# It happened again. A dead battery. This time to my other 2014 Cruze!



## Vetterin (Mar 27, 2011)

It don't make a lot of sense to me as these cars can sit in the dealers lot for months without any problem.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Vetterin said:


> It don't make a lot of sense to me as these cars can sit in the dealers lot for months without any problem.


However, they may be in "transport mode" in the dealer's lot.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Have you added any aftermarket equipment?

Otherwise send 'er back to the dealer and let it sit there for a week. They'll do a parasitic drain test.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Makes me wonder should I leave my Cruze sit at the airport for 2 weeks when I go to Vietnam in February or take my wife's car? I have not had any charging/starting problems with it in the 3 years I have owned it.


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## Terryk2003 (Sep 22, 2014)

My 2014 failed to start on me when i got out of work at 2am about 3 months after i bought the car. I wasn't sure what would have caused it, but i got a jump start and all was fine...for a few days. It did it to me again a few days later in a walmart parking lot. This time i called GM roadside assistance, but after learning it was going to be 2 hours for them to come get me/get the car started, i ended up going into walmart and purchasing a Booster pack, which luckily had enough power to start the car up. I took it to the dealer the next morning (after i had to boost it yet again), and it turned out the battery had a dead cell (which i suspected). Battery was replaced and has been ok since (about a year and 3 months now). I don't think Delco batteries are as good as they used to be anymore.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Patman said:


> Makes me wonder should I leave my Cruze sit at the airport for 2 weeks when I go to Vietnam in February or take my wife's car? I have not had any charging/starting problems with it in the 3 years I have owned it.


I think I'd put it in transport mode.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

ChevyGuy said:


> I think I'd put it in transport mode.



OK How?


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Patman said:


> OK How?


sandy blogs


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## Cruzen Vegas (Aug 27, 2015)

Cruzes do this for some reason, On my 2012 the dealer blamed it on Battery cables,bad batterys, ect.. But it happens still after these fixes...The problem is these dealer techs don't know how to fix anything, unless an idiot light go off pointing them in the correct direction...


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## Cruzen Vegas (Aug 27, 2015)

I told them it doesn't matter if you have a hair dryer hooked up, everything should turn off automaticly after 10 minutes...The dealers are always trying to blame you for everything...


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## the_nik (Nov 3, 2014)

RE: Have you added any aftermarket equipment?

Nope. It's factory equipment only for both Cruzes.

My suspicions are on the OnStar system. Although I no longer have the full OnStar package, I still have the free "limited OnStar". I wonder how much power that uses over a weeks time reporting various data, listening for an unlock command via a cellurar signal etc.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Terryk2003 said:


> I don't think Delco batteries are as good as they used to be anymore.


Correct. They're not made by Delco anymore. They're made by Johnson controls and are still OEM quality - but not like the old Delco freedoms. 

This is why I'm switching to Odyssey battery when the time comes. Odyssey builds a no-compromise design. And when it comes to starting I'm a no-compromise kind of guy.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

ChevyGuy said:


> sandy blogs


Does Transport Mode disable the security system? If not this would be very useful for long term airport parking.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

obermd said:


> Does Transport Mode disable the security system? If not this would be very useful for long term airport parking.


I don't know. All I know is what the blog says. It does say "content theft deterrent and exit lighting timers are reduced" which suggests that it's still on.


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## the_nik (Nov 3, 2014)

As promised, I have an update on my second Cruze with a dead battery. The dealer checked out the car and the battery and everything is once again within spec. This is quite a disappointment to me. I own two almost identical 2014 Cruzes, both having the exact same failure (and no resolution). Sigh….

If you recall from the other thread, I tried to recreate the battery failure by parking my Cruze again for 8 days. That time, the battery did not fail. When I did that experiment, I locked the Cruze. My reasoning was that a locked car will have a larger parasitic draw because the theft protection will be engaged. 

On my original battery failure, the first 2014 Cruze was parked in my garage for 8 days and it was unlocked. When my second Cruze battery failed, it also sat unlocked. Perhaps an unlocked Cruze actually has a greater parasitic draw than a locked Cruze?

I would like to try this experiment again (this time with an unlocked Cruze) but unfortunately I no longer have the flexibility to leave one of my Cruzes parked for a week.

Thanks again everyone for your responses.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

This one kind of fascinates me.....two cars, same situation.

1.Are both cars LTZ's w/pushbutton start?

2.Verify that the vehicle batteries have only died while parked at home.

Rob


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## the_nik (Nov 3, 2014)

Both vehicles are LT. Neither has pushbutton start.

Both vehicles died when parked in the relatively warm/insulated garage. The temperature was never below 35 F. Neither vehicle was locked when the the dead battery incidents occurred.

As I said previously, one time I tried to recreate the problem by leaving the vehicle parked in the garage for 8 days. That time I locked the car. That's the only difference. The battery did not die that time. I would try the experiment again, but I no longer have the ability to leave one of my Cruzes idle for a week. (Everyone has to get to work every day.)

Both vehicles have around 12K miles.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

the_nik said:


> Both vehicles are LT. Neither has pushbutton start.
> 
> Both vehicles died when parked in the relatively warm/insulated garage. The temperature was never below 35 F. Neither vehicle was locked when the the dead battery incidents occurred.
> 
> ...


Hey The_nik, 

I can definitely understand how frustrating this may seem, and I am here to help if needed. I would be more than happy to get in touch with the dealership on your behalf or locate another in your location for a possible second opinion. Feel free to send me a private message here along with your VINs, current mileage, contact information and preferred dealership. Looking forward to your continued updates and response! 

Patsy G
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Nuts!

I was hoping they were LTZ's 
To the pushbutton start gang, this can occur if the key fob is within about 30ft. or less of the parked car.
The reciever 'sees' the fob signal and the electrical system stays 'live', waiting for the car to be entered.

OP....I'll keep thinking on this one.
Two cars, doing the same thing........interesting to me, aggravating to you.

Rob


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

No need to leave it for a week. Connect a voltmeter and check for a parasitic draw when leaving doors unlocked for a few minutes - hours, vs leaving it locked. 

It's possibly that something draws more current when the doors are left unlocked. As you unlock my girlfriends car (not a Cruze), you can often hear something underneath the car run for a second or so.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Robby said:


> To the pushbutton start gang, this can occur if the key fob is within about 30ft.


In the case of the Cruze, I think the range is a lot shorter than that. I think it also depends on what options you've set up on the car.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Terryk2003 said:


> I ended up going into walmart and purchasing a Booster pack, which luckily had enough power to start the car up.


Having a booster pack is great as long as you remember to charge fully before you park your car for an extended period. A friend just got a Schumacher Lithium booster pack for Christmas, should have a much better shelf life so may not need to be charged as often. Its also 75% lighter and much smaller than a standard one. 

Most booster packs have an internal fusible link so if the battery you hook it to has an internal short(or you hook it up wrong), it will fry the booster pack making it useless. The booster mentioned above has a circuit breaker instead, so it should survive in the same situation. 

I love booster packs, no need to rely on a possibly shady stranger at 3AM or wait for roadside assistance.


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## theonlypheonix (Oct 8, 2015)

And I thought I was was alone with this unknown or not admitted battery problem by GM.

Had similar incident after letting the vehicle set for 10 days (needless to say at an airport). Mine is a 2015 Cruze diesel and was purchased new. I had put only about 300 miles on it at the time. I also called Chevy roadside assistant but they could not jump it with a booster pack as the battery was soooo DEAD, they had to jump it from there vehicle after charging the Cruze battery for 5 minutes before the engine would turn over. The time frame was late last September 2015 and the temperature was mild and NOTHING was left turned on!!

Roll the clock forward to today (9900 miles on the clock) and the problem has not repeated although I have not let is sit for 10 days since the first occurrence. Still it was a BIG uncertainty for me since it is otherwise my daily driver to and from work with 60 miles each way. The battery checked ok, battery cables checked ok, parasitic losses also checked ok yet no explanation to the problem!

There is one anomaly that is yet to be explained, since I have about an hour drive to and from work I switch the DIC to display battery voltage and kept an eye on it. What I have observed is that the voltage can range from a lowww of 11.3 volts (definite discharge state ) to a high of 15.3 volts (over charge state) further it does not seem to matter what the load condition is as I can have all electrical accessories turned on or everything turned off. I have been told that these new alternators have "SMART" regulators controlled by the ECM that directs how the battery should be charged. If that is the case then I would argue that there is a BUG in their NOT so smart code!! Although the problem is repeatable it does not occur on every drive and I am documenting the problem to see if a pattern develpos to the behavior since I have a long enough drive to and from work. For the skeptics I have verified that the DIC battery voltage display is accurate using a NIST traceable DVM connected directly to the battery terminals.

The only pattern which developed so far is that the low of 11.3 volts seems to appear right after the engine is started and can stay that low for many miles. If I was to stop the engine and restart the DIC display will read anywhere between 13.2 and 14.9 V. During a normal drive to/from work the DIC display can wander all over from a low of 12.1V (once again discharge) to a high of 15.3 V (over charge state) there does appear to be developing temperature relationship. I guess I'll need to connect a digital therm to the battery now. Its no wonder the battery manufacturers are now limiting their warranties to only 2 - 3 years instead of what use to be up to a 9 year warranty on a battery!

As a comparison on my 2005 F350 6.0L diesel, after the glow plugs turn off, the volt meter goes from a low of 11.8 with (190 amp) glow plugs turned on to a normal 14.5v and STAYS at that level without randomly wandering around 12.1 to 15.2 volts load or no load makes no difference. By the way this vintage regulator is of the old "DUMB" kind and very basic with no ECM control and the batteries do last longer then 5 years in this Ford product.

Sooo whats up GM with your NEW cars that are NOT soooo SMART???? :goodjob::question::eusa_clap:

Or maybe for those of us that are parking our cars in remote locations there is an attempt to steal the cars and the alarms go off running the battery down until they are dead, sound like a good excuse? :shipwrecked:


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## the_nik (Nov 3, 2014)

jblackburn, et. al.
I don't have a clamp on ammeter to measure the parasitic draw. My voltmeter “series current measurement” has never worked on my meter.

The other challenge is that the parasitic drain may not be constant. Something may periodically kick on and off over time. That might explain why the dealership said the parasitic drain was within spec. Maybe they didn’t catch it at the right moment.

Today, after sitting overnight, the voltage across the terminals was 12.38 V when not connected to the vehicle and 12.28 V when connected. Then I took the Cruze for a drive. When driving the Cruze, the DIC was showing 14.8 V. After the 20 minute drive, I parked the car and the DIC was showing 12.7 V. That sort of tells me the voltage does slowly drop even overnight.

I really think this car does “stuff” periodically when parked that is killing the battery when you are parked long enough. Previously I said I once heard what sounded like a servo while puttering in the garage. Today when I opened the door to pop the hood, as soon as I closed the door I heard what can be described as a quick knocking sound for maybe 5 seconds. Something like a wooden spoon hitting a plastic bowl maybe 10 times.

The reason I bought a second Cruze was so my daughter would have a reliable car for college. She won't be using it everyday, but when she wants to use it, I want to be confident it starts for her.


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## the_nik (Nov 3, 2014)

Chevy Customer Care said:


> Hey The_nik,
> 
> I can definitely understand how frustrating this may seem, and I am here to help if needed. I would be more than happy to get in touch with the dealership on your behalf or locate another in your location for a possible second opinion. Feel free to send me a private message here along with your VINs, current mileage, contact information and preferred dealership. Looking forward to your continued updates and response!
> 
> ...


Patsy G,
I'll send you the requested information via private message. The dealer I took the car to is a very large dealership with a top notch service department. I'm confident they did what the "service procedures" instructed them to do when a battery dies. I'm hoping you can pass this thread on to folks at GM beyond the dealership service department to formulate next steps.


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## brent769 (Apr 4, 2013)

Sorry, didn't read every post, but thought I'd chime in. My dad in law had similar problem as you described in the first post. *Turns out it was a bad cell in the battery.* Been fine since. He drives a KIA, but the description is the same. His dealer did an extended battery test and found to be a bad cell. He doesn't drive much so his car sits for 6-8 days between drives.
Hope this helps.


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## the_nik (Nov 3, 2014)

Brent769,
I suppose that's a possibility. However, both times (for both Cruzes) the dealer tested the battery. Being skeptical, I even asked to see the actual results of the GR8 battery test on the first Cruze. It tested OK. Perhaps that test can't always find certain battery faults?

Anyway, for those still following along, GM has reached out to me and have arranged for the dealer to take a second look at both Cruzes. Maybe this time something new will be found. 

Kudos to GM for not walking away from this issue.


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## Cruzen Vegas (Aug 27, 2015)

Next Time DO NOT JUMP the battery! Have it towed dead to the dealer so they can see for themselves!!!!!!!


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

jblackburn said:


> No need to leave it for a week. Connect a voltmeter and check for a parasitic draw when leaving doors unlocked for a few minutes - hours, vs leaving it locked.
> 
> It's possibly that something draws more current when the doors are left unlocked. As you unlock my girlfriends car (not a Cruze), you can often hear something underneath the car run for a second or so.


Ha, I think you mean an ammeter, really easy to clamp it on to the negative battery cable. Any type of series connected ammeter with a range low enough to read milliamperes would blow it up.

Wasn't too long ago, a good one was well over 800 bucks, least the price came down on somethings. 

This one is fairly decent, under a hundred bucks, got one and tested it against my precision equipment, reads down to 10 ma resolution. Also had many other uses for other things in the home or shop. Also has AC ranges.

Tenma True RMS Compact Clamp Meter | 72-7228 (727228) | Tenma

Too much to spend? What are your alternatives, to pay some dealer 100-200 bucks an hour to play with your vehicle? Least with the meter as well as a bunch of other stuff, you get to keep it. Ha, couldn't remove a Torx male or female screw either, had to buy a complete set. Metric was a blow, a whole bunch of metric sockets and wrenches, keep on changing this stuff, and an English bolt works just as well as a metric bolt if not better, than a whole bunch of taps and dies.

If I really want to look at my junk pile, the thousands of dollars I spent on computers and cell phones. Can't seem to pitch them, $7,000 bucks for a computer? Still works, but made obsolete by guys that seem to have 80 billion bucks in their pockets. Paid more in property taxes than I paid for my home, least I have a home, but getting robbed blind for picking up a half a bag of garbage each week. Can't think of any other benefit we are receiving for this huge amount of money each year. 

Fire department lets homes burn to the ground, police are only good for issuing traffic violations, schools were worthless for teaching my kids, the list goes on.


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## theonlypheonix (Oct 8, 2015)

I've grown found of the Sperry DSA-540A clamp on, picked it up a few years back from Menards for around $69.95. Appears to be very close to the NIST traceable $1500 Tektronic TCP305A current probe at work. 

Parasitic currents are generally fairly low current and under 1 -2 amps and more like several hundred ma. But you do have to know what your measuring or you could blow the fuse in your DVM on the 10 amp scale.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

It takes around five minutes or so for the BCM to go to sleep as they call it, but with the doors closed and unlocked, should drop down to the 5-14 milliampere range, or to be more precise, 0.005-0.014 amperes.

Locking the doors jumps that up to around 0.025 amperes, switches on anti-thief, or maybe anti-battery life is a better word for it. Then the meter will bounce high whenever that LED on the dash is fired up. Have inductive pickups for my scopes, didn't take the time to measure this pulses.

Lead acid batteries also have a high self discharge rate, and the warmer the temperature the much greater this rate. That same electrolyte that stores electrical energy in the form of chemical energy is also conductive between the positive and negative plates.

This can be measury with a battery hydrometer, but can't do this with a maintenance free battery. Lithium would be far superior, but also a lot more expensive.


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## mr stone (Jan 15, 2016)

yes on my 2013 cruze the negative battery cable end was not swedged cor)rectly and I had battery problems un til it was replaced and a new Interstate Battery was installed(I will never buy another AC delco battery). No problems since.40 k miles ago.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

mr stone said:


> yes on my 2013 cruze the negative battery cable end was not swedged cor)rectly and I had battery problems un til it was replaced and a new Interstate Battery was installed(I will never buy another AC delco battery). No problems since.40 k miles ago.


Ha, no such thing as an AC Delco battery, or a Sears Diehard, NAPA, Advanced Auto. Auto Zone, Carquest, Walmart, Flee Farm, or any other so-called private branded battery. None of these guys make batteries, they just sell them and buy them, typically from the lowest bidder.

With some, if you happen to have an electron microscope, may even learn exactly who manufactured this battery, others, won't find anything.

Not only the battery, but the place you go to have it tested. How about two GM dealers telling me my battery is good, when I gave them the technical reasons why it was bad, refused to replace it, but went to a third dealer that was finally honest and replaced it under warranty. Can also run into this by going to different stores with the same Chain name.

Or assembled in the USA with foreign made parts.

Buying a battery today is like buying a lottery ticket, are you feeling lucky?

Ask how they are tested for warranty, many use a mickey mouse high impedance tester that only has one readout, its good.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Knock on wood I have not had battery problems with my 2012 but I bought a "Duracell" battery(the copper top) from Sams for my wife's 2005 Classic no problems and works well so far. Forget what was in it but this replacement was good and only $85. Not sure who really makes it but...... Like Everyone else I really did not know what battery to buy any more(tried to research and knowledge of the battery name) and figured "Duracell heh".


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## mr overkill (Dec 1, 2013)

Ok here is my input while my car sat in the driveway dead due to my cel and i drove my other vehicle which was 5 days and i went to start it to to put it in the garage to install the new sensor she cranked very slow almost didnt want to catch but it did start and let it run. 


this isnt the first time i had this happen last year when the winter was bad i drove the other vehicle for the 4x4 and the car sat about 4-5 days and i needed to give it a jump because it didnt have enough. 


I dont know if the batterys are to small to have enough reserve capacity to handle the drain on it or the battery is big enough but the drain is to big and depletes it over x days 


your only REAL test will be the following 1. when you are leaving the car to sit over x days take off the ground terminal and when you get back reinstall and see what happens if it starts with no problem then its a gm engineering issue if its dead then the battery has an internal draw


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## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

obermd said:


> Does Transport Mode disable the security system? If not this would be very useful for long term airport parking.


I read in here Disabling Transport Mode 

"When Transport Mode is on and the vehicle is not running, the Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) transmitter (key fob) is disabled and the content theft deterrent and exit lighting timers are reduced. When Transport Mode is on and the vehicle is running, there is no difference in operation."


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

chevrasaki said:


> I read in here Disabling Transport Mode
> 
> "When Transport Mode is on and the vehicle is not running, the Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) transmitter (key fob) is disabled and the content theft deterrent and exit lighting timers are reduced. When Transport Mode is on and the vehicle is running, there is no difference in operation."


Never heard about transport mode in the Cruze, guess is because I live in the USA and don't live in a country that requires export. Did own previous vehicles with a so-called transport mode, with a switch to disable vehicle loads during storage. But not talking long term, maybe 3-4 weeks at the most.

But had to try it on my Cruze just to see what happens, engine running, hazard lights on, press on the brake pedal, nothing. 

Wonder who dreams up these weird sequences to get into a particular mode. But can safely assume, they are laughing their buns off while doing so.


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## brent769 (Apr 4, 2013)

the_nik said:


> Brent769,
> I suppose that's a possibility. However, both times (for both Cruzes) the dealer tested the battery. Being skeptical, I even asked to see the actual results of the GR8 battery test on the first Cruze. It tested OK. Perhaps that test can't always find certain battery faults?
> 
> Anyway, for those still following along, GM has reached out to me and have arranged for the dealer to take a second look at both Cruzes. Maybe this time something new will be found.
> ...


I talked to my dad-inlaw over the weekend and he had taken his KIA to two different dealers. The first one tested the battery for 10mins (his words) and found no issues, so sent him on his way. When it happened again, he went to another dealer and they did an extended battery test and found the bad cell. 
See if GM knows about this extended battery test??
Let us know what you (they find). Good luck.


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

Brent769-

I wonder if it wouldn't be best to pull the battery out of the car and have it tested? The GR8 I believe is one of the better battery testers on the market, but there's a lot of different charging modes on the Cruze. I wonder if there could be a false positive with it installed in the car and running vs. an out of car load test. 

I wonder if it's not worth removing cables and connecting directly to the battery. 

Sounds like some type of power draw is remaining energized, but on both cars? That's weird.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Midtronics GR8 is a darn good battery tester, checks all aspects of the battery, including self discharge rate.











And also gives a printout as to exactly what's wrong with the battery. And yes, the mechanic should remove the negative battery cable first, putting both clamps across the battery terminals, no need to remove it. So the vehicle's electrical system does not interfere with its test procedures. They will learn this if they read the instruction manual that comes with it.

Well, if they can read, can't cover all bases.

The time of the test depends on the state of charge of the battery, in reality, can't tell the difference between a defective battery and one that is discharged. But first test is a visual inspection, if acid leaks are present, battery is severely corroded, or bulged out because it was frozen, not much sense in even testing it. 

Since my battery was fully charge, test only took five minutes, you just leave it along and let it do its thing. It did detect the high self discharge rate of my battery. already knew this, with 13.5 volts pure DC applied, fully charged was still drawing 2.1 amperes, should be next to zero. 

Ha, two Chevy dealers said my battery was good, haven't determined if they were stupid or liars, but refuse to replaced it, and refused to show me the ticket, so you run into crap like this and I don't know why, but they lost a customer for life and certainly will not get good references from me. 3rd was honest, and they all had the same exact GR8 tester, but would not let me watch, 3rd dealer did.

Both first two dealers spent a fortune with a remodel, but if they treat all their customers like me, will go bankrupt, only help from Ask GM was to find a good honest dealer. This is one major problem.

Other problem is the battery itself, with history, external removable cell links were used, why replace the entire battery when only one cell is defective, but cheaper to make a battery with internal links. Could test the cells with a hydrometer, but not much good either, one bad cell, buy a whole new battery. But this ended when the caps were removed for this so-called maintenance free battery, so the battery must be tested as a whole.

Feel a much better word than maintenance free would be a throwaway battery. And while they are making them cheaper and cheaper, that price tag keeps on going up. Come to think of it, everything in these newer vehicles are this way. That even includes the entire unibody, once even a part of it is crushed, its throwaway.


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## the_nik (Nov 3, 2014)

As promised, I have an update. My dealer agreed to take a second look at one of my Cruzes that had a dead battery. This time the dealer agreed to let it sit (unlocked) for a couple of days at the dealership before testing the battery. I had a theory that an unlocked Cruze actually has a larger parasitic draw then a locked Cruze because both times the problem occurred, both of my Cruzes were unlocked. That might also explain why the problem is not as wide spread since most folks who leave their Cruze parked for long periods probably lock the Cruze. Perhaps the car pings the OnStar Cell tower more often when the vehicle is unlocked?

Anyway.......This time after only 7 minutes, the GR8 unit found the battery faulty. The battery was replaced under warranty. Unfortunately I didn't get the details on what the specific battery fault was. However the dealer did mention that the measured parasitic loss was well within spec so it wasn't a problem with the car. I suppose that means that the battery had an internal short that would self drain the battery over time.

Is the lesson here that a GR8 test isn't 100% foolproof the first time? The dealer was quite apologetic that they didn't catch it the first time.

This weekend I will take my second Cruze to the dealer for the same test procedure. Am I that unlucky to get two bad batteries in two Cruzes? Maybe there are lot's of bad/marginal batteries that self discharge, but only a few people park their cars for longer periods thus triggering the issue.

As an aside, the dealer gave me a free rental while he kept my Cruze. I ended up with a 2016 Volt. Wow. I loved it. He said he will try and get me the Volt again when I bring in my other Cruze.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

I had 2 AC Delco batteries with dead cells - 1 a 400-something CCA, and the other a 525 (the updated battery they started putting in cars on the production line where the little ones had a high failure rate). 

Haven't had an issue since replacing it with an AGM battery.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Something I noticed with batteries that reached the end-of-life in my old cars. The seemed to be sensitive to power draw. And they'd pop back to life with a ridiculously small amount of charging. 

I suspect the Cruze has a higher than normal draw when it sits - and it will cause end-of-life batteries to manifest themselves sooner then they normally would.


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

the_nik said:


> As an aside, the dealer gave me a free rental while he kept my Cruze. I ended up with a 2016 Volt. Wow. I loved it. He said he will try and get me the Volt again when I bring in my other Cruze.


I'm glad you were able to get one Cruze figured out. Not to sidetrack this thread, but what do you think of the 2016 Volt vs. the Cruze? Size and comfort driving, and performance? 

I really wish they would start appearing at Minnesota dealerships. Head room more or less than the Cruze? I can't deal with less headroom at 6'1.

My OEN battery is currently at Sams club on the GR8. Seems to be high volts with the car running. I've babied this battery on a battery tender, maybe it's time to go after roughly 52 months. I'm also not a huge fan of the battery connections. A year ago I had connection problems, if the battery tests good, I might have connection problems again. 

I need a battery post shim for the negative terminal, this would allow me to open the terminal on the wire and get it a little tighter. I have the current negative terminal all the way closed. Feels tight but who knows.

I see fleet farm has battery post shims, I just don't want to drive that far to get them.


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## the_nik (Nov 3, 2014)

carbonO2: The 2016 Volt was fine for me but I'm only 5' 8". However I don't think the drivers seat room was any worse than a Cruze. The backseat on the other hand definitely has less head room than the Cruze. As for Volt performance, it was smooth and powerful. No discernible shift from stand still all the way up to highway speed. You can very easily speed in that car since it's so quiet. My daughter was as sorry as I was to see it go. She said we had Tomorrowland sitting in our garage. Luckily for me, the dealer promised me the Volt again when I take in my second Cruze in.

As soon as my younger daughter needs a car, she is getting my Cruze and I'm getting a Volt. That won't be for another couple of years, but the federal tax credit should still be around then. I think the 2017 Volt will be available in all states (I'm in NY) so you should be able to check it out by summer.

As for your battery, 52 months is a good run. I typically replace my batteries proactively at 4 years. Of course in the case of my Cruzes, I'm barely getting a year on the original battery.


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

I look forward to seeing the Volt and it might be an option, but I'd be looking for 2017 or 2018. I'm never going to buy the first year of new car body style introduction. 

The GR8-1150 tested my factory battery at 526CCA and a good performance test so I put it back in the car. 

When I first got the car I tried very hard to use no heat, and minimize loads on the engine for fuel economy. In this style of driving I never seen charging voltages higher than 14-14.5V. 

This winter I've been running the rear window defrost, heater blower motor, and the heated seats. This high draw has caused the charging strategy of the car to go to 15.0 -15.3 Volts. I was concerned I was charging a weak battery that was about to fail. So I removed it again and had it charged and tested. When I brought the battery in, the slip shows it only took 1.2 amps to fully charge the battery.

I've also had a lot of short trips in the past month. Car running less than 5 miles. I thought this was depleting the battery. 

Well it turns out that the car has determined that my electrical consumption rationalizes a charging voltage of 15V. 

Only time will tell in the next week what happens. I was present at Sam's Club during the test and it took 45 minutes for the diagnostic charge to complete. The slip says it tested at 526 CCA, so back in the car it went. 

Clearly this car has a mind of it's own with electrical measurement and charging. 

I've also checked the resistance of the negative battery cable and it's negligible on a fluke meter. I think that rules out the negative battery extended warranty issue.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

carbon02 said:


> I've also checked the resistance of the negative battery cable and it's negligible on a fluke meter. I think that rules out the negative battery extended warranty issue.


The resistance is too low for most meters. If you can measure it, the car probably wouldn't start.

Check voltage drop with the car running. More than 0.01V is bad.


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## BlueTopaz (Aug 25, 2012)

Took my Cruze in for the battery going down after it sat for five days. The voltage was only reading 8 volts. They checked it over and said that the neg battery cable had high resistance and so they replaced it. Funny thing is the cable was $2.30 and th bolt was $8.20. Not sure if this will fix it or not, we will see. It has 22k miles on it and is 29 months old since it was put into service.


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## Ret0102 (Dec 25, 2015)

I seriously hope none of you end up in my situation, the original battery actually exploded and all the acid from it has eaten away and nearly everything under the hood. You can check out some of my threads that I've created before with the symptoms I was having, after doing some micro inspection my car has been destroyed by a stupid battery that burst and got acid all over everything.


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## Christopher_2 (Jul 31, 2012)

Interesting, looks like I joined the crowd. My battery died after sitting in my drive a couple of weeks. Never had that problem with the 2011. Will see what the dealer tells me tomorrow. Mine was at 2.9 volts without a charger and 4.9 with a 12 amp charger hooked up.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Christopher_2 said:


> My battery died after sitting in my drive a couple of weeks.


Locked or unlocked? Another person who experienced that noted that the car was unlocked - suggesting that the car may not fully go to sleep unless it's locked.


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## spaycace (Feb 9, 2012)

the_nik said:


> As an aside, the dealer gave me a free rental while he kept my Cruze. I ended up with a 2016 Volt. Wow. I loved it. He said he will try and get me the Volt again when I bring in my other Cruze.


Your comment above about the '16 Volt is one of the reasons I traded in my 2012 Eco for a 2013 Volt ... and NOW, the Volt is much improved over my current version. So much so that I'm thinking about getting a 2017 Volt when they finally start selling them locally, instead of a Cruze Diesel. I test drove a '16 Volt when I was in California for work a few weeks ago, and it's a great vehicle (although I might be slightly biased since I own a Volt currently). Don't get me wrong, I loved my Eco too, but with over 100k miles on the Volt in just under 3 years of ownership, and a lifetime average of 58.6 mpg, I think it was a good decision to get it. And that mpg average will start going up again now that it's getting warmer outside. At 60k miles of ownership, my Eco was at 39 mpg lifetime avg. and I loved that lil car too ... probably because they were both built on the same platform. If my math is correct, that's a savings of about 2,050 gallons of gas that if it were averaged out to $2.89/gal ... is just shy of the $6,000 difference in the price of the Eco vs. the price of the Volt (after Federal & State tax kickbacks).


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## Christopher_2 (Jul 31, 2012)

Got car back and was told the battery tested good, CCA were higher than the battery was rated. Well see what it does in a couple of weeks when I try and use it again. Will hook a multi-meter up in a few days and see what the battery voltage is.


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## the_nik (Nov 3, 2014)

Was it unlocked during the 2 week period when the battery died?


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## Christopher_2 (Jul 31, 2012)

I don't remember, but it would not surprise me. I figure if someone wants to steal it might as well not have to break a window.



the_nik said:


> Was it unlocked during the 2 week period when the battery died?


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Christopher_2 said:


> I don't remember, but it would not surprise me.


With the battery that low, you would have had to use your key in the door to unlock it. I don't know if that's your normal way or not. If it's not, then you'd probably remember trying to unlock it.


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## spaycace (Feb 9, 2012)

ChevyGuy said:


> With the battery that low, you would have had to use your key in the door to unlock it. I don't know if that's your normal way or not. If it's not, then you'd probably remember trying to unlock it.


I don't necessarily agree with this ... I've had doors unlock before with the key fob and then the vehicle not turn over. Doesn't take much to push the door lock cylinders to unlock a car.


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## Christopher_2 (Jul 31, 2012)

Door was locked I remeber actually having to use the key to get in the drivers door. Then being even more pissed off that I could not get into the trunk which is what I wanted to get into. No electricity no trunk open workie . :angry:




ChevyGuy said:


> With the battery that low, you would have had to use your key in the door to unlock it. I don't know if that's your normal way or not. If it's not, then you'd probably remember trying to unlock it.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Dang Ni-Cad batteries are always dead when I want to use my portable drills. Takes 45 minutes to charge the darn things, so just grabbed my 120VAC electric drill. It actually cheaper to buy a lithium-ion battery powered drill, get the drill, charger, carrying case, and the battery. Then just buying a replacement battery for my Ni-Cad drill. And a least the lithiums don't go dead in two weeks. 

By any chance is the Cruze using Ni-Cad batteries?


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

spaycace said:


> I don't necessarily agree with this ... I've had doors unlock before with the key fob and then the vehicle not turn over. Doesn't take much to push the door lock cylinders to unlock a car.


I agree it can happen, but he was reporting a voltage of 2.9 volts. Nothing is going to work at that voltage.


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## rambo76098 (May 29, 2014)

I'm joining the dead battery club! Car is not quite 2 years old, 22k miles. Twice in the last month it has killed the battery sitting in the garage for a few days. 

First time it was after sitting for 4 days. I thought it was a fluke, charged it overnight and it was fine for a while. Drove it to work last Friday and it sounded awfully weak when I started it that morning. It started fine leaving work. Went to drive it Sunday afternoon and it was very dead. Had enough to open the trunk, but not enough to do the power door locks. It was sitting unlocked in the garage both times. 

I had it towed to the dealer the 2nd time, but they just charged it, ran a battery test and said the battery is fine, which I knew. I wanted them to look for something drawing power, not test the battery.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

rambo76098 said:


> It was sitting unlocked in the garage both times.


That seems to be the pattern so far.


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## rambo76098 (May 29, 2014)

I have an answer! The dealer found a TSB that more or less says that the infotainment system is staying active even after the car is turned off if you are on a bluetooth call when you turn the car off, but do not hang up the call before turning the car off. The infotainment system is staying active and drawing the battery down. I have been on the phone when I parked it in the garage a few times lately, so I fully believe them.

There is no update for the infotainment system to fix the issue. They recommend hanging up the call, waiting for the radio/music to come back on, then turning the car off. They weren't sure if turning the bluetooth on your phone off (via the power settings) before turning the car off would fix it. 

They printed a copy of the TSB for me to pickup, I will try to post it once I have it.


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## Cruzen Vegas (Aug 27, 2015)

So AGAIN After my Car sitting in Garage for 7 days, no start today!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Car was unlocked! Battery was new in November, No use bringing it in to the dealer, they never find anything, they always say I'm leaving something on, even though I tell them its impossible to leave something on as the car turns everything off after 10 minutes or so.. HELP!


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## Cruzen Vegas (Aug 27, 2015)

I'm thinking about adding a second battery with a manual switch like an RV here pretty soon! I'm not kidding..


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

The common factor seems to be leaving the car unlocked. Something must stay active that drains the battery.

Try locking it before leaving it a long time?


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

If someone wants to dig into this, I'd suggest looking at this video:


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

ChevyGuy said:


> If someone wants to dig into this, I'd suggest looking at this video:


I remember seeing this on Youtube, good video from HumbleMechanic. 

Remember, you don't want to do an old school amp draw test with a amp meter in series with the battery. Disconnecting the battery will wake up all the modules, and everything will never go to sleep. 

If you had a clamp around multi-meter that read amps down to the mA range this could be clamped around the main negative cable under the hood and you could let the car sit for several hours/days, and watch the amp draw fall. These meters are more expensive than the $10 one required to do the voltage method at the fuses like HumbleMechanic shows.


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## Cruzen Vegas (Aug 27, 2015)

So Even If I do this test with my car locked vs car unlocked and I will find something, what am I going to do about it anyway! Nothing , because its built into the car, so I'm screwed either way! Now you guys know why I go through batteries every 2 years! keep those free a/c delcos coming!


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Cruzen Vegas said:


> So Even If I do this test with my car locked vs car unlocked and I will find something, what am I going to do about it anyway! Nothing , because its built into the car, so I'm screwed either way! Now you guys know why I go through batteries every 2 years! keep those free a/c delcos coming!


Um...if it doesn't drain the battery, lock the doors in the future?


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## Cruzen Vegas (Aug 27, 2015)

jblackburn said:


> Um...if it doesn't drain the battery, lock the doors in the future?



Ok So I went out of town for 6 days and this Time Locked the doors, Before Starting, car only showed 11.0 volts and Barely started.. Another Day or two and it would of been a no start, so out the door with that theory that locking the doors helps....And remember my battery was new around Thanksgiving...


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Cruzen Vegas said:


> Ok So I went out of town for 6 days and this Time Locked the doors, Before Starting, car only showed 11.0 volts and Barely started.. Another Day or two and it would of been a no start, so out the door with that theory that locking the doors helps....And remember my battery was new around Thanksgiving...


Well that's annoying. I left my 12 for 3 weeks once and it was fine. Does your car have the LTE connectivity, or was that the next year? 

Someone in the diesel forum was having similar issues and seems to think OnStar was staying energized. I'm not sure what fuse you'd pull to deactivate that, but that might be the next thing I'd try. 2014 OM lists fuse 14 for LTE. 

Edit: nvmd - scrolling back through, it's a 12.


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

What ever happened to those Dual Batteries that were 2 In 1, and you just turned a knob and would have a spare battery, not sure they're sold anymore. Also what about those devices that can jump start you by plugging something into the 12 volt accessory outlet or cigarette lighter, did they work? I've had this problem at airports as well in previous years


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Cruzen Vegas said:


> Ok So I went out of town for 6 days and this Time Locked the doors, Before Starting, car only showed 11.0 volts and Barely started.. Another Day or two and it would of been a no start, so out the door with that theory that locking the doors helps....And remember my battery was new around Thanksgiving...


I might have asked this before but is your car push button start?

And, if it is, where is the fob when the car is not in use?

Reason I ask is, if it is pushbutton and the fob is around 20 feet from the car, the fob and car continue to communicate. The ECM (and BCM) won't go to 'sleep' and both remain energized.
Enough current remains for the car to operate normally if used daily but if unused for more than a couple of days the battery is depleted.

Admittedly reaching on this one,

Rob


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

the_nik said:


> As some of you may remember, I had a dead battery (as discussed in this thread) after my 2014 Cruze sat parked in the garage for 8 days. After a visit to the dealer, everything checked out. As an experiment, I then let the car sit for 8 days again, and this time it started up fine. I chalked it up to an unexplained fluke.
> Some folks in that thread mentioned that perhaps these vehicles can’t sit that long because of various parasitic drains. I asked (rhetorically) what happens if you go on vacation for a week or more? Will you be stranded at the airport?
> 
> OK you know what’s coming (sort of)….
> ...


Hello Nicholas,

We're very sorry to hear about this recurring battery concern with your Cruze. Have you made your dealership aware of this again? We would be more than happy to provide an additional layer of assistance on our end. If that is of interest, please send us a private message with your VIN to move forward.

To learn more about GM’s privacy policy, please visit https://www.gm.com/privacy-statement.html. 


Chelsea D.
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## Cruzen Vegas (Aug 27, 2015)

Robby said:


> I might have asked this before but is your car push button start?
> 
> And, if it is, where is the fob when the car is not in use?
> 
> ...



YA Rob Pushbutton Start, And the Fob is Far away, as I have a detached Garage... One thing I have been having issues with as well is Unable to Restart the car sometimes, as apparently the exhaust camshaft Actuator(the front one) is sending signal to the computer that the car is still running and then in turn the Starter will not start, this happens 1 in 100 starts mabee, and I found a youtube video on the issue, and you have to unplug it to get your car started... I replaced it yesterday, I don't know how a Sensor can send electric signals exactly, but mabee that's somehow messing with computer


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Eddy Cruze said:


> What ever happened to those Dual Batteries that were 2 In 1, and you just turned a knob and would have a spare battery, not sure they're sold anymore.


Two batteries in the form factor of one? I'll be the problem was the smaller size made for a short battery life. 




Eddy Cruze said:


> Also what about those devices that can jump start you by plugging something into the 12 volt accessory outlet or cigarette lighter, did they work?


Sort of. My experience with dying batteries it that they can frequently be revived with just a bit of charging. I once revived a battery with just 5 Amp-minutes of charge! No where near enough power to charge the battery, but apparently, enough to "heal" it and get it to work. But I'm not sure how well they'll work with a discharged battery.

Of course, these plug in devices have a problem in the Cruze - the cigarette lighters are disconnected when the car is off. You'll either need to mod them to be live all the time, or connect it to the main battery.


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