Parasitic Drain only in cold weather (40°F or below)

[Envoy10]

Long time Member. Still own my Envoy, but it's parked most of the year.. I'm having parasitic draw in freezing temperatures.

What would cause a drain in the cold while not causing issues in the warm weather? I have to start the car everyday, if I miss a day, there won't be enough charge to start the car. I know this is a long shot, hoping someone has gone through this and found the problem.

 

[movietvet]

What year Envoy? You did not supply some basic info. How old is the battery? Where are you located and the weather in that area, especially in the winter months? The cold can drain an old or weak battery, especially if connections are loose or dirty or corroded. The battery charge back may not be as good as could be if there is too much resistance in the connections and battery age can cause problems with that. These are just things to rule out as the cause.

There is Keep Alive Memory that is in the background when vehicle is shut off and if sits for long enough, especially in cold weather, that is hard on a battery. If you do indeed have a "parasitic draw", I have never heard of one that only does it in cold weather.

 

[mrrsm]

(1) Investigate Under-Hood Rodent Depredation with Nesting and Gnawing Damage to Wring and Connectors involving Hidden Areas under the Power Distribution Center and Possible Shorts to Harness Bundles carrying "HOT AT ALL TIMES" lines.

(2) Bad Grounds. (See @Realistic 's Epic Grounds Thread linked below:

Thread 'Electrical Ground locations'

May 20, 2016

While troubleshooting a bad ground I came across some scans of the service manual regarding electrical ground locations for our platform posted on another site. This includes both short and long wheel base, as well as both 4.2L and 5.3L.

Credit goes to Wex. http://forums.trailvoy.com/showpost.php?p=1019927&postcount=2

*Note that ground locations may have changed from early to late model years


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• Realism
• Replies: 18
• Forum: Technical Discussion

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[Mooseman]

It's possible that you always had a parasitic draw but wasn't bad enough to kill the battery in warm weather to affect starting but as colder weather comes in, it's harder to start and the battery, already drained and affected by the cold which lowers cranking amps by itself, is now drained so much it can't crank anymore.

Had that with my Sierra where a gizmo I installed had a parasitic draw. During summer it was fine but as soon as we got a really cold night (-20c), nada and the AGM battery had lost capacity. Took out the gizmo and got a new battery, starts fine.

After doing the above checks, you should do a parasitic draw test. Lots of videos on YT on how to do this.

 

[Envoy10]

This is what I've been thinking. I've had mechanic look at it in the summer with no voltage drop. This has been going on for years now, but I don't use it much. I remote start usually to charge it back up. I've removed my sound system from the battery. I've gone through a battery almost every year. If I don't remove the negative terminal the battery will drain beyond repair.

 

[mrrsm]

There are a few Threads at GMT Nation (and quite a few YouTube Videos from Eric "O" at SMA (South Main Auto) covering how the IPC (Instrument Panel Cluster) can actually grow durable, almost microscopic, strong and flexible "Tin Whiskers" that can propagate across the Logic Board and create a Constant, Low Battery Drain that will never be obvious.

You could try isolating the IPC Fuse and see if the Battery Maintains -=AFTER=- First Charging it Up ...and taking readings in 4- 8 Hours Increments if you do not have the means to intercept the Low Amperage Draw with either a Fuse Buddy or perhaps, a more capable Low Amp Clamp married to either a Snap-On Vantage or Vantage Pro Graphing Multi-Meter via a Copper Loop in the fuse location in order to watch whether or not anything changes with the IPC being disabled.

 

[Mooseman]

Even with normal sleep mode draw, it will still kill a battery. In managing a fleet, I've noticed that most vehicles that have not been driven in a month would usually be dead. If your Voy is parked outside, I would consider using a solar battery charger/maintainer. If it's inside, a battery float charger, like a Battery Tender, could be wired to the battery and easily plugged/unplugged when you use the truck.

 

[northcreek]

I agree with what has already been said. In cold climates a battery maintainer can help you sleep better at night. I use a Schumacher on my less used vehicle, it shows the percentage of battery charge when connected, in the summer it's usually 95% but, in the winter it can be 70% or lower. If it has a battery I have a BM on it.