SILVER LS4

Do you have anything plugged in the aux inputs? I've heard of leaving a phone charger plugged in and the body control module would not let all the other modules in the car go into a sleep mode. This would creat an excessive battery draw, even with a phone not attached to the charger. Or it could be a faulty bcm not doing the same thing. If a battery has a bad cell it can usually be detected.

KENB

So Douglas, I your took advise and tried this load test. This was the outcome. The battery voltage just before this test was 12.39V. I then put the key on, lights on, heater fan full, both heated seats on high, radio, and hazzard lights, all for exactly 2 min. During the test I could see the instrument light getting dimmer and near the the end of the 2 min the heated seats actually shut off on there own. After the test I shut the key off and checked the battery voltage again. I got 11.85V initially but then started to slowly climb to 12.2V. For the heck of it, I tried to start her up. She started but barely! So I guess this confirms the battery as the problem. Now I hope performing this in front of the service manager is enough to get me a new battery. Thanks Douglas your expertise in this area where very helpful. I'll keep you guys informed hoe it works out with my dealer.

KENB

A recap! After three visits to my dealer hopefully all my starting problems are gone!
First visit was mainly for power steering hose recall and had them check the battery cause I complained the car wouldn't start a couple of times. They charged it and told me all was well. After a few days, same problem. Performed 2 min Accesories on load test that "06 SS" suggested which proved to me that the battery was definately on the weak side.

Second visit to the dealer! Performed the 2 min accesories on test right in front of the Service guy. Killed the battery to a point the car wouldn't start. Called me back later that day and told me the battery was fine, but the negative battery cable was really loose. I sort of felt like an ***, that I didn't pick that up myself, but something deep down inside told me that still wasn't the problem. They charged the battery back up and gave me back the car. Ran the car a few days taking note of the battery voltage before and after each trip and noticed the voltage was still dropping down close to the 12.0v range. Did the 2 min Access on load test again and confirmed that the battery still wan't able to hold the load.

Third visit to the dealer! Performed the 2 min access. on test in front of another service guy and again the car would not start. The guy acutally tried to tell me that it was normal for a car not to start if unused for 3-4 days. I laughed in his face. After a little heated discussion, they took the car in to look at it again. They called me and said the they found a problem with the battery and the changed it. WELL DUHH!

So now I have a Delco Professional Series battery 720CCA instaed of the original 625CCA. The part number for the new battery is 85H7YR. So far all is now fine.

06MonteSS

a-HA!! yup, sounds like the bad cell thing I had - and that's the same battery that they gave me, that's the one I was telling you about a while ago - and yup, that's the part number on it that you asked me for via PM.

Good to here you have the same battery that they gave me when they swapped mine out, you should be all set now...

Corny40

iTrader: (7)

My car was built in Oct 2005, is this problem only w/some vehicles? Or, should I expect to have this problem sometime? What kind of things should I look for if and when problems start? How can I test the voltage on my battery, since we don't have a gauge for it?

Thanks.

06MonteSS

mine was built sept/oct 2005 too - I took delivery of it on Nov. 23rd 2005. My battery issue occured around August 2006.

the only thing I really noticed was that the 2 preceding days, the car struggled to start - but it did start - and once it was running it was fine. then the 3rd day, I went to start it and nothing happened - no lights came on, no starter even clicking - deader than dead.

I jump started it off my wife's Equinox and the thing ran like nothing ever happened. but as soon as I turned it off - it wouldn't start back up, it had to be jumped - and this was after having a battery charger on it for 16 hours!

live2ride

It's amazing the loss of trust and I'm sure future dollars you will ever spend there over something so cheap as a battery.

Kazmaniac

Name of the game in the automotive world these days ... how much cost can you pull out / save, and of course, the BS "life expectancy" testing.