biglg

That same ebayer has a 200 amp isolator as well.

73shark

And what you really need is to have the accessories run off the secondary, starting and ignition, and exterior lighting off the primary. That way when the radio, DVD, etc run down the secondary, you can still start and run the truck. I suspect that this is what the GM parts/kit does.

07tahoe

https://chevroletforum.com/m_14625/mpage_3/key_/tm.htm

tj

Well the "dead battery" syndrome hit me again for the second time. The truck is now about 6 months old. First time it happened, less than a month after I bought it, I played the DVD for about an hour without running the engine and got the click-click-click when I went to start it. Maybe somewhat understandable.

Tonight, I went to the carwash to get the salt off the truck. Pulled in the hand wash bay and just finished a quick rinse. The wife sat inside and listened to the radio. Granted it was about 28 degrees, but in about 5 minutes, I saw the wife motioning. The radio had shut off so I went to start the truck and yep, click-click-click.

I have to say that I am pretty dissappointed. Seems like this has happened to more than just a few people. Perhaps Chevy just got a bad lot of batteries but it's beginning to smell more like a design defect. I saw ZX's post about the 20 some-odd modules that get powered up but something this simple really burns my azz. As an Electrical Engineer I can tell you that figuring out the capacity of the battery is a simple problem taught in any curriculum with a basic circuits class. Does GM not hire qualified engineers? WTF?[]

Oh yeah, to put the icing on the cake, the first 3 people I asked to give me a jump wanted nothing to do with it. Some real nice people out tonight in MD.

shnormo

That sounds like my 2001 Chevy S10. I just said the hell with factory, I got a 200 amp alternator and an optima battery. PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

hmagallon

I own a 2007 LT3 and also experienced the same battery problem. Jump started the Tahoe one month from purchase date. Two weeks later woke up one morning andtried to remote startand battery was completely dead. Tried to jump start with another car and could not start the Tahoe. Tried a fully charged battery from my boat and would not work. Called the tow truck and had it towed to the dealer. (By the way the the tow driver mentioned he had picked up ten other 2007 Tahoe's with the same problem within a three month period.) Dealer checked it out and said the battery was bad and replaced itwith a new one. One week later in the morninggetting ready to go fishing and again adead battery. Took it to the dealer again, very disapointed. This time they determined it wasaBAD WIRING AND/OR CONNECTOR POWER & GROUNDS DISTRIBUTION REPLACE. It's been two weeks now and have not had any problems. Dealer gave me a freechromekey chain and all weather floor mats for the inconvieance.

biglg

I agree TJ that this is ridiculous how fast the battery goes down. I to have had the same thing happen about 10 times. HOwever, luckily all in my garage. COuld be from my son watching a dvd for 5 minutes, the interior lights on for a few minutes, radio on, etc. It doesnt seem to take much and usually happens after about 5-10 minutes. I also have never had this problem in any other vehicle. I know have the fear that no matter where I go it may not start!

Anyways, I have read and heard there is a new recall for some or all 07 tahoes. I have only "read" that is supposed to fix the keyless remote problem and the battery run down issues??

I do not know if this is true as ZX hasnt confirmed anything. There is a topic of its own on this forum where we are waiting to hear exactly what the recall is and if it will fix this battery rundown issue! I believe the recall only involves software updates, but I am not sure what the updates fix!

Hardin Thicke

I've been following this one, and am wondering if there is a forum member that owns a DMM (digital multimeter)? If they do, can you please check the current draw of the vehicle? To do so, set the meter to "DC AMPS" and prepare the meter leads to read amperes, disconnect the red battery cable from the battery,touch one one probe to the now empty battery terminal andthe otherprobe to the now hanging red battery cable. DOTHIS WITH THE ENGINE OFF!!! In doing so, we can determinethe current demand of the vehicle with the ignition off and determine once and for all if it's the vehicle ora bad batch ofbatteries. A Tahoe or for that matter any vehicle should have a resting current draw of a few hundred milliamps; peanuts to a typical flooded cell type battery. I'd do it myself, but my Tahoe is presently sitting in a back lot of a dealership waiting for me to pick it up this weekend! Tell me I won't be sorry.......

tj

Just to keep this updated....

I found out that you have on your electric seat heaters when you shut off the engine and don't remove the key, then turn the key back to ON, the seat heaters will also come back on. I don't know if this has anything to do with the outside temperature, but this is how mine works. So, my last dead battery was from the seat heaters, radio and the headlights being on for 5 minutes without the engine running. You can see the volt meter on the dash dropping as you look at it. Be wary of this in the cold weather.

The battery should have still been able to source all that current, though. I got it scheduled to go to the dealer for the battery load test and the trickle of windshield fluid that was mentioned by ZX (I believe) in a different thread.

engine2

I wonder if this has alot to do with cold weather as well. I have left my radio for at least an hour several times while I was washung / detailing my tahoe with no problems (I am in FLA). But to be on the safe side I will no longer do that. I am just wondering how much the cold weather plays a part in the dead battery issue.