Battery dying
 

Hello everybody ive had quite a issue on my hand the past few weeks and its driving me nuts!! Okay so long story short i have a 00 silverado single cab with the 5.3 and 130k miles and it runs like a top! But shes not the prettiest the previous owner was in a front end wreck with it. So i picked it up and drove it for a few months and got new hood, fenders, bumper, grill, core support for 350 off of craigslist. Well now that ive installed the new fenders and support and hood something is killing my battery fast! I mean within 30 mins it wont start the truck ive checked my grounds everything seems fine. If i charge the battery up and take it out of the truck itll hold 12.56 volts no problems at all. So hopefully someone can shed some light on this thank you.

Whats the batteries history?

You'll want to check to see how old the battery is for starters, maybe you got a new one when you did all the work? If it's new I'd say pull the alternator. If the alternator is out the battery will only hold the charge that it can at one time without being recharged, then you'll die. I know a few places will check your alternator (and battery) for free if you have pull them out. AutoZone would be the best place to tell you.

Well they said the alternator was good and they said the battery was fine it holds a charge but does have low cranking amps for the truck but still shouldnt be dying. Any idea if im missing some important ground cause this thing is draining fast. If i leave it overnight itll be dead in the morning and i mean dead enough to not even turn on any gauges radio nothing.

Do you have a voltmeter? If so, with it running what is the voltage? If it is 14 or so, turn on the lights, does it drop (voltage)? If not replace the battery, you can use a hydrometer if it is a wet cell to check SG at each cell.

Ive got a multimeter if thats what you're referring to.

Yes. ...

Okay sounds good do i just simply test the volts on battery when the lights are off then on? And if it doesnt its the battery thats bad?

Yes, that will tell you with lights off or on the alternator is keeping the voltage to where it should be. If it is, and the battery is dead, for the most part, need a battery.

If you have a multimeter select it to DC amps, remove a battery cable and put the multimeter leads between the battery and cable that you have removed. You should have no draw from the battery. If you are indicating a draw on the multimeter, start pulling fuses one at a time to see which circuit is drawing the current from the battery and go from there.

Hope this helps.