2007 Tahoe LTZ parasitic battery drain

[dkennel]

I started having problems with my 07 tahoe not starting in the morning, jump started right away, have been on my 2nd battery which was 5 years old, so I figured it was time for a new battery.
New battery, same problem. Checked out alternator, which works fine. Odd thing after the second night jump start the radio did not work…I wiggled the fuse 41 and radio was working fine. Next morning car is dead again. Started to measure amps. Seems circuit 41 (radio) draws at least 3 amps continuously unless I physically disconnect the radio…
My only explanation is that my radio somehow causes the parasitic drain. I had it disconnected now for two day and have not had any more problems. I have a Denso Navigation/DVD OEM unit with the Bose System. I have searched the web but could not find any conclusive solution or others that describe same problem. I have the radio boxed up and labeled to ship to Short Circuit Radio Repair in San Jose, Ca. to check out the head unit…My worry is that they will tell me nothing wrong with the radio…….

Any other thoughts, experiences???

 

[TisforTahoe]

Can you post an update?

Seeing similar battery drain. My 2010 Tahoe would not start in the morning. Thought it was a 4 year old battery going out. Took the battery to get tested, and it was low on charge. The shop charged and cleared the battery. I did not get a chance to drive the truck again until 5 days later, and the battery is down again.

On one hand I am hoping its not the battery on the other, I am hoping it is. I dont want to hunt around for a ghost issue. Any update on if you found a way to test and find the root cause would be great.

Thanks.

 

[dkennel]

Problem solved

Here is the update. I did some simple testing with an amp meter on the ground terminal. Going through the fuse terminal I discovered the radio as my culprit. The interesting thing is that it takes a while for the current to drop to a low less than 0.5 amps, I think it is related to the security system as it checks for drops in current. I checked several times with and without the radio fuse installed. With the radio fuse installed the current never dropped below 3 amps if I recall correct.
I sent the radio (which operated fine) off to a shop in California (short circuit radio repair), they confirmed that the parasitic drain was from a short in the radio. It is supposedly repaired and shipping back from California right now. The last two weeks I have had no battery problems whatsoever, but gets annoying to drive without radio/blinker sounds/backup alert. Cause is supposedly a short on one of the pcb's in the radio. I wonder if it may be related to lead free soldering???? Repair was not cheap, with shipping over $800, but I did not see any good alternative..... Would have cost a lot more if I had taken it in the shop and I am not sure they could have diagnosed it as quick.