# no electrical power at all



## digitalray (Feb 5, 2018)

i'm totally confused right now..


i just went to my car this morning and it had aboslutely zero electrical power, no lights, no radio, just nothing.


battery is new, got a new one about 2 months ago because the first battery gave up after 7.5 years, and had it installed by the chevy dealer service and tested, so i don't think it's the battery.


other than that my 2011 cruze is serviced perfectly in any way and even had a new original GM battery ground cable about 4 months ago (even specific GM Part number from GM service sheet), because the original one got faulty at about 68k miles.


all worked fine for 2 months now.


so i tried jumpstarting anyway, but even with jumpstarter cables connected and other car running, i still dont get any electricity at all.


battery terminals are clean, didnt have any problems or error codes lately, fuses look good optically, nothing burned.


i tried removing and fixing the battery terminal cables again to make sure, they are not loose, but they were not loose and all that didn't help either.


any idea what i could be looking for?


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Aren't there some main power fuses? Possibly connected somewhere with the positive cable?


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## digitalray (Feb 5, 2018)

yep, they are above the battery, i had a quick look as i didn't have my multimeter with me, but all fuses looked fine, starter fuse with 500A too.. but i will check the fuses tonight if one is bad.. but then.. how could a main fuse go bad just by having the car sit over the weekend..


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Time to dig out the multimeter and start taking voltage measurements. With zero information, we're just shooting in the dark. If I was to take a wild guess, either the battery failed prematurely, or the headlights were left "on" in manual mode and the battery ran down.


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## digitalray (Feb 5, 2018)

had the technician come.. he checked everything, plugged in his own jumpstarter cables and his battery and tadaa.. cruze front lights turned on incl. hazard lights flashing. when i opened the door the bing sound turned on and repeated itself very fast, a lot faster than it would normally when the door is open.

1) what do these signs tell you ?


we started it up and it ran fine.. it drew 70A from the Alternator with 15V when cold and after a few minutes the Voltage came down to 14.4V.

He said 15 V is unusual and he suspects a shot Alternator Diode, that would also be able to let electricity flow out of the battery and back through the alternator. 

2) Some other Cruze guys told me 15V is fairly normal for a Cruze when cold and it will go down to 14.4V after a few minutes like it did ?


1st guess.. now all i could imagine is that i turned the lights off and on before leaving the car, so they would have been in "manual on" mode and drained the battery
2nd guess.. i could have used the radio for talking with my gf on the phone when i turned off the engine (line cable in my phone) for about 15 to 20 minutes, but that shouldnt drain a new and proper battery right after driving 30 minutes ?
the 2011 will turn off the radio after 10 minutes (2014 will do it after 30 minutes according to the chevy manual), probably i turned it on again 1 or 2 times and then left the car. will it still be ON after leaving the car ?

3) i used the key fob to close the doors / leave the car. this should also turn off the lights and the radio when both are turned on manually after engine shutoff, right ? or will the lights or radio stay ON even if i opened and closed the door after doing so and pressed LOCK on the key fob ?


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

digitalray said:


> had the technician come.. he checked everything, plugged in his own jumpstarter cables and his battery and tadaa.. cruze front lights turned on incl. hazard lights flashing. when i opened the door the bing sound turned on and repeated itself very fast, a lot faster than it would normally when the door is open.
> 
> 1) what do these signs tell you ?


Sounds like a dead battery. I'm not sure why the hazard lights came on, or the rapid bing sound. I'd think something would show on the DIC that would indicate what the car is trying to tell you.




digitalray said:


> 2) Some other Cruze guys told me 15V is fairly normal for a Cruze when cold and it will go down to 14.4V after a few minutes like it did ?


They are correct. The Cruze has a intelligent charging system and will go to a higher voltage as needed. That tends to confuse people who are used to "dumb" charging systems.


There's a battery saver mode that should kick in at some point. However, I'm not sure if it will override manual lights on. I'm pretty sure that locking the car won't override that. One thing not mentioned is if the car has any add-ons - perhaps an audio amp that might not have turned off.

Another possibility is that you have a bad battery that just opened up. I've had batteries fail in weird ways.


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## Farmerboy (Sep 2, 2012)

I had exactly that same thing happen several times to my ‘12 Eco. Fiddled with this and that and all of a sudden it worked. Don’t think it ever happened in the last yr or so before trading. Never did figure anything out.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Sounds like the OP needs to fix his jumper cables. Save himself the grief. 

Most cables don't work worth a darn with all that paint on the handles. I don't know why the manufactures do that. 

On another note. It's not good for the battery to drain em down. 

Make sure everything is off. And if the problem persists. Either a drain or bad battery.,


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## digitalray (Feb 5, 2018)

You were right it was probably just a drawn battery. I tested it today, turning on the lights and radio manually when engine is off. Opening and closing the door just as locking the vehicle with the key fob both didn't turn off the lights or the radio.

I probably left the radio and/or lights on in a hurry over the weekend, thinking both would turn off when leaving the vehicle and locking it with the fob like usual, but forgot that I turned on the radio 2 times manually after engine shutdown. Not sure about the lights though, but talking with your gf for 20 minutes after parking makes you press any knobs unintentionally and often unaware. That's my guess right now.
Thanks for explaining about the charging system as I would have taken it to car repair for the 15v and probably would have replaced the alternator.


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## Rivergoer (Mar 30, 2017)

It was likely your post-shutdown Bluetooth phone conversation, similar issue reported/resolved in the thread below.

https://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/64-...393-what-ive-noticed-battery-drain-issue.html


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## digitalray (Feb 5, 2018)

In my case it wasn't the Bluetooth, I got a 2010/2011 1.8 LS European model that didn't have Bluetooth back then.
According to my drivers manual the radio will shut off after 10 minutes when the key is out of ignition.
I read something about you can turn on the radio again 1 or 2 times and then you either need the key in ignition again or it will stay on forever. 
I guess my car does #2.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Rivergoer said:


> It was likely your post-shutdown Bluetooth phone conversation, similar issue reported/resolved in the thread below.
> 
> https://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/64-...393-what-ive-noticed-battery-drain-issue.html


Took the words right out of my mouth.


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