1998 Chevy Express Battery drain

Billy Baker · 09-18-2013, 12:03 PM

My wary tow van has a 91 milliamp draw, which drains the battery every 2-3 days. I have tried everything i can think of. Hooked my multi tester up in parallel with the negative side of battery and cable.I installed a jumper wire in parallel also and waited 20 minutes for systems to go to sleep. I then started yanking fuses 1 at a time, including maxi fuses and relays in the under hood fuse block. Still no change.

I then stuck a new battery in it. Same 91 Milliamp draw. My last resort was to unplug the alternator ( not the hot wire) and it still has the same draw.

Any ideas?

Jim Whitehead · 10-06-2013, 09:03 PM

Hi Bill
Disconnect the Battery and put the positive and negative terminals together for 10 minutes. This will drain and discharge the capacitors in the ECM and BCM. When you hook up the battery negative terminal first, the system will reinitialize the modules. This is a common problem with GM vehicles

Billy Baker · 10-07-2013, 12:42 PM

Thanks for the advice, Jim. I think my Multimeter was reading wrong, as it had a blown fuse.

09-18-2013, 12:03 PM	#1
Billy Baker Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Centerburg, Ohio Posts: 74 Likes: 21 Liked 2 Times in 1 Post	1998 Chevy Express Battery drain My wary tow van has a 91 milliamp draw, which drains the battery every 2-3 days. I have tried everything i can think of. Hooked my multi tester up in parallel with the negative side of battery and cable.I installed a jumper wire in parallel also and waited 20 minutes for systems to go to sleep. I then started yanking fuses 1 at a time, including maxi fuses and relays in the under hood fuse block. Still no change. I then stuck a new battery in it. Same 91 Milliamp draw. My last resort was to unplug the alternator ( not the hot wire) and it still has the same draw. Any ideas? __________________ Billy Baker 3187 G/SA 3586 SS/LA

10-06-2013, 09:03 PM	#2
Jim Whitehead Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: MA. Posts: 283 Likes: 148 Liked 147 Times in 39 Posts	Re: 1998 Chevy Express Battery drain Hi Bill Disconnect the Battery and put the positive and negative terminals together for 10 minutes. This will drain and discharge the capacitors in the ECM and BCM. When you hook up the battery negative terminal first, the system will reinitialize the modules. This is a common problem with GM vehicles

10-07-2013, 12:42 PM	#3
Billy Baker Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Centerburg, Ohio Posts: 74 Likes: 21 Liked 2 Times in 1 Post	Re: 1998 Chevy Express Battery drain Thanks for the advice, Jim. I think my Multimeter was reading wrong, as it had a blown fuse. __________________ Billy Baker 3187 G/SA 3586 SS/LA