Dead Battery

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Nov 14, 2007 | 10:02 PM

skier-24

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Dead Battery

The battery in my 98 Expy went dead after sitting for 8 days. There appears to a .52 amp drain on the battery with everything turned off. Any ideas on what could be causing this drain?

Nov 15, 2007 | 07:32 AM

c_hohensee

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I would start pulling fuses one at a time and check the current draw after each. This should help you isolate the problem.

Nov 15, 2007 | 03:12 PM

Modified 99

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From: Ft. Worth, TX

Try the following:
Radio, preset stations will be gone if battery is disconnected
Clock, will need to be reset if battery is disconnected
Torque converter lockup will act different for a while if battery is disconnected

These are just a few of the things that will be affected if there is "0" drain on your battery "disconnected"

Nov 16, 2007 | 11:47 AM

wforacing

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Sometimes the light under the hood will kill a battery if it shorts out they almost always do in time Just a thought....I took mine out...

Nov 19, 2007 | 05:08 PM

skier-24

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Turns out my 5 month old battery went bad,dead cell. I replaced it and still have a .5 amp drain after unhooking the light under the hood. I pulled all the fuses and narrowed it down to 2. Both are related to the interior lights and GEM module. Have not had time to look at schematic to trace possibilities further.

Thanks for the responses.

Nov 21, 2007 | 12:43 PM

98expeditionXLT

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From: MA

Test your alternator.

Nov 24, 2007 | 01:56 AM

skier-24

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How do I test the alternator?

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Nov 25, 2007 | 05:26 PM

98expeditionXLT

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From: MA

Take it in to a service center where they will test the battery and charging system for you. I had a similar problem to yours where the Exp was parked for a week, I tried to start it and it was completley dead. Jump started it and it ran fine for about 10 minutes then died, even though the ammeter indicated that the alternator was charging. In my case the alternator was fried and I had to replace a two year old battery. My suspicion is that the battery terminals were not as clean as they should have been causing the alternator to overcharge.