Cheap Batteries?

[DMAX Daddy]

SO I put the new radio and stuff in my 2004 Suburban, but when I go to start it the battery is TOAST. I mean beyond toast. Yeah I was tinkering for a few hours, but it shouldnt be enough to trash the battery, should it?

 

I didnt short anything out or hook anything up wrong, Im just curious if our batteries are crap.

 

Thoughts?

[carguru]

Check to see if you have a leak at the battery terminals. This is one of the problems with the Delco batteries. Their weak points are cracks that develop in the plastic around the battery terminals.

[Peter_C]

Delco batteries are some of the best made. There will always be a few bad batteries in the batch and yours maybe one of them. I personally run AGM's (Not Cheap) and have two mounted in my Suburban.

[DMAX Daddy]

Didnt find any leaks, or any abnormal current draw on the battery.

 

It doesn't give me a warm fuzzy that every aftermarket battery I checked recommended 750 or above CCA and the stock one is only 600CCA....

[98torch]

well i have a 98 silverado z-71 with 550 cca battery so don't talk to me about problems it is also a deca if that means anything

[gixxer]

Slap an Optima Deep Cycle in there (yellow top) and enjoy your work!!!!!

[100R1]

New stereo install.

 

After market ?...... If yes high wat output ?

 

 

did you add external amps ?

 

If yes to any of the above, It can drain a battery much faster than a plain jane factory stereo. .... Been there done that!

 

 

one thing bad about flooded acid batteries for straight automotive use is that each time they are depleated (rub down) the ability for the battery to hold a full charge is diminished.

 

Basically My point is that perhaps before you received delivery of your truck the dealer had let the battery run down a few times. and now the battery is not able to maintain a full charge. I worked at a dealership at one time and we were allways having to jump start vehicles on the line due to various reasons of sales people / porter errors and draining batterys, And if the vehicle was on the back hold lot by the time they got ready to get up on the front line usually they were dead.

 

It's a 2004 is it under 12 monthe / 12,000 miles ? if yes take it back to the dealer have them test the battery & charging system, if the battery is defective they should give you a free one under the 12/12 warr.

[DMAX Daddy]

Yes new stereo. no AMPS, just the Nav Upgrade for the BOSE system, and I only had the key on long enought to put the dash back together.

 

I'm figuring the display draws way more amps than the regular radio, but after an hour it shouldnt have fried it that bad. Been putting high output military radios (among other "toys") into vehicles for 20 years, never seen one die that fast.

 

But since I have gotten it started, it shows no effects. Still going to have them check it next oil change. Our battery tester at work shows it as borderline. If I was putting it in a vehicle going to the desert, I would change it.

[redvett]

SO I put the new radio and stuff in my 2004 Suburban, but when I go to start it the battery is TOAST.  I mean beyond toast.  Yeah I was tinkering for a few hours, but it shouldnt be enough to trash the battery, should it?

 

I didnt short anything out or hook anything up wrong, Im just curious if our batteries are crap.

 

Thoughts?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

First of all was the battery fully charged? An Alternator cannot charge a battery fully like a generator. 75% charge is about the best you can do. Use a variable rate charger. I see your truck is a 04 burb so its under warrenty. Take it to the dealer and have it checked if its no good they will replace it.

[sperry]

In my case, the stock Delco battery did the same thing after a 2 hour movie the kids watched. This was just after a 5 hour drive! Twice similar - prior and twice after.

 

The dealer ran the checks (took them a while too) They said nothing was found. Then those "twice after" occurances. I didn't feel it was right carrying a battery booster around for my new truck!

 

I now have three AGM batteries (Odyssey) that I can switch in or out as needed. only rather strange that I hadn't had to, except for good reason!

 

Yes, any mfg. can have a bad individual or line of a product but their tests didn't leave me satisfied. They won't warranty a battery that passes their tests, so I dropped it in my S10. However, I rarely drive that truck and a float "maintainer" stays on it. So I can't be very objective on the outcome.

 

BTW, GM calls it a Generator now... "Alternator" isn't found in the SI anymore. Must be a copyright thing or a complaint from Chrysler for using the term. ???

 

Some may find this rather interesting:

Techlink: GM Voltage control - Charging