2018 Silverado electrical nightmare! Help

[Nick W]

Ok, so problem #1.  Randomly I go to crank the truck and there isn't enough juice in the battery to crank.  The odd part is It can happen 2-3 times in a day or none in a week.  And it can happen after 3 minutes of being turned off!  I don't know of a parasite drain that can drain it that fast.  A simple jump or battery charge and it will crank right up.

 

#2 periodically I'll go to unlock using my key fob and it will instantly lock it again, as soon as I unlock, over and over and over. Occasionally it relocks while I'm driving as well... this problem is also periodic.  
 

#3. battery source has tested battery and alternator 3 times and reports them both fine.

 

#4. upon inspection of battery there seems to be a small spill of an oily liquid on it, no clue where it came from but only maybe a teaspoon worth

 

#5 inside the distribution box on top of the battery, one of the small squares of plastic on the corner closest to driver (no terminals here) appears to have been melted... or more so dissolved by this liquid which isn't appearing anywhere else inside distribution box.

 

6. lifting distribution box up reveals scarring and melting / disintegration of bottom of distribution box by this liquid.

 

7. battery source insists that it can not possibly be battery acid, as the acid can't come out of top of battery.

 

any ideas here? I just want it to stop killing battery and leaving me stranded 

[64BAwagon]

My moneys on a bad battery. 

[Nick W]

15 hours ago, 64BAwagon said:

My moneys on a bad battery. 

That's what I keep saying and thinking. But I bought it at battery source, and I have returned there 4  times now. And every times they Tell me that the battery and alternator test good.  That's where I got them to take the cover off where I noticed the melted still gewey pieces of plastic that you see in the pics.  I had noticed a small amount of liquid on top of battery, and whatever the liquid is seems to be disintegrating the distributor box.  The employees insist that it can't be battery acid and that battery acid can only come out the battery's side overflow ports and not out of the top.  But I can find absolutely no ideas regarding why the battery has this liquid on it or how it got there.  
 

the glob of black left on the sticker of the battery was eating away at the sticker, however there really wasn't any battery damage.  Whatever it is ate thru the distributor cap but not the battery

[diyer2]

My moneys on bad grounds or battery cables. 

[64BAwagon]

You might want to have the battery tested by another place thats a little more objective. Alternator is easy, if the truck shows anything over 13volts while running the alternator is good. 

Make sure they "load test" the battery, not just throw a meter on it. 

[It's Tim]

High resistance more than likely the cause of melting/gooey.

[KARNUT]

I’ve had a bad battery start my truck and still be bad. To the point of effecting my transmission. It would be in tow-haul mode and not shift out. It was to the point I was checking out rebuilding prices. One day it wouldn’t start. Put a battery in all better. That was on my 02 avalanche. 

[GMCustomerService]

On 11/5/2022 at 5:56 PM, Nick W said:

Ok, so problem #1.  Randomly I go to crank the truck and there isn't enough juice in the battery to crank.  The odd part is It can happen 2-3 times in a day or none in a week.  And it can happen after 3 minutes of being turned off!  I don't know of a parasite drain that can drain it that fast.  A simple jump or battery charge and it will crank right up.

 

#2 periodically I'll go to unlock using my key fob and it will instantly lock it again, as soon as I unlock, over and over and over. Occasionally it relocks while I'm driving as well... this problem is also periodic.  
 

#3. battery source has tested battery and alternator 3 times and reports them both fine.

 

#4. upon inspection of battery there seems to be a small spill of an oily liquid on it, no clue where it came from but only maybe a teaspoon worth

 

#5 inside the distribution box on top of the battery, one of the small squares of plastic on the corner closest to driver (no terminals here) appears to have been melted... or more so dissolved by this liquid which isn't appearing anywhere else inside distribution box.

 

6. lifting distribution box up reveals scarring and melting / disintegration of bottom of distribution box by this liquid.

 

7. battery source insists that it can not possibly be battery acid, as the acid can't come out of top of battery.

 

any ideas here? I just want it to stop killing battery and leaving me stranded 

 

This is certainly not what we like to hear, Nick W.  Please know, customer satisfaction is extremely important to us. Our team would be more than happy to take a closer look into the concerns with your 2018 Silverado 1500. To do so, please send an email to [email protected] with ATTN: Nick W/GM Trucks in the subject line.

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[Nick W]

I took it to the dealership today for the diagnostic apt You guys made for me. They said that if I leave the truck with them today then they will hopefully be able to do the diagnostic next week, but it may be the week after that. Once that's done then they can determine how much longer they will need the vehicle. Unfortunately I don't have another vehicle, I can't just leave my truck here that long. I asked her if it was possible for me to drive it for this upcoming week and drop it off when they were actually able to look at it. She said no, that it has to be on the lot ready when they are ready. So I'm back in the same boat I was earlier, except now wasted a week. And when I had to jump it off yesterday it did something to my dashboard, now those lights don't work at all either.