Help: Problem with parasitic draw 2007 Tahoe

Dozerboy

Dozerboy

Well-known member
Jun 23, 2009
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My wifes 2007 Tahoe has been killing batteries since we got it used in 2008. It got drove daily so we didn't know there was a problem. It would just kill a battery every few years. First dealer said it was a bad alternator. Year later same problem, but they weaseled out of fixing under any warranty. They trouble shot it for free saying it was the battery cables and wanted $500 to fix it. I told them to pound sand they lost me as a customer since I told them it wasn't the alternator last year. I checked the cables no shorts and none of them had high resistance. With a good battery it would take 5 days of sitting to draw the battery down. I checked the parasitic draw and it would jump to 200ma at times, but wasn't constant. Pulled all the fuses and none of the fuses had any affect on the draw.

I've herd of similar issue being fixed with new battery cables and/or a new BCM. I really have my doubts its the cables. Is there a way to check to see if its the BCM? Does the dealer have to install the BCM so it can get programed?

Any other ideas my wife is ready to sell this thing if I don't fix it for good.
 
O

onebaddmaxxx

Active member
Feb 22, 2009
1,212
1
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Cecil County Md
You could pull the knee panel and unplug it when your reading your draw.

Yes dealer has to program it to the vehicle no way around it unless you know someone with an MDI or tech2.

Feel the underneath of the seats (the heated parts) and see if they feel warm. Iv replaced a ton of heater elements that stay stuck on and cause big draws.
 
ironmax

ironmax

chock full of goodies
Jul 7, 2010
502
27
28
Col. Ohio
I'm going to work on a 08 suburban today with similar problems. It was supposedly hit by lightning. I'll post up if I find anything.
 
duratothemax

duratothemax

<--- slippery roads
Aug 28, 2006
7,139
10
0
Wyoming
You said you tried pulling all of the fuses, but the 200mA intermittent draw still occurred?

How is that even possible......
 
Chevy1925

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,667
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Phoenix Az
Dozerboy said:
My wifes 2007 Tahoe has been killing batteries since we got it used in 2008. It got drove daily so we didn't know there was a problem. It would just kill a battery every few years. First dealer said it was a bad alternator. Year later same problem, but they weaseled out of fixing under any warranty. They trouble shot it for free saying it was the battery cables and wanted $500 to fix it. I told them to pound sand they lost me as a customer since I told them it wasn't the alternator last year. I checked the cables no shorts and none of them had high resistance. With a good battery it would take 5 days of sitting to draw the battery down. I checked the parasitic draw and it would jump to 200ma at times, but wasn't constant. Pulled all the fuses and none of the fuses had any affect on the draw.

I've herd of similar issue being fixed with new battery cables and/or a new BCM. I really have my doubts its the cables. Is there a way to check to see if its the BCM? Does the dealer have to install the BCM so it can get programed?

Any other ideas my wife is ready to sell this thing if I don't fix it for good.
Click to expand...

what is aftermarket in the rig? (any and all aftermarket parts that use vehicle electricity)
 
T

testdrive

Member
May 28, 2013
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If I remember correctly back around 2008 GM released a service bulletin about some ECMs that were not going to sleep after ignition was turned off. The fix was an new flash for the ECM. After shutdown the ECM does some housekeeping and then goes into the minimal power draw.
I no longer have access to these bulletins, maybe someone can look it up.

As Ben suggested with amp meter in line start with the ECM fuse and keep going until draw is gone.
 
Dozerboy

Dozerboy

Well-known member
Jun 23, 2009
4,892
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TX of course
Sorry I'm swamped at work and after a 12+hr day I don't much care mess with this crap.

duratothemax said:
You said you tried pulling all of the fuses, but the 200mA intermittent draw still occurred?

How is that even possible......
Click to expand...

Yep one at a time though. Should I do it again and not reinstall them after I pull each one?

x MadMAX DIESEL said:
Short to wire with power.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I just don't see a short being intermittent like that. I would start pulling fuses and pausing after every one waiting to see if there was a change in draw. Before I could pull every fuse I had the draw drop 3 or 4 times. I would reinstall and wait until the draw was high again and pull the fuse again to see if the draw would change. I never could duplicate the drop in draw it was totally random. It never took more then an hour or 2 before the draw would be high again. Before checking the draw I'm sure I let the vehicle sit for several hours if not over night to try and make sure everything was dead. It took me the better part of a day to pull all the fuses. Having to wait for the draw to come back up after it dropped.

Chevy1925 said:
what is aftermarket in the rig? (any and all aftermarket parts that use vehicle electricity)
Click to expand...

100% stock loaded with everything but navigation. On Star isn't active if that would make a difference.

testdrive said:
If I remember correctly back around 2008 GM released a service bulletin about some ECMs that were not going to sleep after ignition was turned off. The fix was an new flash for the ECM. After shutdown the ECM does some housekeeping and then goes into the minimal power draw.
I no longer have access to these bulletins, maybe someone can look it up.

As Ben suggested with amp meter in line start with the ECM fuse and keep going until draw is gone.
Click to expand...

I'll see if there are any outstanding service bulletin, but you would think the dealer would of checked that. I know when you open the door on this thing all kinds off stuff seems to turn on like the CD/DVD player.



I did have a few fuses that after I pulled them did drop the draw a little, but combined didn't come close to 200ma. Its been a year or 2 since I checked all this and I need to check it again. I'm not sure if the draw has gone up or the battery is getting weak. If we park it on Friday by Sunday the battery is down to 12v or just under. Come Monday the it won't crank over if I don't put a charger on it on Sunday.
 
ty_LBZ

ty_LBZ

Camaro killa
Dec 6, 2014
297
1
16
Farmington, NM
I would take a pic of the fuse panel (so you know where the fuses go) have someone watch the multimeter as you pull ALL fuses, one by one, including the ones on the interior side panel. I bet it's the radio or onstar
 
cdbright

cdbright

JUST RENT IT
Dec 16, 2008
1,010
7
38
43
Salt Lake City, UT
my co worker had the same issue after a handfull of dealerships replaced everything on the truck and it still did it, he went and traded it off
 
Dozerboy

Dozerboy

Well-known member
Jun 23, 2009
4,892
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Well I finely had some time to mess with this. I think its the BCM, but the 10A IS LPS(Interior Lamps) circuit is throwing a wrench in the works. The draw is 170-180ma both of them seem to drop draw 160ma. Sometimes it seemed like one or the other would drop the draw other times it seemed to take both fuses being pulled. I'm pulling the 10A BCM and 10A IS LPS fuses that you access by opening the drivers door.

I'm wondering if there should be any overlap in those 2 circuits? The dome lights don't work with either fuse pulled. My guess is because the BCM actually controls the dome light so without the BCM no dome light.

I'm going to do a more long term test to see if I can nail it down. Just checking off GMs site there are no Recalls due. Not sure how accurate that is or if the BCM recalls for tahoes has been done on it.

Anyone got any other ideas?
 
Dozerboy

Dozerboy

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Jun 23, 2009
4,892
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Update
Damn SOB is fixed now. BCM didn't do it. I had to take it to an electronic specialist. Took them almost 2 weeks to fix it. It was totally intermittent. There is a TSB out for the issue that claims it's caused by aftermarket equipment. Nothing aftermarket on it though. They ended up installing a relay on the interior lights inadvertent power wire to the BCM to stop it from waking up the BCM. I think I'm describing that correctly. The TSB that describes the issue is 06-06-03-009.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
Dozerboy

Dozerboy

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Jun 23, 2009
4,892
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$600ish. After $500 for the BCM that I didnt need at another shop. GM replaced a few parts trying to fix it years ago under warranty. I should of just said F-it and just kept putting batteries in it every few years. But I hate things not working like they should. It would stress my wife out when the battery would start getting weak since she never knew when she would come out to a dead battery.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
WVRigrat05

WVRigrat05

Wound for sound
Jan 1, 2011
3,081
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French Creek, West Virginia
I know the feeling, if my LLY sat longer than a day with all the extra shit I left on all the time it was dead as a door nail.

My LMM had original batteries in it up until last year, it seems to like to drain the batteries after setting a week or so now, but three days is really fast, my wife would have pulled her hair out and mine.
 
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