# 2011 Chevy Cruze Battery Dead or Alternator?



## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

I say battery. When an older battery gets fully discharged, it can die and not take a charge. 

If your alternator was bad, you'd never be able to drive the car for an hour.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Welcome Aboard!

If the DIC says 14v or so, that is the alternator output voltage. What is the voltage when the key is on and not started? Probably nothing as it will not start, but if you trickle charge it enough for the dashlights to come on you would probably see less than 12v signifying the battery. 

Cruze Battery Upgrade Options
TSB #14311
*How-To: Installation of the Big 3 Cruze Kit*
Clean the Terminals

Don't forget to introduce yourself and your Cruze here.


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## touches (Jan 26, 2020)

ChevyGuy said:


> I say battery. When an older battery gets fully discharged, it can die and not take a charge.
> 
> If your alternator was bad, you'd never be able to drive the car for an hour.


 The battery was replaced in August last year and am not sure if it just gave out by sitting in the parking for a month while I was on vacation. During the first jump start I was getting the “Service Stabili Track” message along with “ABS”, “Traction” and “Brakes” indication lights. These happened whenever the radio went off and disappeared when it came back on.



Blasirl said:


> If the DIC says 14v or so, that is the alternator output voltage. What is the voltage when the key is on and not started? Probably nothing as it will not start, but if you trickle charge it enough for the dashlights to come on you would probably see less than 12v signifying the battery.
> 
> Cruze Battery Upgrade Options
> TSB #14311
> ...


I did not notice the voltage then, I only saw the reading after starting and once I started turning on the lights the voltage dropped to 13.4V and suddenly the car engine died along with the lights gradually fading away. Now the car is completely stalled and I am at a loss on what to do next. I am just hoping against hope it’s not the alternator as this vehicle is still under a loan and I can no longer afford the cost to fix an alternator. Only if GM had considered making a robust vehicle so people wouldn’t suffer so much.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

touches said:


> The battery was replaced in August last year and am not sure if it just gave out by sitting in the parking for a month while I was on vacation. During the first jump start I was getting the “Service Stabili Track” message along with “ABS”, “Traction” and “Brakes” indication lights. These happened whenever the radio went off and disappeared when it came back on.
> 
> 
> I did not notice the voltage then, I only saw the reading after starting and once I started turning on the lights the voltage dropped to 13.4V and suddenly the car engine died along with the lights gradually fading away. Now the car is completely stalled and I am at a loss on what to do next. I am just hoping against hope it’s not the alternator as this vehicle is still under a loan and I can no longer afford the cost to fix an alternator. Only if GM had considered making a robust vehicle so people wouldn’t suffer so much.


Take the car to a reputable shop and ask them to test the charging system. Many shops will do this for free or possibly a minimal service charge. This will tell you if it is the battery and / or the alternator.

Also you did not comment on whether or not you followed the battery cable TSB or if your terminals are clean


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## touches (Jan 26, 2020)

Blasirl said:


> Take the car to a reputable shop and ask them to test the charging system. Many shops will do this for free or possibly a minimal service charge. This will tell you if it is the battery and / or the alternator.
> 
> Also you did not comment on whether or not you followed the battery cable TSB or if your terminals are clean


In my first post, I mentioned after jump starting the 2nd time I took it to Autozone who said the alternator was bad whereas the technician who jump started told me the alternator was okay. At Autozone he plugged and measured the voltage and saw the dimming and flickering lights to justify his assertion. Shortly after reaching home (luckily) the car died. I apologize for not commenting about the battery. I have not replaced the negative battery cables and the terminals are clean as when I purchased they had just replaced the battery and cleaned the terminals.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

touches said:


> In my first post, I mentioned after jump starting the 2nd time I took it to Autozone who said the alternator was bad whereas the technician who jump started told me the alternator was okay. At Autozone he plugged and measured the voltage and saw the dimming and flickering lights to justify his assertion. Shortly after reaching home (luckily) the car died. I apologize for not commenting about the battery. I have not replaced the negative battery cables and the terminals are clean as when I purchased they had just replaced the battery and cleaned the terminals.


The charging system needs a load test, not a voltage check.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

The alternator is putting out power. It does sometimes shut off at idle and counts on the battery to hold the fort until it can load down the engine again to provide charge. I still think the complete discharge has killed the battery. It's not the alternator's fault it won't take a charge. 

You might want to read this article: Why You Shouldn't Let Your Car Battery Die

If you've got a battery charger will a desulfate feature, you might pull the battery out and let it sit on the charger and see what it can do for it.


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## touches (Jan 26, 2020)

ChevyGuy said:


> The alternator is putting out power. It does sometimes shut off at idle and counts on the battery to hold the fort until it can load down the engine again to provide charge. I still think the complete discharge has killed the battery. It's not the alternator's fault it won't take a charge.
> 
> You might want to read this article: Why You Shouldn't Let Your Car Battery Die
> 
> If you've got a battery charger will a desulfate feature, you might pull the battery out and let it sit on the charger and see what it can do for it.


After reading your post, I have ordered a battery charger from Amazon with a desulfate feature. I have taken out the battery and once I get the charger will see how it goes by. I did use a voltmeter on the battery after taking them out and it read 1.18V. Does it mean the battery is dead beyond repair or recharge?


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## Thebigzeus (Dec 2, 2018)

Lead acid batteries don’t like to be ran fully out and to my knowledge it hurts them and it’s very hard to get them to function properly after doing so.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

An aspirin in each cell will help with sulphur. But if the battery is in that bad of shape. It's really not worth screwing around with.

How much was that charger compared to just fixing the problem with a replacement battery. You won't risk being stranded somewhere with a new battery. Unless the charging system isn't working. 

Fixing problems are always the best solution to trying to wing a problem.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

touches said:


> After reading your post, I have ordered a battery charger from Amazon with a desulfate feature. I have taken out the battery and once I get the charger will see how it goes by. I did use a voltmeter on the battery after taking them out and it read *1.18V*. Does it mean the battery is dead beyond repair or recharge?


You have a bad battery.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

touches said:


> I did use a voltmeter on the battery after taking them out and it read 1.18V. Does it mean the battery is dead beyond repair or recharge?


Batteries are considered fully discharged at 10.5V. A single cell is 1.5V. 

Among the challenges is to get all the cells back up and running. That means charging dead cells without overcharging the charged ones. Furthermore, in discharging the battery, some cells died before others and then were getting reverse charged as the battery continued to drain.

You can play with it, but odds are the battery will never be the same - if you can bring it back at all.


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## touches (Jan 26, 2020)

snowwy66 said:


> An aspirin in each cell will help with sulphur. But if the battery is in that bad of shape. It's really not worth screwing around with.
> 
> How much was that charger compared to just fixing the problem with a replacement battery. You won't risk being stranded somewhere with a new battery. Unless the charging system isn't working.
> 
> Fixing problems are always the best solution to trying to wing a problem.


The charger costs $35 and a new battery is around $119. I charged the battery for 2 full days using the desulfate mode. I was able to start the car and took it to a nearest advanced auto parts shop where they tested my alternator and battery. The alternator result came back normal with 14.94V under no load and 14.99V with a load. I am not sure if this is okay and would be glad to listen to members suggestions here. The battery charge was found to be low with the voltage of 12.6V and measured amps of 401A while the rated amps is 600A. They full charged it for 30 mins and put it back on. So far I have experienced no problems and the Service Stabilitrak error no longer pops up. The starter test results were normal as well with the voltage reading of 11.23V. Is there anything else I should watch out for? I am going to be replacing the PCV valve cover and do the V3 PCV fix kit by Andre


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

12.6 is fully charged. 

I don't know how they can measure amount of amps though.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

The car has a smart charging system. The voltage will go higher than normal to get the current the computer wants to see going into the battery. 14.9V suggests the alternator can crank it out, but the battery is a bit stubborn about taking it. I don't know how long it takes to desulfate a battery, but more time on that charger wouldn't hurt. Especially if you're not going to be driving for an extended period.


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