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  1. #1
    Yeah baby! Yeah! silverWS6's Avatar
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    Truck dies after a couple days of sitting

    So my 02 Avalanche dies after a couple days, 2 or 3, it dies! Any ideas what could be draining the battery? The battery is a couple months old.

  2. #2
    expensive tires az gt eater's Avatar
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    When did it start? Was it after you added some accessories? Maybe an amp that isn't ignition controlled? A radar detector?

  3. #3
    Yeah baby! Yeah! silverWS6's Avatar
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    Nope, no amp and no radar detector. I used to have a phone charger plugged in but that is gone now. It's been doing it for a couple years now I just always used it constantly but with a different dd now, it'll probably be sitting around more often. I found a loose wire today under the hood, looks like its supposed to be attached to the screw that is near it on the firewall. Its a black wire and orange/faded red wires, I'm thinking it might be to a light that is supposed to be for under hood lighting? That is maybe constantly running on since its cut and draining the battery slowly?


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    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
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    Not sure on the wire. I would check voltage across the battery though and start pulling fuses and see where the voltage changes. That will narrow it down to what accessory is draining it. It has to be something of significance if it's dead only after a few days and your battery is new/fully charged prior to it going dead.
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    expensive tires az gt eater's Avatar
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    I have had problems with my 2500HD's and the battery going dead. I noticed that the ignition wouldn't fully turn off even though I had removed the key. I just started checking that I forced it to fully turn to the off position, and no more problems. I am pretty sure that these ignitions were just worn. But, they have all been under 70k mile trucks.

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    expensive tires az gt eater's Avatar
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    Maybe the prior owner installed some aftermarket stuff? Might have to check the fuse panel for any sneaky little additions. I would say check at the battery as well, but I am sure you already checked that.

  7. #7
    Yeah baby! Yeah! silverWS6's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    Not sure on the wire. I would check voltage across the battery though and start pulling fuses and see where the voltage changes. That will narrow it down to what accessory is draining it. It has to be something of significance if it's dead only after a few days and your battery is new/fully charged prior to it going dead.
    I looked that wire up on a Avalanche forum and I'm pretty positive it is a underhood light, but you are right I don't see it staying on with it being disconnected like that... The battery is about 2 yrs old now so it shouldn't be bad, I took it to O'reilly to get tested and charged and they said it was good then again they were retards so I might take it to another one to get tested again. I'll run that test if I can find time this week, with flying twice this week I might not get to it till next weekend.

  8. #8
    Yeah baby! Yeah! silverWS6's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by az gt eater View Post
    I have had problems with my 2500HD's and the battery going dead. I noticed that the ignition wouldn't fully turn off even though I had removed the key. I just started checking that I forced it to fully turn to the off position, and no more problems. I am pretty sure that these ignitions were just worn. But, they have all been under 70k mile trucks.
    My ignition switch is badly worn already to the point where I have to wiggle it sometimes to turn on (178k on the truck). That might be it huh?

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    expensive tires az gt eater's Avatar
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    I would bet that your key itself is why you have to wiggle it. Do you have another, sharper key to use? That would not necessarily fix your electrical problem. But, you will get to the point where you will only be able to open the door with the key when it is raining. Sounds stupid, but that is what I have seen with some of our work trucks. New key, no more problem. But, if it is your ignition, that could def be your problem. Good luck. Run that test, check your panels for any add ons, keep us posted.

  10. #10
    Senior Member 5.0THIS's Avatar
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    The ignition switches (located in the steering column) are notoriously crappy in the GM full size trucks from that era. It's cheap and easy to replace if that ends up being it.

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    Yeah baby! Yeah! silverWS6's Avatar
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    I'm sitting here at work thinking about it, and the truck does have some sort of toggle switch under the dash that I've seen a couple times. Maybe getting the battery voltage with the switch in the different positions will lead me somewhere!
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    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
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    It's possible that the toggle switch is in the "on" position for whatever it is controlling. Any idea what the switch is for?

  13. #13
    Yeah baby! Yeah! silverWS6's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    It's possible that the toggle switch is in the "on" position for whatever it is controlling. Any idea what the switch is for?
    No idea, I checked it right now and it made no difference what position it was on

  14. #14
    Senior Member 5.0THIS's Avatar
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    Trace the wiring and see what it is. Take it all out when you find where it leads to.

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