Battery Dead- Truck Is In The Shop

[Dontech]

My truck is in the shop for the battery dieing for no reason that I can find. There is no consistency or pattern. Some times it last months or not even a day. Sometimes it will die while I am work.

 

I have had the early BCM update that was suppose to fix this issue. I guess I will see what the dealer comes up with this time,

[Dontech]

Dealer said they found nothing but a sticking door lock. Does anyone know if this could be my problem?

[Huntervh]

Would that cause the overhead light to stay on?

[Dontech]

Not that I have ever noticed.

[Lincoln30]

IF the door lock sticking is causing the door lock actuator to not fully stroke each time you lock/unlock then it is feasible that this could cause a draw BUT there is an appropriate low-tech method to troubleshoot a battery draw and your dealer should not have to guess at this. The method involves hooking up a volt/ohm meter between the negative battery cable and the negative terminal on the battery to measure the current draw. If it's higher then expected then you start pulling fuses until you find the circuit with the excessive draw...then you attempt to find the problem with that circuit.

[Dontech]

I would try that my self but what is a normal draw?

[Lincoln30]

Dealer said they found nothing but a sticking door lock. Does anyone know if this could be my problem?

 

 

I would try that my self but what is a normal draw?

 

It's been posted here before and I don't recall the exact number. I assume that if your battery is good and it's discharging within a few days then you should expect to see a draw over 1 amp. I suspect that "normal" is going to be something like 300 mA.

[minibike132]

It's more like 30ma but your going to see very high draw for up to 2 hours after shut down and most meters turn themselves off with that long of inactivity. I have a long post somewhere recent detailing how and why we test the way we do, I'll see if I can find it.

 

Edit:Take a look AT THIS.

[Dontech]

Just wanted to give a up-date on what the dealer told me when I went and picked up the truck today.

 

I was told that the door lock is apart of many circuits in the truck, and that it is monitored by the BCM. When my door lock was not moving all the way it was affecting the BCM and there for killing the battery.

 

Since the door locks made full stroke the majority of the time the truck was ok. If the switch was not made for a period of time it would kill the battery.

 

I am going to take it for what it is worth and wait to see if this fixes the problem. I really don’t know if this is true or not.

[minibike132]

Good diag Lincoln.

[Gray Ghost]

Rub some scate oil on the locks!!! that should do 'er!!! Glad to hear ya got her back.

[GMCrazy777]

i dont know if this is the same deal or not but my father in law bought a new colorado and if he leaves a cd in the player when he turns his truck off his battery would run down. he just got a recall on it.

[minibike132]

That's not the same deal, the radio's on the colorado's are staying alive sometimes with a cd inserted. Heads up though all of our radios will stay alive if you eject the cd and leave it sit in the slot, the radio stays alive wondering if you are going to remove the cd or put it in, please remove them all the way if you are going to eject them.

[Dontech]

It's more like 30ma but your going to see very high draw for up to 2 hours after shut down and most meters turn themselves off with that long of inactivity. I have a long post somewhere recent detailing how and why we test the way we do, I'll see if I can find it.

 

Edit:Take a look AT THIS.

 

That is great information. Thanks.

 

My first instink was to use a clamp on Fluke but I guess I will use my 87 for any testing. I hope that the dam door lock was the problem.