09 cronic dead battery silverado 2500HD

[Rex in OTZ]

I had been dealing with a low battery/dead battery/no-start issue involving a work truck, a 09 chevy 2500HD with snow plow prep package, during plowing season had no real issues because we kept vehicle plugged in (had a battery buddy wired in with block heat) after we removed the snow plow and no longer plugged it in at night (temps in 40-50's) was needed, found battery dead after a week of sitting in the yard. battery shot wouldent take a charge, this issue been ongoing, just found out as per the chevy tech rep (anchorage ak) that this truck cant sit two weeks as it'd kill the battery, even a week of sitting idle is going to show signs of battery draw from all the crap Chevy put in the truck.
He recomended keeping a battery maintainer on the truck during the summer.
I'd ask'd about installing a battery disconect switch, he replied that would create more problems as the systems drawing off the battery would eventually have ther code scrambled and need a direct programing from a chevy authorized service center.





http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?p=1285572#post1285572

[mechanic]

Welcome to America, 2011.  This is true of many late models.  The small draw will never be noticed if the vehicle is driven on a daily basis, but in fact, most late models will kill a battery in a few days.  My old Jeep would do the same, and I only used it as a hunting/range  vehicle.  I insatalled a 1.5 amp motorcycle charger under the hood and wired it in, and left the ac cord tied off and barely visible in the grill.

If you are not going to drive it regularly, you will have to do something similar.

Ben

[garbhead]

My brother-in-law had a similar problem...turned out to be the light in the glove compartment

[243dave]

A solar panel that you plug into the cigarette lighter and put in the windshield to maintain the battery is easy to do and cheap(under $20).  According to the reviews, some people loved it and a few didn't, I recently bought one but haven't used it yet on my old truck that sits alot so I have no first hand experience.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200422045_200422045

[Lloyd Smale]

my o3 chev did the same and it was traced to the remote starter.

[Rex in OTZ]

This truck is the basic package, no remote starter, wish I had that to blame but dont, even the alternator thing sounds plasable till the techies tear that idea to ribbons.
Seems the clock radio and other trinkets are keeping the ole battery drained if not ran regulary.

 a cruel circle this squirrel cage turns.

[243dave]

Try a solar panel like the I posted about earlier.  For $20 and all you have to do is plug it into the cigarette lighter(one thats operational with the ignition off) and set it on the dash and it'll keep the battery charged.  Easy and cheap to do !!

[Rex in OTZ]

Lighter charger worked a little too well, that was a constant current charger, in NW alaska aka the land of the midnight sun the little charger worked a little too well, kept chareging around the clock for 2 weeks, in end it boiled off over half the electrolite in the battery, so had crippled battery in end, so now am wateing for new battery and a charge controller so you dont overcharge the battery, also has temp compensation, modulation chargeing and reverse polarity protection.

Dont just plug in one these and assume your set like I did in the end your dealing with about $180 in setting up correctly for non manned operation.

[243dave]

The particular one I put a link for is self regulating and will not over charge the battery(according to the manufacture) plus its got a blocking diode where during the night it won't discharge either.

[rockbilly]

HAd the same problem with my old Chevy farm truck, sometimes it sits for months without being started.  My friend who wworks at the local Chevy dealership told me it was the battery.  I finally broke down and bought a new battery, problem solved.

Evidently the old battery had been drained so much that it would no longer take a charge, you had to jump start the truck, it would re-start after a short shut down, but if it were more than 8-10 hours we had to pull out the jumper cables again.

[mechanic]

All new vehicles have computers....not just the ones that run the engine, but ABS computers, the clock and radio are computers.  It takes a minimal amount of energy to keep all these working and up to date.  Have you ever disconnected a battery and then noticed all your radio presets are gone, and the engine runs roughly for a short while?  To maintain the settings, there is a draw on the battery.  If its sits long enough, it will drain to low to crank, a problem exacerbated on a diesel engine which requires a lot of cranking amps.

If it's cold, multiply the problem several times.  All batteries lose reserve amps as they cool.

On late model autos, you will either have to run them often, or leave some sort of standby charger on them.  Just the way it is.

Ben

[Rex in OTZ]

As I remember from my battery theory class in Avation mechanics school,the ambiant air temp is 76F the battery only puts out like something like 80 percent of its amperage, the amperage drops with temprature.
Throw in some dirty posts, fray'd and oxidized cables and a tired starter a plane is going to have a hard time of starting.

[hillbill]

when yu do have a hot battery in it, take off the neg cable on the batt and rub it on the batt post, if yu get even tiny lil sparks. yu have a draw on the system. dissconnect the alt totally and do it again.if that dont work yu will have to keep unhooking stuff one at a time till yu dont get those lil sparks when yu rub the neg cable on the post.ive seen these newer alts charge jus fine but drain the battery over a few days.let us know what yu find? look close, it only takes a tiny draw to kill the battery over say a 3 day period.

[hillbill]

As I remember from my battery theory class in Avation mechanics school,the ambiant air temp is 76F the battery only puts out like something like 80 percent of its amperage, the amperage drops with temprature.
Throw in some dirty posts, fray'd and oxidized cables and a tired starter a plane is going to have a hard time of starting.

rex, yur absolutely correct! everrything yu say is right, but this is a 09 truk and ive worked on them and not seen a lot of corrosion on terminals that new.im curious to see what the prob is >?

[Rex in OTZ]

just replaced the battery, new round with Anchorage chevy tec rep, sfaxed me new PIT's
did do a paracitic battery drain test, he said you have to set meter for Min/Max DC amp draw, and leave it on over night as not all systems all turn on at same time and some cycle intermittantly.

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