# 2013 Cruze-Something is draining the battery



## halo71 (Jun 9, 2015)

On my wife's Cruze. Over the last week I had noticed that when starting it. It seemed like it was dragging a bit. I noticed also that if I turned the auto lights to the OFF position. It did not drag at all. Well driving on the interstate Saturday we stopped at a rest area. Got back in the car after about 15 minutes. Click click click is all it would do. Head lights were dim. But dash lights seemed to be bright. After putting a jump box on it, it fired right up. I didnt think to look at the voltage reading prior to jumping it off though. Well coming down the highway I kept the voltage screen up. It showed between 13.5 and 14.2 volts. Fluctuated back and forth.

After 2 hours of driving I was close to home. And stopped and had the battery tested at an O-Reiley's. The guy said the battery, alternator and starter tested fine. Got home it cranked back up just fine. Late Saturday night ir cranked up fine. Sunday afternoon it cranked fine. This morning, won't crank. Shows 9.5 volts in battery. Shows the following on the dash:

Service Stability Track
Battery Saver Active
Service Steering Control
Service Power Steering
Service Traction Control

So at this point the only thing I know to do IS buy a new battery. If anyone has any clues or advice I really need it! There is a recall on the car (14801 REPROGRAM ENGINE CONTROL MODULE) that I have an appointment this Friday with the dealer to fix. I asked them this morning if the battery drain could have something to do with the recall. They said no.

And I am not very mechanically inclined to say the least. Changing oil, brake pads I am good with. Other stuff I am lost on. So and help would be most appreciated here.


Thanks!
Gary


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

The battery is charging properly - your voltages are normal for charging. However, it does sound like you have a bad cell in there. If you're under 36K miles the battery replacement is a B2B warranty item.


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## halo71 (Jun 9, 2015)

Car has 82k on it. So even though they said the battery was fine. You think that could be the problem.

And wow, thanks for the fast response!


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## Philb (Jun 18, 2016)

My first thought was a bad cell also but if the battery tested ok then it's not that. Check your battery terminals. Any corrosion will prevent proper contact with the clamps and will seem like you have a bad battery. Starting the car with jumper cables bypasses the car's battery connection so even if you have corrosion it will start fine giving the impression that the battery is bad.


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## halo71 (Jun 9, 2015)

There is not a bit of corrosion on the terminals. I mean they look brand new. Everything is tight as well.


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## Philb (Jun 18, 2016)

I found this article. Hope it helps. 
https://axleaddict.com/auto-repair/Whats-Wrong-With-My-Car-Five-Signs-Youre-Battery-Is-Dead

Thinking about what obermd said about a bad cell I've found that even a weak cell can sometimes cause a car not to start and then be fine at other times.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

At 82K you're approaching the end of your useful battery life. Low end of the range but still within the range. I normally see around 100K on my batteries but climate has a lot to do with this. If you're in the south you can expect a shorter battery life than I do in Denver.


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## Philb (Jun 18, 2016)

Pages 5-25 and 5-27 of the 2013 Chevy owner's manual have information on the battery that may be of some use.


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## halo71 (Jun 9, 2015)

Yeah I live in Georgia. Been very hot here so far this summer. I'm gonna go get a battery now for it. HOPEFULLY thats all that is wrong.

Thanks guys!


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## Philb (Jun 18, 2016)

Let us know how you make out.


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## halo71 (Jun 9, 2015)

So I got a new battery. 650 CCA over the 525 CCA from factory. So far so good. Cranks much faster now. Showed 15.1 volts when I first cranked it! Then dropped down to 14.5-14.8 volts.

All the error messages are gone now. The guy at the store tested the old battery. He had to charge it, had like 9 volts and 51 CCA when he first tested. Charged it for maybe 10 minutes then tested again. 13.4 volts and 505 CCA. Load tested it, went down to about 150 CCA. Then it said bad/replace battery. Charged it again for like 15 minutes, tested, it showed good. After another load test, showed bad/replace. He said, and I did not get a warm fuzzy feeling from him that he knew what he was talking about, that its "borderline good....on its way out". 

So I bought a new one.


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## Philb (Jun 18, 2016)

Sounds like the load test found the problem....bad battery.


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## halo71 (Jun 9, 2015)

Man I hope that fixes the problem. We have a trip planned to Virginia July 4th week. I dang sure don't wanna break down going or coming.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

halo71 said:


> So I got a new battery. 650 CCA over the 525 CCA from factory. So far so good. Cranks much faster now. Showed 15.1 volts when I first cranked it! Then dropped down to 14.5-14.8 volts.
> 
> All the error messages are gone now. The guy at the store tested the old battery. He had to charge it, had like 9 volts and 51 CCA when he first tested. Charged it for maybe 10 minutes then tested again. 13.4 volts and 505 CCA. Load tested it, went down to about 150 CCA. Then it said bad/replace battery. Charged it again for like 15 minutes, tested, it showed good. After another load test, showed bad/replace. He said, and I did not get a warm fuzzy feeling from him that he knew what he was talking about, that its "borderline good....on its way out".
> 
> So I bought a new one.


His assessment was spot on - your old battery was on its way out.


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## Philb (Jun 18, 2016)

Yeah, I know exactly how you feel! I would probably drive it around more than necessary just to make sure everything is ok. Take a 10 minute drive, shut it off and restart it in a couple of hours. You may want to do that for a couple of days. If you have jumper cables take them with you on the trip. I have a set in with the spare tire along with a pair of old work gloves in case I need to change a tire or do some other emergency work.
Have a safe journey!


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## halo71 (Jun 9, 2015)

Well I drove it around today around 60 miles. 28 miles to the nearest store! lol I live way way out in the country on a lake. But anyways....cranked and ran fine. I did notice the voltage stays around 14.2 when driving. I would thought it should be closer to 12 volts though.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier. That I found rather strange. After I replaced the battery, I got in it to crank it. Cranked up fine, said Hood Open. I closed the hood, got back in. And it said to roll down drivers side window and roll back up! Anyone care to explain that one to me? An nope....ain't been drinking either! lol


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## Philb (Jun 18, 2016)

Voltage at 14.2 sounds normal. I've seen almost 15 when I had my Chevy Sonic.
As far as the window thing goes....never heard of that one before!


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## Philb (Jun 18, 2016)

Found these at a Camaro forum:

Every once in a while, I will get a message on the DIC that says: "lower driver side window, then close". They must get out of alignment or something, but when I do what is says it fixes it. 

I had my battery disconnected for three days for an indoors car show. The DIC said lower both windows, I did and it was fixed.


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## halo71 (Jun 9, 2015)

Actually after I first installed the battery. It was reading 15.2 volts. Then it dropped down. So that's normal then I see. 

Yeah the window thing had me wondering. I figure next it was gonna tell me to clean the bug splatter off the front bumper. lol


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## Philb (Jun 18, 2016)

Mine says "open door, get out, close door."
I don't think my car likes me!


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

halo71 said:


> And it said to roll down drivers side window and roll back up! Anyone care to explain that one to me? An nope....ain't been drinking either! lol


That's normal after the battery has been disconnected. The Cruze has a feature where one bump if the switch will roll the window all the way down. That's not done with limit switches - the BCM remembers how long it takes. When you disconnect the battery, it loses that memory. So it has to be re-programmed. Kind of like how car radios used to lose station memories or time of day.


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## halo71 (Jun 9, 2015)

Still no issues with the new battery. I think that fixed it. Thanks for the information guys!


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## Philb (Jun 18, 2016)

halo71 said:


> Still no issues with the new battery. I think that fixed it. Thanks for the information guys!


Thanks for the update. Glad the issue is resolved.


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## Jbarron920 (Feb 8, 2018)

what ecus are connected directly to power, could they be causing the batter "thru diodes leaking under certain conditions" cause the issue? 
I've been having this same issue for the last 2 years and all tests are fine, battery has been replaced alt has been tested and deemed ok by Chevy. any help would be appreciated.


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