Chevrolet Silverado, Alarm kills battery

IT IS SO EASY TO TEST THE TRUCK FOR A DRAW. Stop typing and do the test you will find where the issue is. What more do you want. Its that simple.

Hey scott0,  sorry about the other member's and it is not like that on this forum. We try to be as professional as possible with our responses here but sometimes, you read into a response differently than what is posted. Here are some things that you can do yourself to test for a current draw:

Problem : Customer claims that the security system is draining the vehicle battery.

Solution : The following is a thorough test to determine exactly what, if anything, is causing an excessive current draw in the vehicle.

1. Make sure that all doors are closed and there are no dome or hood lights on.
2. Disconnect the negative terminal of the vehicle’ battery (If the vehicle has an anti-theft radio, be sure you know the code before disconnecting)
3. Select your digital multi-meter 10-amp DC scale.
4. Connect the multi-meter negative lead to the negative battery post and the positive lead to the terminal you removed in step 2
5. Cut the parking light output of your Crimestopper system (this will avoid excessive current draw when arming protecting your meter). Disarm the system and wait 30 seconds for the dome light to turn off. Now the total vehicle’s and alarm current is running through your meter. Write this measurement down.
6. Arm the system. Now the total vehicle’s and alarm in armed state current is running through your meter. Write this measurement down. You can now reconnect the parking light output of your Crimestopper system
7. Remove the alarm fuses, then take a second reading. This measurement is the vehicle’s current draw without the alarm. The difference is the total draw of the Crimestopper system in armed state and also in disarmed state.

This method shows us three important things : How much total current is being drawn, how much the vehicle draws it self, and how much the alarm systems draws.

A standard alarm system should draw anywhere from 0.02 amp (a basic system), to 0.1 amp (for a full blown system with multiple sensors,  Window module, remote starter, etc.). If the total for the alarm is higher than normal, you can test each fused line separately to determine what portion of the alarm system is drawing excessive current. Simply reconnect the battery’s negative terminal, and put your meter in line on one fuse holder at the time with the fuse removed.

Jeff

Velocity Custom Home Theater

Mobile Audio/Video Specialist

Morden, Manitoba CANADA

One thing I might suggest on the test procedure is to try to connect the ammeter to the battery terminal and post before disconnecting the battery terminal (probably would help to get a second pair of hands if you don't have a good set of test lead clips). That will avoid your having to wait for the car's systems to go back to sleep mode, and the resetting of the radio codes and stuff. Start with the highest current range to protect the meter, and reconnect the battery terminal before switching down into the lower current ranges for better resolution; that maintains power to the car at all times. Easier to do this with a top post battery-