Please Help, Guys! This Babe Needs You!!

[TahoeBabe]

Okay, hopefully that caught your attention. I do need help with my 98 Chevy Tahoe LS (4 dr, 2wd)...I just spent 400. bucks at an electrical shop to locate and correct a battery draw after installing a new battery (2nd one).
My clock stays on...never did before. Would come on when I started truck or used accessory switch. My radio comes on now when ignition is off and you press the power button..never did before, only with engine on or use of accessory switch.
Shop said it was definately a draw from the radio. I was running out of time so the deadened the radio, clock and heat/ac until I could return the next morning for a new "ignition switch", which they determined was the culprit. Something about bad wires. My battery during this time ran fully charged, truck started right away.
Next day they installed new "ignition switch" and by evening I was having a draw against the charging system once again. Headlights dim, interior dim, slow start, and volt meter runs at 10 instead of between 14-17. I noticed tonight (have been home a few days without using my truck) that the dash clock remains on 24/7, and once again when you push the power to the radio without keys in ignition, you've got sound.
What the heck?
Can anyone help me with this. I am calling the shop back again this morning, but can anyone lend some ideas as to this all of sudden starting after owning the truck 3 years?

Also, we've been having very heavy rains here in So. California, almost 3 weeks non stop. The carpet in the cargo area of my truck was "soaked"...again, never happened before. No leaks at windows, molding, interior or overhead. Checked thorougly. When I pulled up the carpet to investigate, it was soaked from underneath, dripping. I had to pull out the entire cargo original carpet and toss it. I mean it was dripping wet!. Now I am staring at a metal cargo area. Dried it thorougly to see if (since it's still raining) I can locate source. It not coming in from back doors yet that is where the carpet was drenched. It was being soaked up like a sponge from the back doors to the back seats.

Please help...you can email me at [email protected]

Any idea where I can locate molded carpet cargo kit? Seems good ol' California wants over 1k to do this...jeezzzzzzz

[audio112]

U can try to find the accessory relay either under the hood or near the fuse box . I would start by pullin the relays out one by one untill the clock on the radio goes out , im not sure what relay it is but u can also look on www.gmfullsize.com they might give u a hand too . I hope i was some help to u .

[txgearhead]

Sounds to me like the memory wire and the power wire to the stereo are wired straight though to the battery, instead just the memory wire. The power wire should wire through the fuse block (tied in with the Acc position on ignition). Can you use any other ignition dependent equipment like power windows without the ignition on?

[bigbluesuvv]

I've experienced a leak in the rear cargo area on my 4-door also. I have a hatch instead of "barn doors", and I've noticed that the rear hatch leaks in certain conditions. It HAS to be raining darn hard! OR it has to be parked in such a way that a large volume of water on the roof applies pressure on the gaskets.

This past summer I had a small spider's nest in one of the gaskets on the hatch. It was enough of an abstruction to avert the flow of water and create a leak in the cargo area during a terrential downpour. So much water entered the truck thru the hatch, that it actully came out the rear doors when they were opened.