Hi Guys, new to this site...

Let me preface this by saying I have looked all over this site and other researching this and still havent found what I need. I'm hoping you can help.

I have a 1999 Blazer - 2 door - 4x4 - 5 speed.

Along with this great little truck, I have developed an incredibly frustrating battery drain. Here is the strange part... The drain is completely random, but happens about 80% of the time.

For example, I could leave the truck parked for literally 10 minutes and it will have a hell of a time starting, or I will have it parked overnight and there is no problem at all (but there almost always is). The point I'm trying to make is that time is not an issue, it just drains super fast sometimes and others it doesnt drain at all. The battery is top-of-the-line and only 2 months old.

I took it to an auto electric shop the other day, they looked at it for almost 8 hours and said they could not get the drain to continue long enough to pinpoint it. keep in mind, electric was all this shop did. I really do not know what to do at this point. Any help would be great.

Drew

 

What has drawn your attention to a potential battery issue? Sounds more like a possible over heated starter or possibly an engine issue.

 

Sorry, I should have been more clear...

The battery will drain to about 10V after sitting for a few minutes, but sometimes (about 20% of the time), it will not drain at all. If the truck sits for 2 day or more, it will be completely dead... This is the 2nd battery, starter and alternator tested fine....

It almost always starts if sitting for less that 2 days but reallllly reallllly struggles/

 

That is one heck of a draw to pull a good battery down that fast. It shouldn't be that difficult to find at that rate...

Does the starter solenoid completely disengage? Are you sure that you don't have a cracked plate in the battery that is resulting in a dead cell?

 

I really don't know if the starter solenoid is disengaging. How would I check that? They tested the starter and alternator at the shop and said they were fine.
As far as the battery, it is 2 months old. I replaced it because of this problem in the first place so I've ruled that out.

 

Like I said, that is one heck of a draw to pull a good battery from its usual 12.8V (approx. full charge) down to 10V in 10 minutes. We're talking mini-welder here. Are you testing the voltage at the battery terminals to get that value?

As far as the starter solenoid goes, it would be getting fairly warm if it were the cause of the drain.

To pinpoint the source of this high current drain, I would recommend the use of a shunt so you don't blow out your multimeter. The shunt will need to be sized appropriately for the suspected draw. A 50A/50mV shunt will have a 1mV drop for every 1A draw. Most are available on up to 500A/50mV where 1mV drop = 10A draw. This will allow you to test various circuits while leaving the battery connected.

I would hope that the draw would not exceed a 50A load, but that drain is FAST.

 

Trust me on this one man. Change the starter solenoid. Had the same problem and the inner part of the solenoid was loose from the outer part. Changed it and never had another problem.

 

Thanks for the help guys. I'm going to look into the starter soleniod.. How exactly would I go about doing this? Should I just change the entire starter??

 

The solenoid can be replaced independently from the starter, but the starter has to be pulled to get to the solenoid. So it depends on what you want to do in terms of repair.

 

Ok guys, hopefully last question. I went ahead and picked up a new starter from autozone. I let the truck cool down for an hour and the starter was still very hot compared to everything else. Now I'm stuck. I CANNOT get the starter out through that hole. I've read other topics on replacing it, I've tried rotating it 180, etc.. No luck!
How do I get this damn thing out. Do I need to disconnect the wires before trying to work it through that hole? That seems almost impossible to get to them while its still in place. What about removing the soleniod before pulling it?
I'm going to give it another go tonight when I have more time.

Again, thanks for the help!!