Dead Battery

[H3PAC]

Well, almost dead. My new vehicle, with only 1,200 miles on it, has had progressively weak starts for the past 2 days. No problems prior. Barely turned over when leaving for work last night. Parked at work for about 9 hours and needed to call Hummer Roadside Assistance to have Sparky (I swear the guy's name was Sparky - you think I could even make that up?) come out with a battery pack and jump start it. Ran fine, charged right up from the alternator and no idiot lights or messages. Did not leave anything on....only factory/dealer installed electronics....it's a mystery. Any known issues that could cause a continuous power draw that resolves itself? Or, can a bad battery behave so strangely? Since I didn't see any idiot lights, and the battery seems fine now, is there any value in bringing it into the dealer to be checked? Or should I wait and monitor things for awhile? Should I stop using so many question marks???

[f5fstop]

One thing to check, well a few....
Make sure you cannot move the battery cables (Positive and Negative) where they attach to the battery. Grab the cables at the battery and see if you can move them back and forth. If so, get a 10mm socket and make sure the cam bolts on the cables are as tight as can be. (These new cables are terrible, MY OPINION ONLY, but if loose, they will cause some strange things to happen.)
Make sure the ground bolt on the fender, just behind the battery is tight.


If those are ok, take the vehicle to the dealer and have him run a midtronics test to check the battery. It could be starting to go. They can also check for a large parasitic load that might be draining the battery.

[Wisha Haddan H3]

Speaking of parasitic load, aren't the accessory outlets always on? So if you leave something plugged it, that would drain the battery. Or does the H3 stop battery drain beyond a certain point?

[f5fstop]

True, something plugged into an accessory outlet will cause a drain until no more juice is left.
The BCM will shut down interior lights if it sees no switch movement (and ignition is Off) in twenty minutes, but will not shut down the accessory plugs, exterior lights, etc.

[H3PAC]

Thanks for the quick reply. I've checked the cables and ground bolt. So did Sparky - remember him? All tight. I have nothing plugged into the outlets. So it's time to introduce myself to the local dealer.

[f5fstop]

NEVER trust a person named "Sparky" to test your cables....

[H3PAC]

The local dealer checked out my vehicle this morning and the battery tested OK. The tech tested it 2 additional times based on my story and oddly, it failed on the 3rd test. He replaced it. I'm sure glad this guy was on the ball. I could have been stuck in the middle of nowhere with my "tested OK - cannot duplicate problem" battery. Thanks to you guys and Scott Hummer in Allentown, PA.....oh, and Sparky too.

[DURAMAX TIM]

The day after we got ours, it wouldn't start and not enough power to call onstar.
thought someone left a door open or light on but it did it 2 more times the next day.
I just put the charger on it and took it to dealer for new battery.
Dealer said they put in 2 other batteries recently.

[MountainBlue]

Mine went @ 800 miles A-hole service writer at Galles & Davis tried to blame us. I ripped the general manager a new one over it and it got replaced. Then come to find out, a TON of people with ALL kinds of GM vehicles have dead batteries shortly after delivery.

[raptorman53]

Mine was dead when I bought it.

The sales guy was so embarrased. He had a new one in in less than 30 minutes

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by MountainBlue

Mine went @ 800 miles A-hole service writer at Galles & Davis tried to blame us. I ripped the general manager a new one over it and it got replaced. Then come to find out, a TON of people with ALL kinds of GM vehicles have dead batteries shortly after delivery.

Yes, and no. Depends on how long the vehicles are on the lot, and if the dealer is doing their required maintenance. They are supposed to charge every battery on all vehicles every so often, and most don't. So, if a vehicle sits for 60 days before being sold, good chance the battery will be dead.
The other problem is batteries, and saying "GM" is not correct. My Jeep had the battery replaced wthin six month, and I know a lady who works on another vehicle's help desk and their top calls are for jumping a vehicle.
Dead batteries is in the top ten warranty for all manufacturers; incluing Lexus. In addition, if the vehicle is located in a really hot climate, the battery warranty is higher.
Heat is bad for batteries; just look at the little air snorkel to help cool the battery while driving.

It is not right for a dealer to try and deliver a vehicle with a bad battery, but it happens.

[MountainBlue]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

Yes, and no. Depends on how long the vehicles are on the lot, and if the dealer is doing their required maintenance. They are supposed to charge every battery on all vehicles every so often, and most don't. So, if a vehicle sits for 60 days before being sold, good chance the battery will be dead.
The other problem is batteries, and saying "GM" is not correct. My Jeep had the battery replaced wthin six month, and I know a lady who works on another vehicle's help desk and their top calls are for jumping a vehicle.
Dead batteries is in the top ten warranty for all manufacturers; incluing Lexus. In addition, if the vehicle is located in a really hot climate, the battery warranty is higher.
Heat is bad for batteries; just look at the little air snorkel to help cool the battery while driving.

It is not right for a dealer to try and deliver a vehicle with a bad battery, but it happens.

I'm obviously still peev'd about they way were treated more than the warratny issue itself. And it sounds like you think it is more a dealer issue than the manufacturer, which I think is true. This was also the first time I have been sold a brand new vehicle with a dead battery.

[f5fstop]

They should never have treated you that way, with a known problem...dead battery. In addition, they should have run a complete diagnostics on the battery before selling if they had to jump it to move it off the lot. It is a shame how some ignorant dealers try to circumvent the system.
If they have a vehicle that sits for a long time, and they attempt to replace the battery at delivery, it is sometimes bounced since the failure is their fault for not charging. However, if it lasts in the vehicle for a few weeks, then they can slide it through warranty.

[MountainBlue]

That's exactly what I told my wife. They knew about all the problems, but couldn't get paid for the fixes untill a customer bought it and then brought it back for warranty work. This is something that needs to be addressed at the corporate level. It hurts overall brand satisfaction.

[Urban Ops]

My battery died a week after I bought my H3. I had it towed to the dealer on a Saturday, they put it on a charger until Monday then told me they couldn't find anything wrong. 3 days later it died again, had it towed in again only to find it was a defective battery. Funny.... I told them that in the first place!

I had 2 different Dodge Dakotas for a total of 9 years and never once saw a tow truck. I have the Hummer less than 2 weeks and it's on the hook 2 times. I was really thinking I made a big mistake. 9 years prior I made a vow never to buy another GM product for that very reason. I'm glad now the H3 has been good to me.

[Desert Dan]

Just don't replace it with another stock GM Delco battery. You might have teh same problem again?

[f5fstop]

Funny thing is, I believe it is Consumers just rated the AC Delco as one of the top battery manufacturers. I guess from my point of looking at warranty reports it does not make sense, but then I place a call to a friend at Chrsyler, and guess what, their warranty is as high.
I believe it is just a nature of the wet cell battery to fail. Only battery I have had fail in years is my Jeep battery, but I did replace my Vette with an Optima (insurance against possible leakage ). Heck, I even had an Optima go bad.
But, I still travel with a 800+AMP booster box....just in case.

[wpage]

The tow guy loves cell phones!!