Battery!!! Geez...
 

So just when the weather is starting to get nice, my battery decides to die... Deader than a doornail. Not even enough electricity to actuate the power locks!

Jump start it and let it sit with my truck and the alt charging up the battery for 10 minutes. Then drive it around for quite awhile to see if it'll hold.

Drive to a friends garage and he tests the charging system. 103amps are flowin' from the alternator to the battery. Car starts fine at the shop, but battery dips to 8volts while cranking.

Drive the car home. Starts repeatedly in the garage without even a hint of the starter working hard. Now 2 hours later, still starts just fine. Disconnect the positive terminal and put my multimeter (in 20Amp mode) between the battery and the cable. After a bit, 0.01amps showing on the meter... Probably right, not enough to completely deaden the battery in just 5 days right? I had it sitting through the course of the winter (past 2.5 months) without so much as a problem. Drove it 3 hours on a trip this past Saturday and got home without incident...

Well, my question is this. Is it just time to replace the battery? Do they just fail like this, then come back to life again? Is 0.01amps enough to drain a battery over the course of not really even 5 days? Dealer wants $125 for the thing... And no other alternatives exist according to the parts stores around me...

What do ya think? Hope it wasn't too long of a read. :(

What brand of battery & how old is it?

if it is original it is about time, i had to replce mine last winter.. .01A parasitic draw is nothing to be concerned about

Cool.

Yeah... It's the factory battery. Brand new when my '01 rolled off the assembly line. Doesn't really owe me anything, but just was weird that it resurrected itself so quickly. I don't need to drive it right now so I'll just keep an eye on it for a bit...

I should mention that I load test my batteries every winter and this passed with flying colors in December. I'll have to do it again once it has regained its charge.

Now the decision, when it needs to be made, is should I go with another AC Delco or go with Advanced Autos Autocraft Titanium battery w/ 3yr free replacement / 7yr prorated warranty?

Yeah, I'd say replace with new. Like Toast mentioned, .01 amp is nothing. the PCM & Radio take a little power from the battery while car is shut down.

the GM battery is quite expensive if i do recall correctly, in the neighborhood of $170.. i shopped around and got a 6/72 batter for $65

I'm going to watch it to make sure it wasn't something stupid like a dome light being left on. I checked it already, but wasn't really paying attention when I first was trying to get it started.

May throw my dad's charger on it on trickle overnight and load test it tomorrow. See what she reads then.

Thanks for the replies. I wasn't sure what the PCM/radio used and since you can't really switch amperage ranges mid test on my multimeter, I couldn't see the exact draw... Just 0.01amps... Glad to hear that isn't a problem.

Thanks again!

*EDIT* - here are my options on the battery...

Dealership AC Delco w/ unknown warranty - $125 w/ core
Advanced Auto Autocraft Titanium 3yr free replacement / 7yr prorated warranty - $125 w/ core...

Given the Delco's reputation for the positive post falling off (happened on my Bravada), I think I'll go with the Autocraft. That is unless someone has horror stories about those batteries as well... Let me know

I like the Delco batteries a lot, have seen them last 7+ years. I'd recommend changing yours since you've had a warning & there never seems to be a good time for your car not to start. :P Some of us also believe that weak batteries are hard on the alternator.

Well, my own personal experience with my Bravada's AC Delco battery, coupled with the experience of a few members here and MANY members on the Blazer forum that I am a part of, tells me to stay away from AC Delco batteries.

Lately, there has been a rash of AC Delco batteries with positive terminal corrosion INSIDE the battery. INSIDE!!! Where nothing should be corroding! My own AC Delco battery in my Bravada suffered from this fate. The terminal still looked like new once I removed it from the battery cable with a set of vice grips...

Now I must say that my original 5+ year old AC Delco has served its life. There doesn't appear to be any problems with the terminal. It did give me a warning. Nothing that left me stranded anywhere or even without a ride... I drive my Bravada in the winter so my Bonneville has just sat since early December.

I pushed back my inspection so I have some time to play around with it before I have to drive it to complete the drive cycle before the NYS inspection. I'm going to let it sit until Sunday. Then see if it starts. If it does, I'm going to load test the battery and see what happens. Load test bad, new battery here I come. Load test good... Well. Maybe I'll just let it be for awhile. Live life on the edge, just not take it anywhere but work and back. I always carry jumper cables so it shouldn't be too big of a deal to just get a jump.

I'd replace it for no other reason than some people have had cracks develop in the battery which let the acid leak out. Left long enough, you wind up with a swiss cheese floor.

If you have a Sams or Costco membership you may want to look there. I picked up one from there for a better price than Advance or Autozone.

Ours are under the backseat...so we need the "special" (aka costly) batteries with the gas release vents. Does Sams/Costco sell these? f they do, heck I'll get one now...I still have the OEM.

I wonder if you can get an Optima?
100% dry cell

Would be nice...

Now, after measuring the battery, I found that the width and height is about equal to that of the group 78 battery. I'm thinking of trying to find an 880CCA Group 78 and seeing if it'll fit. Problem is that is a quite high CCA...

What I want to know is why the SSEi requires an 880CCA battery while everything else only requires a 770CCA battery?? I would think that the L67 with it's lower compression would be easier to start than the n/a...

i belive that i have a group 78 battery in my car, however the vent tubes would not fit and i had to make an extension for one of the vent lines

Be sure to keep this in mind when you change it

Oh I know. I was planning on just looping the strap between the two vent tubes if I went to the Group 78. Problem I'm coming up against is that I can't find a high enough CCA battery...

You can't leave a dome light on. Interior lights shut off after 10 mins or so.

EVERYTHING (as far as i know) that isnt dependant on ignitin switch pisition has a 10-min timer... excluding of course the radio clock function / alarm / keyless entry

Well, that rules that out... Should have known there would be some feature like that. The car has everything else. Thanks!

:btruestory:

From the '04 manual

Cool, yeah now that you mention it, I do remember reading about the battery saver thing.

Anyway. Load tested the battery this afternoon. Voltage was in the good section. Starting voltage dipped down to 10 volts. Load tested on the edge of weak, but still in the 600CCA region of the tester. It was bleeding down however, but after a minute of dead short (basically what the load tester does), it was still showing on the hairy edge of good (between good and weak). Definitely weird.

I will be replacing the battery come Monday. Still don't know whether I'm going with Napa (Exide IIRC), Sears (Diehard International), or Advanced (AutoCraft Titanium).

As an aside, I tested my year old AutoCraft Titanium battery in my Bravada and it tested at 600CCA (700CCA rated). It was rock solid though through the load test. Didn't do the starting voltage test.

When mine shows signs of weakness, I think I'll just go down to the local GM dealer for a direct replacement.

All of the ones that I have been considering (up until measuring the battery) have been direct replacements, just not the problematic AC Delco's. Don't think anyone here would want battery acid leaking all over under your rear seat.

battery
 

As I understand it, the group 100 battery (for 00+) is exclusive to AC/Delco because of the vent. It's true that the #78 is the same size, so I'd like to see some pictures of the rerouting of the vent. Sounds like a good way to stick it to Delco! :twisted:

Well, it's not a Group 100. It's Group 79. The Group 78 batteries have the vents (some of them), but they are not the same length. Most Group 78 batteries are 10-3/4" long while the Group 79 batteries are 12-1/16" long.

I will be replacing my Group 79 battery with another Group 79. Basically because the CCA requirements of the SSEi are higher than most Group 78 batteries (unless you spend the same money as the Group 79). I'm going with the AutoCraft Titanium from Advanced because they have it in stock.

Sojnds like you have taken the vent into account, please make sure you don't hurt yourself or the car by using a battery that isn't correct for the application.

battery
 

I stand corrected :oops: I'd been told by several sources that it was a group 100. Is there such a thing? I asked the guys at Batteries Plus about the 100, and they seemed to know what I meant, but said it wasn't available to them. Sounds like another mystery! :roll:

battery
 

Well, I feel somewhat vindicated. :lol: The Group 100 is for n/a cars, the 79 is for s/c cars, and the difference is the cca. You all probably all knew that, but now I do. ;)

Yes, you are correct. Sorry for the doubt.

Never heard of a Group 100, but hell, never heard of a Group 79 either until now

I am using the Group 79 DIRECT replacement battery from Advanced.

For all of your information, the Group 79 Battery is ~12" Long, ~6-3/4" Wide, and ~7-3/8" tall.

Using a different battery will not put you in higher risk of anything provided that it is of equal or higher CCA, fits in the space required (width and height are our only restrictions), and has provisions for the vents (again for our application).

Kyle, Idon't think that you would notice any difference if your replacement battery had a lesser CCA rating, but staying with the spec battery for the SSEi is a good idea.
Thanks for the info on dimensions & other specs also.

Just my .02 cents..


AC DELCO BATTERIES ARE JUNK!! <-- still got a 4 letter word in, not the one I wanted.

My wifes new Suburban at 3 years lost the positive cable, warrantied the battery and the second one did the same thing. Under the hood is spotless except for all the rust and lost paint under the battery case.

NEVER replace your Bonny's battery with an AC/DELCO! I am extremely worried about loosing all the paint under that back seat. Cranking times have been slowing down so hopefully soon, we're off to get a descent battery.

Whew, glad to get that off my mind.....

ALL Battery Manufactures have their "crappy" battery lines. AC Delco included. I've had good luck with their "Professional" battery line. http://www.acdelco.com/i/parts/batte...pro_series.jpg
Maybe I'm just lucky? :wink2:

I've only had the positive terminal fail on the battery once, and that was about 10 years ago. When I was researching a replacement I asked about that failure as it surprised me. The salesman at the battery shop said that it is caused by the cables being over-tightened. He said the AC-Delco seemed to have a slightly higher failure rate than other branks, but that any of them will fail this way if they're cranked down too hard.

I don't think that over tightening the terminals is what's causing them to corrode from the inside out... Especially after hearing that a Bonnie battery has also done this. There isn't anything that is present around a bonnie battery.

Anyway, made sure not to overtighten the terminals on mine just in case.

Mine wasn't overtightened either. Of course, once the positive terminal corroded, it was hell to get it off from the post..

Second one was a ACDELCO Professional BTW.. Thought the dealer was doing me a favor.

Good 'ol Walmart Extreme whatever battery in there ever since and I don't even check it.

Bonny get's the back seat taken out everytime I can remember to do so to check on it.

I'm sorry, I've never had any battery come apart except an ACDELCO so I am leaving it at that.. I just don't trust them. ACDELCO parts are generally junk as it is.. Oil filters such as the AC1218 are junk, take a look inside one. I spent the extra $25 to buy a AC/DELCO Accumulator Drier when rebuilding the AC unit on my '88 GTA only to find the Four Seasons sticker and part number still on the bottom of it which is a $25 cheaper accumulator.. I just don't know.. Pat

Ivory, are you using the Walmart batttery in your Bonne? I looked at Walmart just for the heck of it & they didn't list a replacement battery for 00+ Bonnes.

No, it's what I have in the wife's Suburban (and my pickup). Both are that Extreme whatever, the one in my pickup is 4 years and going strong.. Bonny has been cranking a little slower lately, but still have the Delco in it. My guess is that I am off to Sears to get one when it goes. I won't warranty it for another Delco.

Patrick