I've owned my Tahoe for a little over 3 years now. Bought it with 144k, just rolled 250k. Overall it's been good to me but as of a few weeks ago, I'm wondering if there is something at work with the electrical system of this Tahoe or all 03-06 full size. Out of the blue this week, my battery died, like barely start the car died. I had the battery replaced 2 years ago under warranty by AAA because the prior owner had a new AAA battery put, you guessed it, about 2 years before that. This is now 2 batteries that are only making it 2 years before they give up the ghost.
Is this a function of, from what I've read, the gremlin-y electrical system of the 03-06 Tahoes, Subs, Silverados, or just a testament to poor quality batteries from the AAA Auto Club battery truck? Anyone else had this?
I wouldn't consider $100 a cheap battery. Now the $60 battery at Walmart, that is a cheap battery. Every other vehicle and battery I've ever owned went at least 4 years. 2 years seems unreasonable to me.
You mean good like the junkyard battery that's been in multiple vehicles and working for me for almost 5 years now? That has been a good battery. Define good???
charge the battery and have it load tested. If it tests good and holds a charge for a few days, youre going to have to start troubleshooting the vehicle.
I suspect it's a case of the 12 month free replacement battery they're putting in there lasting 2 years. Charging it and seeing where it rests after it sits will tell the tale, a load test wouldn't hurt either. If it is in fact a bad battery, put an XS Power in there from me and don't worry about it for 6-10 years.
The AAA battery is actually 36 months free replacement, then prorated out to 7 years after that. One caveat.....you only get one 36 month free replacement battery out of the deal. I tried to get this one warrantied when it started to give up the ghost at 24 months. The 36 months does not reset with each new battery....it is only from the original purchase date. :-/
Has no one else heard or read about the electrical gremlins that afflicts 03-06 Gen 2 GMT800 trucks/suvs? I thought I read a thread about it here, maybe it was elsewhere.
The Interstate's 6V's I've had in my company scissor lifts were so-so. The Costco 6V's seem to last longer than the previous Interstate's I've used. YMMV......
Everyone seems to be overlooking the fact that something with the truck might be prematurely wrecking these batteries. Barring aftermarket electrical devices (remote start, security, etc) causing problems, I'd look into checking for a parasitic draw. You probably drive your truck often enough that it goes unnoticed in day to day operation, yet is heavily discharging your battery in between every ignition cycle, which will wreck any battery in short fashion.
And yes, the GMT 800's do have electrical problems; dash clusters among other things.
Thank you for the reply. This is what I was referencing. I know over the years, I have seen threads come up about electrical issues. As you said, dash clusters, HVAC controls, electric seats, etc. As an example my driver seat now is backwards on the switch to slide the seat forward/backward. It wasn't always like this, but has been for about 2 years. Push forward on the switch, seat goes backwards, and vice versa. It supposedly can be fixed by a flash at the dealer, but nonetheless, it is an "electrical gremlin." At some point, I should try to see if there is a parasitic draw that is constantly doing a number on the battery. Or who knows....some day I may or someone else may figure out the cause of these issues. Thanks.
Why do you want so badly for there to be an "electrical gremlin"? Why do you flat refuse to accept that you just got jank batteries.
If you had an electrical issue in the truck you would know it, parastatic draw would kill the battery and you would have to jump it off to start it.
Srsly, WTF is wrong with you, you're like the guy that watches a tv commercial about how broccoli can cure cancer so you run out and buy 7 tons of broccoli, gullible and assume the worst.
Another thread where OP knows the answer but asks the question anyways, then spends 4 pages trying to convince everyone he was right, but he didn’t know in the first place which was why he asks. It is one of those ‘full circle’ things.
View media item 48796Well guys and galls, I used to have a 02 Tahoe Z71, I kept it all original and had it as a daily driver. Then I started to have issues like what is discussed above. I in the end replaced the Alternator for a brand new one, I installed a larger battery that I could fit in it and it still didn't make a difference. It got so bad that I would go into work (Truck Driver) and only 10 hours later, the battery would be stone dead. In fact it would only read less than 12 volts. Yes I did have both the battery and the system tested and I could not find anything.
After some digging, I did find out that it still had the old Analog OnStar system and a good friend of mine told me, he was part of the group that did the change over from Analog to Digital. He said that Onstar would sometimes send out a all call to all the vehicles out there with the system with updates and the Analog system would still get the wake up signal but because it could not understand the digital, it would just sit idle on and waiting for an answer, Stereo, amp and all.
I disconnected the amp under the glove box and found that I solved the issue, no more discharge. Only problem now is I have no radio too. So I reinstalled the amp and went searching for the OnStar unit. I found it behind the dash gauges. It took some work and doing but I managed to yank it out and tape up the connections.
This still didn't solve the issue thou, it still discharge the battery, sometimes as fast as 5 hrs dead from full. I did read about that Onstar system is in two parts to prevent easy disconnection. The second part in the back somewhere.
I at this time just gave up on it, Tired calling friends or co-workers for a boost at 3am in the morning when its -40 below.
I went to the dealer in Jan 2014, and traded it in for a new 14 Silverado 1500. Hay I did get $1000. for it on trade in which was more than the black book suggested.
Hope my findings, sweat and tears help you here.
Oh by the way, there was just one thing that I did hear, a electrical buzz sound every now and then from the stereo. Never did find the cause of that. Could be related.
That's a really well thought out and helpful post,but 10 hrs≠2 years. Op just bought a shitty battery and it died idk why this thread has turned into this silliness.
Sounds to me like someone never had a bug in their system before. Not everyone can afford to take it to the dealer when it decides to burp the wrong way. Sometimes you have to get dirty and look for the problem yourself.
Maybe you didn't really understand his post. The original post was about a battery going dead after 2 years, twice. The long post was about his findings when it was getting killed in 10 hrs. 10 hrs vs 17,520 hrs. The scenarios are very very different. A dead battery in 10 hrs is a "bug", and most people will try to find a solution on their own before taking it to a dealership (or any other shop) out of warranty. That is what the original poster is doing, minus accepting the solutions offered.
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