Chevrolet Truck - Battery Dies Overnight - Part II
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- čas přidán 13. 09. 2024
- This is it... were we right or wrong? Also let's make a call to the experts and find out what the heck happen to these clusters and why they kill the battery on these Chevy trucks.
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Thank you a thousand times over! That phone call to the rebuilding company saved the day. The instrument panel on my 2003 2500 farm truck was drawing .2 amps intermittently and draining the batteries. After half a dozen parasitic draw tests (where I found no draw) over the last 2 years I was finally able to catch the .2 amp draw in the act. With a little research I found that the larger resistors on the board commonly break joints. So I went over the top and added solder to every component on the board. I plugged the cluster back in and it was fixed! Until I tested it again... after all of that work, I still had the same problem. I was about to throw in the towel until I saw this video and heard the tech mention silver migration. I initially noticed tiny gray specks on the back of the board, but they didn’t look like problematic corrosion or heat damage, so I figured that was no big deal and chalked it up to sloppy build practices. When I heard the tech mention tiny black spots though, I instantly knew what he was referring to. I fluxed the affected areas (of which there were MANY), heated it with hot air, then scrubbed the spots with solder wick and a soldering iron. Cleaned up with alcohol, plugged it in, and after the panel goes into sleep mode I have 0.00amp current draw on the IP/DIC circuit! That phone call was a lifesaver and I could not find that information anywhere else on the internet. Thanks!!!
Great fix, and calling United Radio was the icing on the cake to know the root of the problem. Thanks Eric!!
Silver migration - that tidbit was worth the price of admission as I never would have known about it.
Eric, you are living proof that mechanical/electrical genius is truly an amazing and unusual gift. Thank you for taking the time to share your analytical, diagnostic, and therapeutic thoughts with simple mortal do-it-yourselfers like me. Your understanding of complex modular computerized circuitry is nothing short of incredible, and your data-tracking and curiosity are awe-inspiring. D.I.Y. guys like myself learn so much from your experience, discipline, patience, forgiving nature, guidance.....and self-deprecating sense of humor. As a long-standing 60’s era engine rebuilder and pony-car restoration buff, I now simply cherish my more “modern” 1976 Firebird Formula, 1985 Firebird Trans Am, and 1999 Chevy Tahoe. I have them all running and functioning perfectly in large part thanks to you. Even though I don’t have all the useful sophisticated tools, or certainly your diagnostic skills, I am no longer completely intimidated by electrical circuitry malfunction. Clearly, there a great minds in the automotive industry that can attack and resolve virtually any problem if/when it escapes me.....and no local mechanic could ever B.S. me. Please keep posting your superb You-Tube videos, they are invaluable. Dr. K.
You have caused me to have problems...…I just became addicted to your channel. I just love the way you work and think. Enjoy your comments like "shooting the parts cannon at it" Keep up this great service.
Learned something here!
And your attention to the camera and sound is top notch.
" a little chevy thunder right there" I like that Eric
+Justin P. Chevy, like a rock.
........rocks just sit there
+Peter Chastain hell no, they make great trucks
lol i know i im just messin around i would love to own one just cant afford it
+Peter Chastain lol. I have a 02 s10, decent small truck
Well done.. this a hard job to find a battery drain i like that way you work. You are a blessing for me . I learn a loot from you. god bless you and family always...
I want to thank you. We replaced the OEM radio with a touch screen Sony thinking the radio was draining the battery. Turns out it was the cluster doing it. Got a new cluster and the battery is just fine now. Ended up going through 3 batteries until we fixed it. You are a life saver. (2003 Chevrolet Avalanche Z71)
This is by far the best automotive video I have ever seen! From beginning to end and even a call to the repair guy. I will be checking your other videos out. Can't say it enough, THIS IS THE BEST VIDEO I have every seen!! Thank you very much for posting this one!!!
THAT was sooo cool! Thank you Eric!! Love the way you went about finding the 'parasitic draw"....
Hey Eric, field trip to United Radio so we can see how it's done?
I always pick up some good info from watching your videos! I just recently retired from wrenching 40+ years so I spend some of my time watching some poor soul wrench! lol Keep up the good work, you make repairs the way they should be done.
Thank you Eric My 2000 Silverado had me pulling my hair out for over a year now trying to find a electrical problem. My cluster works intermittently. After going through my electrical system a dozen times I’m now confident my cluster needs to be repaired. Glad I subscribed to your channel. Have a great 👍 day sir. 🇺🇸
Lead free solder is the worst. One of my soldering irons came with a little sample of the lead-free, I figured I'd try it out. Pure garbage, it barely melts and it flows like lumpy oatmeal. Chucked it in the trash and picked up a roll of the good stuff.
+Nutz4Gunz45 Indeed, the RoHS crap have caused so many problems.
Better stick it to the lead haters and roll on the lead, many repair shops such as "Louis Rossman" here on CZcams also does reflows with Lead solder.
It just works, and it lasts, you also avoid the cracked solder joints.
I hope United Radio gave the lead haters the fingers and used the leaded solder for the repair too.
As for Eric, keep up these mystery diagnosis videos, and keep the spoiler preview pics out (Like you did) and you have the recipe for a show that beats whatever NetFlix offers.
Why? It is always fun tagging along and chasing that problem down until a fix, it is like a crime show trying to find the killer!
ROHS doesn't apply to repair, just production. You can use leaded solder for repair all you like, just cannot manufacture new with it.
Lead free melts at about 750 degrees so you really got to crank up the iron
I solder at 720-750 anyways and I still have trouble with slow, lumpy melts. The iron has to dwell on the joint longer than I'd like.
CMDR Sweeper Rossman is the shit! I can watch his repair videos and listen to his commentary for hours. Lol
My 2003 GMC Sierra became a battery killer. I've known my cluster needed rebuilding but who knew it would be the reason for the battery issue? United Radio must love you...I'm calling them tomorrow. The only way I can thank you is to subscribe which is exactly what I just did. Thank you...
Man you gave me some place to start and probably save me a hell of a lot of work thank you thank you
Very interesting indeed. When I retired from the PD in 1994 I treated myself to a new GMC PU. Approximately ten years later, I experienced the same problem. I rarely use the truck these days due to my age. When I did use it, I discovered the battery dead. I jumped started it, but soon discovered the same problem next morning. I bought a new battery and within a few days the battery went dead. SOOOOO I charged the battery and after using the truck I would disconnect the battery until I need the truck and reconnected it when I needed. Works for me, so at 80 years of age, I'm not about to get any further into it. Got a feeling that your diagnoses is probably spot on. Thanks for sharing this great video. Ken Marina CA
Wouldn't it be easier to just pull that one fuse and reinstall it when you want to drive the vehicle? Also, in NY State, when the power to the computer is interrupted, you can't get the annual inspection done until you go through a ridiculous long ritual of drive cycles to clear the "Not ready for inspection" code.
These video's are priceless. Thanks so much for taking the time to do them and share your knowledge and experience. When turning wrenches gets old for you, I hope you will go into teaching new techs.... You are a gifted teacher.
The easiest video that has helped me come remotely close to trying to find mine on my own. Thank you
These 2 videos just gave me a huge case of the aha’s, thank you Sir Eric of the O
After all this time dealing with having to leave a trickle charger on my truck this was the fix! Thanks for the video! 👍
We are all happy and no jump starts any more.
My 04 was dead every 3 days not even a click gauges was the problem thank you
Great info again. I used United Radio to repair my '03 F150 radio per your suggestion and they did a great job sending it back to me within 3 days. Great customer service. I like these mysterious electrical jobs.
Just subscribed. Love the videos. You explain situations to people in an easy way. Helped me alot. Great teacher and doer. A dying breed. Keep up the great work.
excellent vid. Leaned a new way to check draw and why clusters start drawing current. Great job.
Excellent presentation! Fixed my 2004 GMC in less than an hour! My instrument panel had some guage failures... So your video led me to suspect that first... $100 or so later, I'm back in business... Thanks...
A big thank you to you for solving my dead battery and no light on my 04 Chevy Silverado dash panel problem. It's all fixed and working perfectly... thanks to you and your video.
"The old reach around method" Is that kind of like the old turn around backwards and and put your hand in upside down to reach the bolt you cant even see method?
I prefer to reach through rather than around...
Well it's a little bit late, but let me thank you a whole bunch! I fixed my own cluster about 5 years ago when I bought my 2004 2WD suburban. I bought the kit and it went pretty well. But my battery started going dead this year...I measured 1.3mV across the fuse, took the cluster out today and found that it said C+ on it...just like yours...I disassembled it and found the little black spots like your guy talked about. I Cleaned it with CRC electronic cleaner and a gentle brushing on both sides. Measures 0 mV😀😀 now. will check periodically to be sure. It has to come out again when it warms up as Spedo and tach are off a little. I knew it was a junk-yard unit...being that the records say trans rebuilt at 300K miles. Says 173K now and I bought with 90K. I have not replaced the plugs and I don't see any records of that. Have done water pump, rear main seal, and intake gasket.
Big "E" I have a '98 with same problem, let it be known your channel is my first stop for reference. Another great video, much thanks for all you do and ll you share. Must say you professionalism regarding to production of video's is outstanding.
Thanks again.
Hey there I was having very same problem and I like how you explained what the problem was and how are you tested and resolve the issue thank you so much for your knowledge and instruction on how I can repair my cluster to get rid of this problem and not have to go to the mechanic and waste extra money and I don’t have, Thank you so much.
Eric just want to thank you for all you do in making these videos and educating every. I want to thank you and all the others in the automotive portion. Since watching y'all videos i been working on doing the same. 2,500 subscribers for now. im just hoping I help out at least one of those subscribers like yall influenced me. much love from texas
+Oz Mechanics Hey Oz, good to hear from ya. Oh I am sure people benefit from all your videos just as much too! Thanks for the kind words :)
Great job ! Pulled that fuse and a noise I could hear ( fast clicking )stopped . Now to remove and send off for repair .
I enjoy watching your videos ...knowledge is king.
Fantastic Step By Step. My truck battery dies overnight I'm leaning more towards the door module but I love having more tools in the box. Thanks again!!!
This is a great video! Well done, clear and complete information.
That was better than 5 card draw on a Saturday night. The ol"parasitic draw with the troubleshooting technique from Eric got the Full House. Good job and you didn't have to throw the parts Cannon at the ol' Chevy. Have a great week. I've been enjoying your channel for the past couple weeks. Thanks again, EO. Next time, JB.
Lead-free solder is garbage. It sounds more environmentally friendly in theory, but if more electronics are winding up in the landfill prematurely because of solder failures that DIDN'T happen with tin/lead solder, then it would seem a bad decision in the grand scheme of things.
Thats what happened to the first Xbox 360s...
+Chris Freemesser Can't blame this on lead free solder since the metal migration is actually pretty common. The migration is actually between the traces on the circuit board. They possibly fix it by washing or scrubbing the board. The reason lead free is crap is it thermally cracks i.e.: PS3, Xbox, NVidia .....
yeah it was
+331sbf Your point is?
+331sbf Of course just 95% less. Yes lead is BAD, no argument but your argument is pointless. Older formulations of lead free are extremely brittle and flow and wet poorly.
nice clean narrative!! Thank you!
top quality advice .. and unbelievable support from your service shop. no secret squirrel attitude there .
Great Vid! The call for the actual cluster repair process made it a super video. Unleaded solder works as great as unleaded fuel and unleaded paint.
Quality fixes on both ends. Thanks Eric.
Bro thank you thank you thank you this helped me so much I sent my cluster to United radio and they are repairing it
Thank again
Thank you so much I Learned so much from that about amperage draw thank you so much CK
Great video I had about 700 milamp draw. Pulled instrument cluster fuse went to zero. I know how to fix it now. Thanks for the video!
Huh! Good info. I always thought lead free solder was only used for plumbing. Thanks for the follow up with this video.
Interesting. Silver Migration disease (Or SMD) Is a common problem in old tube radios as well Using silver mica capacitors. The parts are scarce so you have to basically come up with your own fix. Glad to see part 2 the suspense was killing me LOL.
Good stuff Eric. This is a good starting point for my similar Chevy Truck issue. Thanks!
Way to go Eric on the phone call
Thanks for the info on how to diagnose this issue, I'm going to start messing with mine when I get a chance.
Great video, I second another subscriber for you calling the repair guy; great call.
Thanks for sharing, and best regards from the UK.
About time we got to see the second part. Even though it's only been a day. I always get amazing and very useful info. Thanks for another great video. Also you walk us straight through the whole repair from beginning to end.
Hey Eric on old radios from the 40's and 50's the radios have coils to tune the station. At the bottom and top these coils are held together with mica, (thin rock sheets of quartz for insulators to hold it together), so these radios fail with silver mica disease same as your instrument clusters.
Been binge watching. Finally figured out .... you sound like James Arness actor on Gunsmoke! Sheriff Matt Dillion. Anyway, enjoying your work. thanks
Actually he sounds like Garrett P. Franklin of Oconto Wisconsin. James Arness is dead, which I am very sure, insures his silence.
Gene Levy : you are dead on , he really does sound like James Arness .
Mine is doing the exact same thing. Awesome info!!👍👍😎🍺🍺🍺
Thanks I own a 2003 GMC and this is the second time around with this problem the first time it was still under warranty so I was not told in detail what was wrong only that I had a wiring problem that needed repairing. Now I know what need to be done. A great video!
I'm having the same problem w/my 2006 2500HD,so thanks for a great instructional video !
Did it fix your problem? I'm have the same issues now on my same make and model.
Amazing skills you have. You make it easy for us your CZcams worshipers!!
Thanks for posting and lessons learned.
God Bless.
Really liked the volt drop on the fuses, never would have thought of that one, worth remembering.
You're amazing! Great video with helpful information.
I have this same problem in my GMC. Thank you very much for this video!!!
Excellent info, man. Nice work! 👍
Have the same issue in UPS plants, we call it tin wishers, they grow on the circuit boards.
Thanks for the video! I have a Duramax that does the same thing. I also noticed the cluster lost track of the engine hours at roughly the same time as the draw. Pfffshhh, Lead free solder....
Between all your tools, a thermal camera, sure deserves a place. 12V at 200mA is more than 2W power disipation. Sure that just by using thermal scan you will notice that the cluster has a hot spot somewhere (asuming that all of the 200mA come from cluster)
very good deducting and a small thing like corrosion on circuit board causes such a voltage drop to discharge battery, brill , john from england, like your channel.
Hey there, I really enjoyed how you diagnosed the problem with the truck.
I’m having the same problem the exact same problem, I’m gonna go and buy me a new instrument cluster and install it myself thanks to your expertise on how to install it into my very own truck.
Get ready to spend about $400-$500
I thank You also, for this video content, very good information, good job, as always.
Great vid! ... My '03 Silverado is now on it's 3rd battery since 2014 ... Luckily Costco keeps replacing them ... your vid and the findings/solution is probably the answer to the mystery of why my batteries have been dying ... thank you !!
HOT DAMN!!!! Going to take a look at my in-laws GMC turd this weekend. Now I have a game plan! Thank you sir!
Wow! I'm glad I ran access this video. Same problem and fixed!!!
Very informative, I did this test of amp draw and pulling fuses and on mine it came out to be a bcm problem I thought. So my simple fix was to add a battery cutoff switch under the steering wheel oh going on eight years ago. The problem with that is having to keep track of when to change the oil and stuff cause you're more or less resetting the computer every time you turn it back on. Now when it warms up I'm going to double check my findings and rule out the cluster. Thanks so much for sharing.
I just fixed my 2007 GMC classic. Thanks you da man!
Thank you, this basically confirms 2 of my problems with an 04 Tahoe. For over a year the battery has randomly drained. not every day, sometimes it would be fine for a week to a month then its every day..I have been testing circuits without any luck as it is never constant. The cluster finally died, replacing it should hopefully solve the draining issue. My other issue that I discovered was a bad ground from the firewall to the back of the engine. The ground wire is hidden behind the wiring harness, it took a lot of digging to find but the ground was rotted off and needed replaced. I have never invested so much time into finding a problem on anything, hell, I gave up on figuring out women after only a few months... I was fairly positive it was the cluster, now I am 100% sure without any doubt. Thank you!
Intim31976 what kind of issues were you having with your bad ground? I have an 04 Chevy Tahoe that has flickering lights and I’m thinking it may be the same issue.
I had the same problem in my 2003 2500 Silverado. It kept killing batteries and I kept doing parasitic draw tests and not finding anything. I finally caught the instrument panel in the act of drawing current when it killed the batteries yesterday. Thanks to Eric making that phone call and putting it on CZcams, I was able to clean up the silver migration and solve a problem that had plagued me for 2 years!
Very well done, good job. I've been fighting this for years. I just get a new cluster and forget it.
What happens when clusters get discontinued?
Another excellent video! Just curious about how much they charge to refurbish the cluster.
+Jeffrey Cardimen Less than $200
Solder joints can be a PAIN!
Fixed a couple of wiper boards that way also
Thanks once again for adding a little more to my limited knowledge of car electrical systems. the call to United Radio was an added bonus, glad to see an American company is available to do the repairs on the cluster.
Like your video self-explanatory I have a 2003 Chevy Silverado instrument clusters blinking blinking going off battery dies I'll give these guys a call
Was having the battery issue with my 2004 avalanche, watched your vid and ...... BOOM, problem solved!!!!!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR VIDEO!!!!!
Excellent ! My 2002 GMC 1500HD has a parasitic draw might be cluster silver migration maybe.
Wow thanks for the video never knew that 👍🏻😀
This just started on my 04 Silverado so now I know what route to take . Thanks again for your knowledge and help
Thanks to that phone call I successfully made this repair today. Get some good flux (I like Chipquick), lead solder, solder wick, soldering iron, and 90% isopropyl alcohol. Apply flux to the “black spots” (they were more gray than black on my board), heat with soldering iron to get the flux boiling (I used a hot air station, but most people don’t have those laying around lol), put a glob of solder on your iron, lightly “scrub” the spots with your solder glob (don’t worry if you get solder in places it shouldn’t be, you can wick it off in the next step), then use your iron and solder wick to wick away excess solder and the silver. Wipe everything clean with the alcohol and repeat the wick scrubbing as needed until you get all of the gray spots cleaned up. You’ll probably remove solder from a few test points while wicking. I don’t think it matters, but I did go back and add solder to replace the solder that I removed from those points.
What the tech referred to as "silver migration" is also known a s whiskering, metal whiskers, tin whiskers, lead whiskers, cadmium whiskers and galvanic whiskers.
This is not a new phenomenon, it has been known and around for about a century and has been problematic for numerous industries and the military long before the RoHS mandated reduced lead and lead free solder.
However, the addition of lead to the base metal many times reduces whisker growth and sometimes stops whisker growth, depending on the metals involved and the environmental conditions.
Metal whiskering has allegedly been responsible for several spacecraft malfunctions.
Good job by you and United Radio.
Here is a link to a wiki with some basic info:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisker_(metallurgy)
Most definitely Tin Whiskers. Lead Whiskers do not form as readily.
Cause of (or speculated cause of) death of many a satellite in orbit!
patw52pb1 j
Thanks for the information and link even me as a metal fabricator and welder i have to worry about migration too alot of the welding supplies are going flux free and lead free makes for cold welds, brittle joints, and the weld also rusts aways faater seems like so yeah good stuff kudos friend.
Because of the whiskering, it is my my understanding that lead-free solders are not now used on aircraft, spacecraft or medical equipment. Anybody know if that is true?
love the work you do learning a lot from it im in wva
I see silver migration all the time in my area of work (appliance repair). A lot of membrane user interfaces use silver and it starts to migrate and bridge connections.
That ‘pillow’ stuff looks like it’d be great for acoustic foam for a studio and whatnot. I wonder if it’d work for that if you collected enough panels of the stuff? It’s probably a way incorrect material but it’s something I’d like to try, personally.
very helpful! subscribed ! thank you !
Thanks for sharing
Love your channel has definitely helped me out a lot keep doing what you do great content👍🏻
Well , you done it , a A+ job times 10 , your dad - mom must have been good with vehicles cause you are one of the best , Eric O and Eric TCG
I love your personality! Great work sir😁
Recently fixed my Volvos cluster, abs module and central electonic module. Lead free solder - what a great invention :D
Thanks MEO( Mr. Eric O.) is OEM IN REVERSE.! Another great lesson. I really appreciate the more technical lessons. Diagnosis videos. Keep up with making them and I will keep learning. Merry Christmas Happy New Year to you and your family.
That's really good to info right there!! Keep up the great vids Eric, I always look forward to them.
I work for a Military Contractor. The government requires that we not use lead solder anymore for "environmental" reasons. To mitigate the migration/corrosion problem, we have to apply Parylene Conformal Coating. Military electronics have to be able to survive environmental conditions from extremes of hot/cold, arid to humid and salt mist. If this problem doesn't exist on newer vehicles, that's probably how they achieved that. To make repairs to components, the coating has to be stripped off before unsoldering and reapplied afterwards.
In this particular case, slightly increasing the distance between traces would solve the problem and as far as I can tell, there is PLENTY of real estate to allow that.
Frackin RoHS strikes again. Lead-free solder is CRAP! I hate working with that stuff. I'll stick with good old 60/40.
me too
Kept a bunch of rolls around for this reason!
Beater truck,,, could put a toggle switch on the orange wire to prevent power loss?
DM Osborn or just take the instrument panel out and throw it in the scrap pile. Lol
DM Osborn even lazier solution: pull the fuse when you park the truck and push it back when you want to leave
Not sure if it's my trouble. But you nailed my 06 SS trailblazer symptoms. Can't wait to do the test.
I’ve always said “one thing a day”, above and beyond. Silver Migration is that one thing today. Thank You!!!
Thanks a lot !! I have a parasite in my 2003 HD2500 too, but I can rebuild it myself. Yahoo.