Peculiar Chevy Silverado gauges and battery dying issue.

Factual Questions
1

I have a 2004 Chevy Silverado with approximately 100k miles on it. It has had intermittent instrument cluster issues since I bought it about 5 years ago. About 4 years ago, I saw that there was a recall related to the IC so I took it in and had it replaced under the recall. All was fine.

Last January, I think, my gauges stopped working. Since I was somewhat accustomed to gauge failure, I didn’t do anything about it. About a week later, I went to start my truck and it was dead as a door nail. I replaced the battery and had my mechanic check out my charging system. He either replaced the alternator or the voltage regulator, I can’t remember which. All was fine.

About 2 weeks ago, I noticed that my gauges weren’t working again. Having failed to remember the previous lesson and being accustomed to gauge failure, I didn’t do anything about it. Saturday, after loading the pickup bed to the brim with debris from a bathroom remodeling project, as I got it to take my trash to the dump, I noticed that my truck was dead as a door nail, again. That’s when I remembered that I had had this problem before. :smack::smack:

I went to charge my battery and noticed strange behavior. I had to get the clips to the battery on just so, or the needle wouldn’t move to the charging zone. I blamed my charger as it is old and has been left outside many many times. I went to NAPA and bought a new charger. I had the same issue but now I had them with a shiny new charger. I was eventually able to get the clips on just right so that the battery charged. The connections between the cables and the battery certainly felt tight but it seemed that I had to torque on the battery studs (if that’s what they’re called, it’s a side post battery) in order for charging to occur.

So, I don’t know how many truck problems I have. If the issues aren’t related, they are certainly coincidental. I checked all of the IC fuses that I could find, they looked good but I replaced them anyway. No luck.

The truck starts now but still no gauges. I’m somewhat afraid that it will die again on me before long.

This truck sees very little action. I mainly use it to haul trash into town once a week.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I wanted to put “paging Gary T” in the thread title but that seemed a bit crass. It’s not like he owes me anything.

2

I would check and see if the battery ground is well attached to the block and make sure the cable(to the neg post ) is in good shape. It does seem on the surface that you have an intermittent contact somewhere.

Capt Kirk

3

Tightening down the cable bolts on a side post battery too much is a really bad thing. Sounds to me like your battery may be bad.

BTW: The alternator and voltage regulator are probably in the same assembly.

You should be able to tell if you have a battery drainage problem with an amp meter.

If you want a simple, cheap way to disconnect the battery from the rest of the car when it’s sitting for long periods, get a battery master disconnect switch. Here’s one for a side-post battery. You only need one as disconnecting either the + or - post should do the job.

4

having to adjust the charger clips indicates corrosion (this is normal, we live on the earth). the metal of the clips, battery clamps and battery posts all get an oxide (corrosion) layer. giving it a wiggle or two scraps the corrosion off to make good electrical contact.

5

It sounds to me as if either your connections to the battery or the connections inside the battery itself are bad. Do this, take the cables off of the battery. Look at the ends where they connect to the battery, if they are bright and shiny, all is well. If they are dark or have a whitish powder or sludge on them, they are corroded. Corrosion does not conduct electricity. The battery terminals should also be shiny and bright. IME if the cables are corroded it is best to just replace them (side post only). Make sure that you get cables at least as big around as the old ones. They carry a lot of amperage, especially when starting.

Look at the battery’s terminals. Are they wet with acid? If so, you will want to replace the battery. Side post batteries are notorious for leaking acid at the posts, especially if the bolts have been over tightened. IME not even epoxy will reseal this area. This is one of the reasons that I replace side post batteries with top post batteries anytime I have to replace either the battery or the cables. Batteries for the VW diesel Rabbits are shorter then regular batteries and often allow me to put a top post battery in where a side post battery was.

As for the gauges not working, I suspect that the computer senses an over-voltage condition in your truck (due to the bad battery connection), and shuts off the expensive gauge system to prevent further damage. The cause of the over-voltage is that the alternator is working overtime to charge what it thinks is a dead battery. It thinks it has a “dead” battery because it senses very little or no voltage from the battery. To charge the “dead” battery the charging system keeps adjusting the voltage up until it burns itself out. The battery will not charge because it is not connected to the alternator.

A temporary fix would be to clean up both the cable ends and the battery terminals with a wire brush. A stainless steel brush is best as you are working with acid here. Rinse the brush and the cleaned areas with water. Do not use baking soda as this may get into the battery and neutralize the acid, killing the battery. You can use soda on the brush and cables but not the battery.

IHTH, 48.

6

It’s fine to page me. None of us owe anything to the others, but we’re generally willing to help as we can.

These vehicles are known for problems with the ignition switch (the electrical switch, not the lock cylinder) that can have symptoms like you’ve described. Also somewhat common are problems in the data buss circuits that enable communication among the various electronic modules, which can be caused by a faulty body control module, radio, or possibly some other module, again with similar symptoms. To get to the heart of it I’d suggest taking the truck to a dealer or independent shop that is knowledgable and well equipped.

The battery going dead means the battery won’t hold a charge (unlikely with your relatively new one), the battery’s not being charged (again unlikely with the new alternator, and almost always accompanied by a warning light), or excessive electrical drain when turned off. The latter is most likely and could be caused by the items I mentioned above. A practical, if inelegant, way to work around it is to disconnect the battery when the truck sits, as suggested by JerrySTL.

I agree with johnpost that having to wiggle the charger clamps to make good connection to the battery terminals is likely due to surface corrosion on the terminals. I doubt it’s related to your other problems.

7

Replace headlight switch to fix the gauges. Sounds funny but it fixed mine.if theres to much voltage/amperage your gauge message center will flash a red battery. To check the alternator after you get it charged and can start it just remove the ground cable from the battery while its running. Good luck

8

porterhouse, I replaced the headlight switch over a year ago when my dash dimmer switch had a short in it so I don’t think that’s it.

Gary T, if my battery drain is a due to an ignition switch/data buss/radio etc issue, then in theory at least, once my battery has been charged, it should drain again even though the truck has just been sitting there, correct? I haven’t checked it since Saturday so I don’t know if it’s draining/drained or not. Just as a WAG, how long do you think it would take to drain the battery? I’m assuming that the current is minimal and that it could take a while.

9

Yes, it’s like having a hole in a bucket. You can fill the bucket up but that doesn’t stop the leak.

I can’t even make a WAG on this one, other than to note that it apparently will drain the battery to a no-start level within a week, but not within a day.

10

Apparently it’s around 5 days. Yesterday it hesitated before it started. This evening it was dead as a door nail.

11

One quick check you can do yourself is to let the car sit for at least a couple of hours and then before turning the key on simply feel the relays and breakers with your hand or fingers. You may have more than one relay box. If you feel warmth in a relay that is enough to discharge a good battery in less than a week. Could be a faulty relay or swicth. Pretty common problem.

12

One question, is your horn working. I have seen several vehicles with a similar complaint who had unplugged thier horns becaue they wouldn’t shut off. The horns would have stuck relays that would run down a battery in a few days if left sitting.

13

One more simple thing to check is if a under hood, or trunk light might be staying on.

14

Nothing warm in the fuse box. No lights under the hood.

This battery charging issue is getting to be a real pain. I disconnected the cables and they didn’t look bad to me. A little corrosion and a little rust. I cleaned them with sandpaper but it didn’t help. Is it possible that something is broken within the battery? Is that even a thing?

On a side note, why does GM use side post batteries? It seems to cause more problems than it solves.

15

How about the trunk light?

Yes the battery may have what is called an internal short. Basically some crud has fallen off of the plates inside the battery. This crud is sitting on the bottom of the battery, shorting the plates out to each other. No real cure. one can only replace the battery.

The way to check this is to charge the battery. Then disconnect the battery from the vehicle. Let sit for “around five days” and reconnect the battery. If the truck starts, then the battery is good and you have a “drain” in your system.

I have no idea why GM has its love affair with side post batteries. I agree with your assessment.

16

Hard to find in pickups. :stuck_out_tongue:

17

That and Dex-Cool antifreeze.

Side post batteries do have a few advantages. One is that the battery is lower and can fit under low hoods better. Another is that it’s less likely for someone to drop a tool on the terminals and cause a short. Less corrosion buildup might also be a plus.

I guess Dex-Cool antifreeze did last longer than the green antifreeze of days past. Also the flow of the engine coolant is somewhat different which helps engine cooling a little.

18

Dex-Cool (OAT antifreeze) works great if…

…it’s not mixed with IAT (green*) or HOAT (gold*) antifreeze.

…it’s not less than 50% of the antifreeze/water mixture (seriously – 49% is problematic).

…it totally fills the system with NO air pockets or ingress of oxygen (which is what causes the grody brown gunk so commonly seen with Dex-Cool).

It can last (= prevent corrosion) considerably longer than its predecessor IAT antifreeze. Unfortunately, repair personnel as a whole were not advised of its sensitivity to proper concentration and presence of oxygen, so minor imprecision in service procedures that would never be noticed with the old green stuff resulted in some significant problems with this new orange stuff. It’s still being used, but with less problems now that it’s better understood.

*usually

IAT = Inorganic acid technology
OAT = Organic acid technology
HOAT = Hybrid organic acid technology

19

OOPS! :smack: OK, how about the cargo light?

Bolding mine.
Not in my experience!

20

It’s early in the morning, so I haven’t read all of the replies thoroughly, just throwing an idea out. Ask your mechanic to do a parasitic draw test. Essentially he’ll put a meter on the battery and determine if any thing is drawing power from the battery when the vehicle is in an off state. If there is a draw in the battery he can pull fuses one by one until the draw ceases. When you pull the fuse that is drawing current, you’ll know what is causing the battery drain.

You can do this test yourself, but you’ll need a meter capable of measuring DC current flow (pardon me, my terminology isn’t correct but I’m still half asleep). Most home mechanic meters do not have this capability. If you search YouTube for “how to do a parasitic draw test on a car” you’ll find several videos that shore the procedure step by step. This is the absolute best way to determine what us draining a battery when the Jerry is not in the ignition.

Note, that when this test is done that there are some devices in your car that will draw current from the battery even when the key is out. An example of this is a security system.