My Valentine would kill the battery overnite. I talked to Prof.? Valentine who said the current draw was sominimal and it should not happen. But the dealer techs said even at milliamps draw there was no extra wiggle room.

So if one battery goes so soon, how long will the second battery give us?

How has the reprogramming improved things for Tahoe owners?

 

I've successfully made it thru three RAP cycles (30 min) without having to jump it.

 

PLEASE HELP...

We are stationed overseas, our son put 3 coins into the cd player!! [] at first it wouldn't work but for the last few weeks it has been ok most of the time, if it goes off (sometimes on its own and sometimes just going round a bend/corner) we hit the side of stereo and it comes back on. Also the speaker makes a beeeeeeep noise every now and again.The other day all the lights on the dashboard and the rev counter/gas gauge/mph dial didn't work but soon came back on. Stereo didn't come back on no matter where we hit. This morning went to go out and the battery is completly dead. tryed charging with another car but nothing. We are stuck in a country that will see an American coming and rip us off or not be able to help at all because that make isn't in Europe. please please does any one have any idea's, suggestions, websites or phone numbers. After reading this blog im not sure all the problem is the coins....?

 

I have a 2002 Trailblazer LT. Love the car but lately it has a strange electrical problem. Every time the temperature drops to 10 F the battery drops to 6.8 - 7.2 volts. I replaced an 8 year battery with only two years on it last month and everything worked great until today. Last night the temp dipped to -2 F and, once again, the battery now measures 7.1 volts. This is on a one month old battery, one of Sears Gold series. I checked with the dealer and he says the recalls on my vehicle are up to date. Any ideas on what is causing this?

 

I bought my Tahoe october 07, and had a Kenwood DNX-8120 installed in like Decmeber of the same year. About four weeks ago, after the truck had been sitting for about 10 days or so, I came out one morning and tried to start it, but it was completely dead. I jump started it and took it straight to the dealership. ( I have a company work truck, so my Tahoe sits in the driveway until the weekend when I actually get a chance to drive it.) I show up and explain what's going on to the service rep, and she explains that there was a recall put out for certain batteries, or something to that effect. They replaced the battery that day, and I went home fine. I drove it that night, the next day, and then the Tahoe went back to the weekly routine of sitting in the driveway till the weekend, for another 2 weeks. I came out this morning, and it was dead AGAIN. I took it back to the dealership, and after checking it out, the guy says that the aftermarket stereo is hooked up to a power source that is staying on, and that it should be moved to another source of power. Kewl. I took it to a car audio shop, different from the one that installed the unit, and after checking it out, they said that the stereo is hooked up the way that it's supposed to be hooked up. The guy said that in most new gm vehicles, all stereos are pretty much plug and play. They asked how long it had been in the truck, and after telling them how long, they said that if it was hooked up wrong, I would have known about it at most maybe 2 months afterwards. Anyone have any ideas on what else could be causing the problem?

 

If the radio is hooked up to a constant power source, it should just be the keep alive circuit for the memory and shouldn't draw enuf to kill the battery. My battery didn't make it to the 36 mo warranty period. Go figure.

 

It’s amazing to me how many people have had to go through the same experience. There is clearly and obviously an issue with the battery that GM decided to put in these trucks. Very simply, it’s the same battery that they dropped in all the SAAB’s, and so decided to use in these vehicles as well. To say that it’s an anemic battery is a huge understatement. These trucks are in need of big, heavy duty “truck batteries”.


<O:p</O:pI went through many of the same experiences described in this thread and it left me wondering what was going on. After so many boosts after the battery going dead, a clear case of sulfation took place. I just replaced my battery with something much better, a 760 CCA (AGM) battery, which bounce back from deep power drains very well!
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I was surprised to hear from the dealership that it’s a known problem with Tahoe’s and Silverado’s. As someone else here said before, there are so, so many things that run constantly while you think the truck is off. OnStar stays on for 48hrs! The dual climate control sensor stays on for up to 7hrs and so on. GM says that the draw for these things is “minimal” but from our experiences, the cumulative affect is more that these little batteries were designed for.
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What I suggest for anyone having this trouble is don’t bother with the dealership … yeah, I know, they should make it right but it’ll NEVER happen. At best they’ll replace it with the same – or same type battery so that you can continue to have the same experiences. Just go out and get the biggest / best AGM battery you can get in there, something with about 760+ CC Amps and be done with the issue. It’s what I did and it feels so good knowing that I don’t have to wonder if I have to boost my nice, expensive truck every other time I want to go somewhere.
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Think of all the people who’ve gone to picnics or drive-in’s and have had to deal with this … it’s a real shame!
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Good luck to all of you. Great thread, thanks for all the insight.<O:p</O:p
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Donald<O:p</O:p

 

I believe it's 2 problems, Don. First is the cheap OEM battery. Second is the BCM battery rundown problem which can be corrected with a reflash (#07033).

 

Hardin, would you kindly elabourate about the "reflash (#07033)"? Thank you VERY much!

D

 

Recall 07033 addresses the battery rundown problem. Form the moment you hit the fob, the car literally comes to life. The various on-board electronics from the vehicle diagnostics to the audio amplifier power up. When you turn the key off, these electronics remain powered up for some period of time; 10 minutes or somethign like that. The Body Control Module or BCM occasionaly hangs and does not powering down. This causes a rapid rundown of the already cheap battery. 07033 reflashes the BCM with new firmware that corrects this problem. I had mine done after 2 rundowns, and I no longer experience the problem. BTW, I now have 30 months on the OEM battery, and crossing my fingers that I'll get a little more life out of it before replacement. I have a 2nd battery in the spare tray that I use to power my HF ham gear. It's isolated but charged from the vehicle and it could be pressed into service if the starting battery leaves me high and dry somewhere.