Battery keeps draining?

RAGINGSOUL

MEMBER
2004 CHEVROLET TAHOE
5.3L
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
234,000 MILES

I have been having problems with my battery going dead. When I'm in the truck and it is idling the battery gauge jumps from like 13.5 to 14 amps and then sometimes it runs above 14 when I'm running down the highway. At times the gauge does drop down to like 12 12.5 something like that.

I took it over to O'Reilly's and they put a battery tester on it and said that the battery was good and then we checked to see if the alternator was good, and starter and she said it was all good. Now I'm at a loss of why the battery is being drained.

I drove around town yesterday and didn't have any problems. Then this morning when I got up it barely wanted to start. I have no clue as to what it could be.

Thank you so much in advance for answering my question. I would greatly appreciate it if you folks have any ideas that can help me out, I would greatly appreciate it. Hope you all have a wonderful day.

4 Replies

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,256 POSTS

The alternator could still be going out, can I ask when the auto parts store checked the alternator did the voltmeter inside the car say 12 volts? This could be a bad connection issue as well; can I ask how old the battery is? I have seen a battery that sometimes shorts out internally and causes this problem as well, check to make sure the battery cables are clean and tight.

This guide can help:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/everything-goes-dead-when-engine-is-cranked

Also, when the voltmeter is down, we can check the alternator output ourselves by following this guide:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-a-car-alternator

Please go over these guides and get back to us.

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Friday, April 19th, 2024 AT 10:04 AM

RAGINGSOUL

MEMBER
48 POSTS

I did check the connections and they were good. I appreciate your quick response, Ken. I went to O'Reilly's and had them check it and she said everything was good yesterday then today I came over to AutoZone to check just to double check and the girl that was helping me said that it's got a full charge but it's a bad battery. The battery is 4 years old so I kind of expected to go out, but I was just racking my brain if you know I was getting ready to go tear everything apart and clean everything up to check.

Anyhow thank you Ken very much thank you to all of you mechanics that are at 2carpros you guys are really awesome for the service that you do and I'm going to bet that you don't get enough thanks or appreciation for what you do but you guys have saved me a lot and I appreciate that. Thank you again and I hope you all have a great weekend.

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Friday, April 19th, 2024 AT 10:27 AM

KEN L