The "Enterprise" our big red Chevy G20 van developed a bunch of issues simultaneously and the cost to get it inspectable just isn't worth it.

When Forrest died Jeanne ended up with a Chevy Tahoe she didn't want or need so we made a deal with her and took it off her hands.

Far from new, it's a 1997 but.......no major body rot, straight, decent interior, option loaded and the best part.......NEW engine 12,000 miles ago!

The exhaust was all replaced along with the engine so good to go for a while there and the drivetrain was checked at the time and it's A-OK.

Gotta put better tires on but the ones it has are passable for now and come tax refund time we'll get 4 nice new ones with more aggressive tread.

So far it's only problem had been that it constantly killed the battery but I dropped my 1050 CCA monster in and that cured it. I suspect the one that was in it had resistive case discharge.

Rides great, everything works (won't know about the A/C till it gets warm but pretty sure it worked for Forrest) and a fresh bullet under the hood. Smells like a score to me!

Can't you just snag the tires off the van? Either way, sounds like a great deal all around.

Sounds like a good deal LK. Got pics?

(12-31-2014, 05:50 PM)ralgith Wrote: Can't you just snag the tires off the van? Either way, sounds like a great deal all around.

Nope. The van runs 235 75R/15 and the Tahoe takes 245 75R/16.
Besides.....the tires on the van are one of the items that needed to be replaced.

twisteroo Wrote:Sounds like a good deal LK. Got pics?

Not yet but as soon as I get some I'll post them.

(12-31-2014, 04:19 PM)LKTraz Wrote: The "Enterprise" our big red Chevy G20 van developed a bunch of issues simultaneously and the cost to get it inspectable just isn't worth it.

When Forrest died Jeanne ended up with a Chevy Tahoe she didn't want or need so we made a deal with her and took it off her hands.

Far from new, it's a 1997 but.......no major body rot, straight, decent interior, option loaded and the best part.......NEW engine 12,000 miles ago!

The exhaust was all replaced along with the engine so good to go for a while there and the drivetrain was checked at the time and it's A-OK.

Gotta put better tires on but the ones it has are passable for now and come tax refund time we'll get 4 nice new ones with more aggressive tread.

So far it's only problem had been that it constantly killed the battery but I dropped my 1050 CCA monster in and that cured it. I suspect the one that was in it had resistive case discharge.

Rides great, everything works (won't know about the A/C till it gets warm but pretty sure it worked for Forrest) and a fresh bullet under the hood. Smells like a score to me!

Keep your eye on the new battery. Usually they aren't the fault, and a bigger battery just means it will take longer to drain. Parasitic drain on a battery shouldn't be more that 50mA I think...

Last time we had battery issues like that it was the alternator regardless of multiple tests on it. Spent more money charging, buying and jumping that truck.

The battery that I replaced was a 900 CCA. The difference from 900 to a 1050 isn't enough to offset the timing of the starting power drain that was occuring.

It would drain the 900 in 36 hours to the point that it would barely crank enough to start and in 48 hours it needed jumped or to sit on a charger. It was a new battery and despite my advice Forrest never replaced it opting instead to blame it on some undiscovered electrical fault in the vehicle like a device or malfunctioning switch.

The 1050 battery I put in is 5 years old and the reason I went with that one is that it's my old reliable.

There isn't any parasitic drain from devices as it turns out. We can let it sit for 3 days now and it cranks normally. This is why I suspect resistive case drain. Basically, the battery it had although new is a piece of shit.

I haven't done it yet but I'm going to charge the battery that WAS in it and then put the multimeter on it between the negative post and the case. If I have any current at all it will confirm case drain. In the past I have bought new batteries with this problem and once I exchanged them for different ones the problem was solved.

The other possible problem is that I think he let the battery sit dead in freezing temps which may have damaged one or more cells. Generally this will show as a "bellied" case but doesn't always.

Parasitic drain of up to 100 mA is acceptable but yes 50 mA is the norm. Even at 100 mA draw it would take over 300 days to drain a battery below minimum starting level.

I plan on getting a nice shiny new 1000 CCA for it and reclaim old reliable back to it's original vehicle...Capt. Fugly.

Just a note here.......an internet falsehood is that there are only 3 automotive battery manufacturers in the US........Delphi, Exide and Johnson Controls. I know there is at least one more and they are local to me. East Penn Mfg is located in Lyon Station, PA and they are the world's largest privately owned single site battery manufacturer. Most of their products are geared toward industrial use but I have been a big fan of their Deka line of automotive batteries for many years. This is the brand of my old reliable 1050 CCA. Regardless of where I buy it I have the option of taking a bad one (has only happened one in 30 years) straight to the factory and they will replace it with the same, or in the case of the lone bad one I got, a better one no questions asked.

Twitchin Kitten Wrote:Last time we had battery issues like that it was the alternator regardless of multiple tests on it. Spent more money charging, buying and jumping that truck.

Twitch....I've had that problem too. The van was the last vehicle to have a "sneaky" alternator. Fortunately the one in the van will swap right into the Tahoe so if needed I have one at my fingertips!

A known oddball problem with Chevys is the starter causing nearly untraceable parasitic drain. If replacing the battery had not worked that was going to be my first suspect part to be replaced. I have 3 known good Chevy small block starters in my possesion so it would have been just a matter of getting under the Tahoe and doing the job.


So far I'm a very happy camper with this vehicle.

Regarding battery manufacturers, LG is in the USA too, specifically in Holland, MI:
http://www.stabenow.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=43