Jump to content

Help please!!!

elleronnie
 Share

Recommended Posts

elleronnie New Member

elleronnie

Posted
Posted

Okay, so I bought a 2004 Chevy Silverado 1500 (5.3L) last August. It has 230,000 miles on it. From the weekend I brought it home I started having problems. The worst problem is that every single time I shut it off, the battery is getting drained by something. Like it's completely dead, no lights or anything. I tried replacing the battery, twice. Learned the hard way how to ruin one. It sat at the Chevrolet dealership for a month with their mechanics trying to figure it out. They fixed my leaking problems but not the thing that matters. I have not yet tried replacing alternator, that is my next step. If the alternator were the case, could it get this bad to where it drains the battery everytime it gets shut off? It drives perfectly fine, but who cares about that if I can't even start it. 

 

It will start with a jump, just thought I'd make that clear.  I'm a 19 year old girl so don't attack me for anything. I just need help. 

Black02Silverado Senior Enthusiast

Black02Silverado

Posted
Posted

Hello, and welcome to GMT.  

Start with cleaning all the ground points around the truck.  Take them off, clean them up and make sure they make good contact.  The alternator can be the issue, you can take it off and take it to a shop to have it checked.  There is an alternator/generator repair shop here that does great work and can test for all kinds of issues.  Hopefully you have one close to you.  Not sure if the auto part stores can do a full test but it couldn't hurt.  At least taking it off is easy. As for testing it on the truck that is possible but to me the best way is to take it off.  At least that is my experience.

 

How long does it take to drain the battery?  Overnight, within a few hours or longer?

CamGTP Senior Enthusiast

CamGTP

Posted
Posted

If you have a digital multi meter you can also do a draw test on the electrical system. There are many youtube video's out there to help with doing that test.

 

Basically you slowly start removing fuses and relays to figure out the draw.

elleronnie New Member

elleronnie

Posted
  • Author
Posted
21 hours ago, Black02Silverado said:

Hello, and welcome to GMT.  

Start with cleaning all the ground points around the truck.  Take them off, clean them up and make sure they make good contact.  The alternator can be the issue, you can take it off and take it to a shop to have it checked.  There is an alternator/generator repair shop here that does great work and can test for all kinds of issues.  Hopefully you have one close to you.  Not sure if the auto part stores can do a full test but it couldn't hurt.  At least taking it off is easy. As for testing it on the truck that is possible but to me the best way is to take it off.  At least that is my experience.

 

How long does it take to drain the battery?  Overnight, within a few hours or longer?

Thank you for the reply and tips. It only takes a few minutes for the battery to be completely dead. 

elleronnie New Member

elleronnie

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 5/11/2021 at 9:23 PM, CamGTP said:

If you have a digital multi meter you can also do a draw test on the electrical system. There are many youtube video's out there to help with doing that test.

 

Basically you slowly start removing fuses and relays to figure out the draw.

Already did this twice, found nothing sadly

elleronnie New Member

elleronnie

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 5/12/2021 at 12:39 PM, asilverblazer said:

A few minutes to completely drain the battery, something sounds like its shorted out, alternator? 

That's the 1 thing I haven't done yet. I did bring it to O'Reilly to test the alternator and they said it was fine... do I trust that or spend the $200 on a new one and hope for a miracle?

BlancoSilverado Enthusiast

BlancoSilverado

Posted
Posted

Disconnect the alternator (completely) and see if the battery still drains, if it doesn't then buy a new one, if it does still drain, then it not the alternator. 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Coastie05
      2027 GMC Sierra: Official Discussion

      By Coastie05 · Posted

      Sure, but they do have some affordable options like the Trax, Trailblazer, Envista, and Encore. Some of these have a cheaper base price than the Civic, though the fuel economy isn’t as high. The main problem is that people WANT the highest trim with all the goodies and finance for like 7 years. That’s how ppl “afford” the more expensive vehicles. 
    • Jsdirt
      07 yukon xl 6.2 stalls at hot idle and wont restart

      By Jsdirt · Posted

      Holy s**t - not much of a parts thrower you say? You BLASTED that thing with the parts cannon!  You'd have been probably $1,000 ahead if you had just brought it to a competent shop rather than shotgunning a bunch of parts it clearly didn't need.   Just FYI - oil additives are really, REALLY good at ONE thing ... and that's emptying your wallet. They're ALL useless gimmicks.   If that has the L94 or L99, then #7 is an AFM cylinder. I'd suspect a failed lifter in that case.   If you leaned on wiring, sensors, and/or connectors while changing the oil, you'll have to check all that to be sure pins didn't get pulled out, connectors broken, etc.. Old wire loom that was barely adequate when new is certainly brittle by year 19 - make sure wires aren't chaffed and shorting out somewhere where you might have leaned. or supported yourself on it.   If your a mechanic, why didn't you just find out what you were missing and troubleshoot from there??  TIMED spark, fuel PSI / injector pulse, air, compression.  Can't make ANY money going the parts cannon route.
    • Jsdirt
      2027 GMC Sierra: Official Discussion

      By Jsdirt · Posted

      LOL! Are you joking?? That wax SUCKS! 100% gimmick made to "look" good.    After just TWO winters I had severe surface rusting in patches over 90% of the frame. Only reason it looks great in the pics is because I SATURATED the frame every single fall with used motor oil for 14 of the 16 years I owned it. Otherwise it would've been sent to the crusher 8 years earlier with the speed it was rusting prior!    I sold that POS 3 years ago. Was a gigantic headache the second it rolled off the showroom floor. Brakes pulsated on the TEST DRIVE. Door trim fell off the 1st week! Interior squeaked and rattled, and the drivetrain clunked after 2k miles. 4x4 switch failed shortly after. Front end - ball joints, struts, hub bearings - all failed between 38k-50k. Engine started burning oil at 50k. Rear and and transmission failed before 100k. Nothing but problems, and frustration with the piss-poor engineering designed to make you give up. Well, it worked! Nothing on that truck was easy to remove ... except the wheels. They haven't figured out how to screw that up yet. Give 'em time ...   I won't make that mistake again. EVER.   Such fond memories ... https://postimg.cc/K1qf23tS  https://postimg.cc/gallery/X02z64J  https://postimg.cc/gallery/mHSRXZv  https://postimg.cc/gallery/D4mMRfL
    • davester
      OBD not ready?

      By davester · Posted

      Different monitors do their test only under conditions specific to that monitor.  you MIGHT find the drive cycle conditions for the monitor that isn't ready on this site: https://lemon-manuals.la/   If it's not there, then it should be on alldata.com for your truck, but it requires a paid subscription.   And you need to know which specific monitor isn't ready.
    • RW2018GMC
      Me too……..

      By RW2018GMC · Posted

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...