My GMT 800

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stutaeng

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The other day I brought my truck out of hibernation because of the issues I was having with my DD that I posted on here. Charged the battery and it fired up let it run and then drove around the block just to get the battery a good charge. Came out the next day and it was completely dead again. So today I took out the battery and I am going to swap it out at Costco. It’s sticker says 6/19 and it had a 36 month warranty so hopefully they will just swap it for me since it doesn’t seem to hold a charge anymore.
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I kept up with your other thread about the coolant issue. I knew I recognized the truck on your Avatar, LOL.

Hopefully your battery is the issue with your truck. Supposedly, some of the later GMT800 ('03+?) clusters have some lead-free solder that something happens to it over time and it will drain your battery. Cluster has to be sent off for solder re-flow. I bought an 04 project SUV and the seller told me that it had some battery drain issue and he said he thought it was the cluster. It's been sitting for a bout a year, but I want to get it back running. I did a draw on it a few times, and it's less than 50mA. About $175 IIRC for the cluster re-flow. There's a company up in your area that I was going to send mine to. BTW: I believe they can add the transmission temp. guage to your cluster ('03+ only) while they are at it, if it turns out to be that.

Edit: To rule out the cluster, you can just unplug it for a few days after you shut off the engine and leave it overnight, and see if the problem goes away.

Another issue it had on mine that was disclosed was an issue with the 4x4. I was crawling under there changing some O2 sensors and realized the harness to the TC was severed. I don't know if the drain was related to that, but I held off sending my cluster for the time being.
 
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98chevy2500SS

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Sounds like my grandpa's 05 2500HD, seems to have a parasitic draw that keeps killing the battery. My dad had installed a battery kill switch on it and that fixed the issue.
 

Wiscoburban

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I kept up with your other thread about the coolant issue. I knew I recognized the truck on your Avatar, LOL.

Hopefully your battery is the issue with your truck. Supposedly, some of the later GMT800 ('03+?) clusters have some lead-free solder that something happens to it over time and it will drain your battery. Cluster has to be sent off for solder re-flow. I bought an 04 project SUV and the seller told me that it had some battery drain issue and he said he thought it was the cluster. It's been sitting for a bout a year, but I want to get it back running. I did a draw on it a few times, and it's less than 50mA. About $175 IIRC for the cluster re-flow. There's a company up in your area that I was going to send mine to. BTW: I believe they can add the transmission temp. guage to your cluster ('03+ only) while they are at it, if it turns out to be that.

Edit: To rule out the cluster, you can just unplug it for a few days after you shut off the engine and leave it overnight, and see if the problem goes away.

Another issue it had on mine that was disclosed was an issue with the 4x4. I was crawling under there changing some O2 sensors and realized the harness to the TC was severed. I don't know if the drain was related to that, but I held off sending my cluster for the time being.
I didn’t realize the cluster could draw like that. I don’t think that’s my issue because I had mine all rebuilt by the guy in onalaska a few years ago. He did a really nice job and was very fast so I would defintely recommend him. I plan to do some digging into what’s drawing on it though.
 

Wiscoburban

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Sounds like my grandpa's 05 2500HD, seems to have a parasitic draw that keeps killing the battery. My dad had installed a battery kill switch on it and that fixed the issue.
I might end up going this route I would only need it when it sits for a couple weeks but it’s a lot easier to hit a switch then disconnect the cable every time
 

stutaeng

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I didn’t realize the cluster could draw like that. I don’t think that’s my issue because I had mine all rebuilt by the guy in onalaska a few years ago. He did a really nice job and was very fast so I would defintely recommend him. I plan to do some digging into what’s drawing on it though.
Do you have a DVOM? Hook up the battery terminal in series with the Amp measurement (don't try starting the engine or you'll blow the 10A internal DVOM fuse). They say 50mA is about as much as you want to see. The times I've done it on various of my cars it's been more like 20-30mA.

If it's more, start pulling fuses until you find the one that makes the drop back to normal. Aftermarket stuff like radios and alarms sometimes draw more.

My Moms' 05 Escape had a weird amp draw that turned out to be the left passenger door switch. It somehow got stuck driving, but sometimes stationary in the middle of the night. The alarm would sometimes go off randomly, and the dome light drained the battery. I had it for the weekend and couldn't find the culprit, until I did a search and found a lot of YT videos on the issue. The aftermarket replacement switches were around $150, and the reviews of reliability were mixed. I just opened the door panel and wired the switch directly. Problem fixed. Just no dome light when that door is opened, but Mom was okay with that.
 
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RedneckWithPaychecks

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I had the same issue with my Tahoe, turns out the heated seats were hooked up to the battery. For some reason I didnt realize this until I sat down and I got warm fast. I turned it on once and let it sit on for likely a week. Kinda want to pull the seats out and put them in my 89, but that'd be a downgrade.
 

Wiscoburban

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Haven’t been on in a while haven’t drove the truck a lot with gas but put it to work today
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Wiscoburban

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I had the same issue with my Tahoe, turns out the heated seats were hooked up to the battery. For some reason I didnt realize this until I sat down and I got warm fast. I turned it on once and let it sit on for likely a week. Kinda want to pull the seats out and put them in my 89, but that'd be a downgrade.
I don’t think that’s my issue because my seat heaters don’t work at all but thanks for the idea. It’s gotta be something one day I’ll take the time to track it down
 
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