is broken. At least I'm not. I think what you guys are saying is that's normal behavior for a car alarm being armed on a car/truck that isn't driven that often. I definitely drive it less than most people, so that would seem to explain the issue.

I comment back after I've had the batter tender attached for a few weeks. The temperatures are supposed to be around zero for the next week or so, so it should be a fairly rigorous test of battery starting power. Maybe not even a fair test.

Remember, when a man opens a car door for his wife, it's either a new car or a new wife.

swathdiver · February 15, 2020

On 2/13/2020 at 3:33 AM, Steve Grundy said:

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the advice. I have a battery tender, so I'll try using that for a while. It's typically on my Harley, so I'll need to buy another and I'd like to find one with a quick/easy disconnect so if one of my kids jumps in the Suburban and they forget to unplug it, it doesn't rip the outlet out of the wall. Any suggestions on one like that?

Also, just so it's clear, I don't think anyone is saying the alarm is broken. At least I'm not. I think what you guys are saying is that's normal behavior for a car alarm being armed on a car/truck that isn't driven that often. I definitely drive it less than most people, so that would seem to explain the issue.

I comment back after I've had the batter tender attached for a few weeks. The temperatures are supposed to be around zero for the next week or so, so it should be a fairly rigorous test of battery starting power. Maybe not even a fair test.

Remember, when a man opens a car door for his wife, it's either a new car or a new wife.

That one I posted up there said you could maintain up to 5 batteries or something like that at once with more cords. I run the extension cord under the hood and leave the minder in there too. The tender hooks up easily to the battery so it takes but a moment to get the tender going.