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IPC/DIC Circuit Draining Battery


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Hello everyone, I am new to this site and the SS world. I bought a used 03 SS with 117K, victory red in color, that is in immaculate condition other than the sad fact that it is having the battery drain issue from the IPC/DIC circuit. I did my research, and a draw test and found this to be the circuit. Will rebuilding the gauge cluster as most have suggested fix the problem or should I just break down and buy a whole new cluster. The speedo is reading weird anyways so I know I am going to get that fixed. I just dont wanna shell out the coin to have everything rebuilt and LED's installed only to have it not solve the problem. I found a few posts on other forums where some people had the cluster repaired and it fixed it and others that did the same and had the same problem. Ill be using the gm gauge guy if I go that route. What are your opinions on the matter, anyone else who has had this problem feel free to chime in. Thanks guys.

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I have never heard of an IPC causing a drain. I guess it's possible but a stuck spedo is a COMMON problem. There was a class action lawsuit in fact several years back. I wonder do you have any aftermarket items like a stereo or remote start that is possibly tied into that circuit? There is a reason that that is not going to "sleep".... I'm not sold that your IPC is the culprit.

Edited by EXGM (see edit history)
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The fuse is labeled as IPC/DIC in the underhood box. When I test that fuse it is the only one drawing power, even after the truck has sat for 30 minutes and the BCM has gone to "sleep". Everything else is good. Used my voltmeter set to milliamps and it was drawing 2.0.

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The fuse is labeled as IPC/DIC in the underhood box. When I test that fuse it is the only one drawing power, even after the truck has sat for 30 minutes and the BCM has gone to "sleep". Everything else is good. Used my voltmeter set to milliamps and it was drawing 2.0.

 

 

No you did the right test... I am curious what would keep it from going asleep. Sometimes I have seen aftermarket stuff wired into a circuit (with scotch locks... I HATE them) and it back feeds and keeps a module awake....

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No you did the right test... I am curious what would keep it from going asleep. Sometimes I have seen aftermarket stuff wired into a circuit (with scotch locks... I HATE them) and it back feeds and keeps a module awake....

It does have e-fans swapped in by the first owner, but everything looks well done. I have no idea what brand of kit it is. There are no stickers or marking on it anywhere, and I know they arent a factory swap as they look nothing like the fans on my 07 Classic. The only other thing I found that was wired in was a module for some bed lights under the tonneau cover. I removed all of that, they had spliced a wire in line to the cluster of wires that run up the driver side a pillar. I assume it probably went to the wire for the dome light so they would come on when the door opened? They cut the entire cluster of wires for some damn reason then soldered them all back together. Other than that stuff this truck is all factory.

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It does have e-fans swapped in by the first owner, but everything looks well done. I have no idea what brand of kit it is. There are no stickers or marking on it anywhere, and I know they arent a factory swap as they look nothing like the fans on my 07 Classic. The only other thing I found that was wired in was a module for some bed lights under the tonneau cover. I removed all of that, they had spliced a wire in line to the cluster of wires that run up the driver side a pillar. I assume it probably went to the wire for the dome light so they would come on when the door opened? They cut the entire cluster of wires for some damn reason then soldered them all back together. Other than that stuff this truck is all factory.

I wonder if they got something crossed up or there is a wire rubbed through or pinched that is shorting to ground.... I would keep looking you'll eventually find the problem......

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  • 4 years later...
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  • 8 months later...

That fuse is also for DIC which stands for driver information center which includes GM’s ONSTAR. If you have that on your vehicle whether you’re paying for the service or not, it is on all the time and that may be what is draining your battery. However, now you are faced with the dilemma of losing your dash cluster if you pull that fuse to disable the ONSTAR. I Don’t know how to disable the ONSTAR any other way though I’m sure there must be a way. Good  Luck

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  • 7 months later...

Hey - I have this same issue on my 2003 GMC Yukon 2wd 5.3L with 180k miles.  My battery was dying over night pretty much every night.  I pulled the IPC/DIC fuse and it has sat for more than 2 days and battery is still good. 

I've read about and watched a YouTube video (South Main Auto) where the mechanic has a 2003 Silverado with this same issue, he traces the parasitic battery drain to the gauge cluster, and he sends the cluster away to United Radio and they refurbish it and the truck is good to go - it fixes the drain problem.  They charge $175 for this service (up to $350, depends on what the tech finds wrong).  One of the issues cited in the South Main Auto video (he calls and speaks to the tech to worked on his cluster) is that when they built these clusters in Mexico they used no lead solder, and that causes a "silver migration" issue -- basically sounds like it leads to some corrosion on the gauge cluster computer board and that can cause the constant power draw.

I'm just wondering if those of you who had this problem had your cluster serviced or replaced the cluster with a new one, and did it fix the problem?  Can I reasonably rely on my issue being the gauge cluster, or could it be OnStar that's causing my problem somehow?  How can I permanently disable OnStar?  I don't have a need for that anyway since cell phones are now a thing.

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