Wow, Battery Dead At 21 Mos.

[jthelman]

I have a 08 Sierra, love the truck, but it finally let me down.

 

Small deal, but annoying.

 

I had it in in November, and the tech noted low battery voltage. I figured I'd have less than a year left on the battery, but I'd get a warning with slow starts.

 

When I got to the car after work today, not enough juice to even light the dashboard. It started in the morning, but was completely drained by the afternoon.

 

I put a duralast (autozone) in it, and it runs fine. I'm assuming the Diehard was a lemon and just shorted out. I've never had a battery quit that early or without a slow crank warning before it died.

 

Anyone else have the OEM fail that early?

 

I could bitch to GMC, but it's not worth arguing over "half" the cost of a battery, since that would be the prorated value.

[Diesail]

Did you every have any issues with leaving the lights on or something and running the battery down real low? Anything plugged into the 12v outlets 24/7 that is creating a drain? A batteries life is exponentially related to its discharge cycles. The deeper a discharge the more life you are taking away from it. So just once or twice running it flat can ruin a battery. And while you may have enough juice in the morning to start it and it does not appear as you are draining the battery with an accessory this too is creating a cycle that is going to reduce the batteries life. You might want to check in the morning with a decent volt meter at the battery before you start the truck and see what the voltage is. It should be about 12.6 volts, if it is much less then you have a constant load that is discharging and may be shortening the batteries life.

 

Or as you said it may have just been a poor battery from the start.

[bossier62guy]

I have a 08 Sierra, love the truck, but it finally let me down.

 

Small deal, but annoying.

 

I had it in in November, and the tech noted low battery voltage. I figured I'd have less than a year left on the battery, but I'd get a warning with slow starts.

 

When I got to the car after work today, not enough juice to even light the dashboard. It started in the morning, but was completely drained by the afternoon.

 

I put a duralast (autozone) in it, and it runs fine. I'm assuming the Diehard was a lemon and just shorted out. I've never had a battery quit that early or without a slow crank warning before it died.

 

Anyone else have the OEM fail that early?

 

I could bitch to GMC, but it's not worth arguing over "half" the cost of a battery, since that would be the prorated value.

 

Lot's of 07's had battery issues but if you had a "diehard" battery in your truck it wouldn't do much good to complain to GMC about it.

[jthelman]

Did you every have any issues with leaving the lights on or something and running the battery down real low? Anything plugged into the 12v outlets 24/7 that is creating a drain? A batteries life is exponentially related to its discharge cycles. The deeper a discharge the more life you are taking away from it. So just once or twice running it flat can ruin a battery. And while you may have enough juice in the morning to start it and it does not appear as you are draining the battery with an accessory this too is creating a cycle that is going to reduce the batteries life. You might want to check in the morning with a decent volt meter at the battery before you start the truck and see what the voltage is. It should be about 12.6 volts, if it is much less then you have a constant load that is discharging and may be shortening the batteries life.

 

Or as you said it may have just been a poor battery from the start.

 

Nah, nothing running off the battery, and the lights are on automatic, so they shut off automagically. The battery was never run down.

 

I think it just had a bad cell(s) from the factory.

[jthelman]

I have a 08 Sierra, love the truck, but it finally let me down.

 

Small deal, but annoying.

 

I had it in in November, and the tech noted low battery voltage. I figured I'd have less than a year left on the battery, but I'd get a warning with slow starts.

 

When I got to the car after work today, not enough juice to even light the dashboard. It started in the morning, but was completely drained by the afternoon.

 

I put a duralast (autozone) in it, and it runs fine. I'm assuming the Diehard was a lemon and just shorted out. I've never had a battery quit that early or without a slow crank warning before it died.

 

Anyone else have the OEM fail that early?

 

I could bitch to GMC, but it's not worth arguing over "half" the cost of a battery, since that would be the prorated value.

 

Lot's of 07's had battery issues but if you had a "diehard" battery in your truck it wouldn't do much good to complain to GMC about it.

 

 

 

"Diehard" was my attempt at subtle humor. It wasn't a diehard, it was an OEM battery. I've had good luck with duralast branded parts, so I think I'll be OK for at least a few years.

 

It's a shame optima doesn't make an exact replacement for the GMT900s.

[bossier62guy]

I have a 08 Sierra, love the truck, but it finally let me down.

 

Small deal, but annoying.

 

I had it in in November, and the tech noted low battery voltage. I figured I'd have less than a year left on the battery, but I'd get a warning with slow starts.

 

When I got to the car after work today, not enough juice to even light the dashboard. It started in the morning, but was completely drained by the afternoon.

 

I put a duralast (autozone) in it, and it runs fine. I'm assuming the Diehard was a lemon and just shorted out. I've never had a battery quit that early or without a slow crank warning before it died.

 

Anyone else have the OEM fail that early?

 

I could bitch to GMC, but it's not worth arguing over "half" the cost of a battery, since that would be the prorated value.

 

Lot's of 07's had battery issues but if you had a "diehard" battery in your truck it wouldn't do much good to complain to GMC about it.

 

 

 

"Diehard" was my attempt at subtle humor. It wasn't a diehard, it was an OEM battery. I've had good luck with duralast branded parts, so I think I'll be OK for at least a few years.

 

It's a shame optima doesn't make an exact replacement for the GMT900s.

 

 

GM would have warrantied it and provided you with a new battery. Oh well...

[dennismc]

I had mine replaced under the bumper to bumper warrenty,it had a dead cell.

It lasted 2yrs and 1 month.

[pm26]

I had the OEM battery on a new Mazda Protege fail within 24 months without any warning whatsoever. Started fine in the morning, in the afternoon when I was trying to start it, it was completely dead. Not even a click.

 

I still have the OEM Delco in my truck and it is over 4 years old. And the truck sits in a garage a lot more than the Mazda did. Batteries here in Florida are badly affected by humidity and heat. Go figure.

[dlstewart01]

My AC Delco battery is still going strong after 5 years.

[jthelman]

I have a 08 Sierra, love the truck, but it finally let me down.

 

Small deal, but annoying.

 

I had it in in November, and the tech noted low battery voltage. I figured I'd have less than a year left on the battery, but I'd get a warning with slow starts.

 

When I got to the car after work today, not enough juice to even light the dashboard. It started in the morning, but was completely drained by the afternoon.

 

I put a duralast (autozone) in it, and it runs fine. I'm assuming the Diehard was a lemon and just shorted out. I've never had a battery quit that early or without a slow crank warning before it died.

 

Anyone else have the OEM fail that early?

 

I could bitch to GMC, but it's not worth arguing over "half" the cost of a battery, since that would be the prorated value.

 

Lot's of 07's had battery issues but if you had a "diehard" battery in your truck it wouldn't do much good to complain to GMC about it.

 

 

 

"Diehard" was my attempt at subtle humor. It wasn't a diehard, it was an OEM battery. I've had good luck with duralast branded parts, so I think I'll be OK for at least a few years.

 

It's a shame optima doesn't make an exact replacement for the GMT900s.

 

 

GM would have warrantied it and provided you with a new battery. Oh well...

 

 

Yeah, I know, and I even have an extended warranty.

 

To quote Dennis Miller talking about the K-Mart blue light specials: "C'mon people, two of shit, is shit. if they really hate you, they'll give you a third...."

 

I'm super busy, and it's definitely not worth my time to drive to resolve something this small with GMC. The car died at 6:00 at night, and the service dept was most likely closed. I'd have to wait until the next day, jump the car a second time, drive 15 miles out of my way to argue with the service dept, wait for the new battery to be installed, then drive all the way home. And in the end, I get a battery from the same company that built the defective one.

 

I'm probably in the minority, but when I do car repairs, anything less than $200 is small. I jumped the truck, left it running in the autozone parking lot, grabbed a new battery, drove to my son's little league game and spent 15 minutes between pitches changing out the battery. Cost me $150 + 15 minutes of my time. Going to GMC would have cost me a couple hours (at least). I would get some of that craptastic coffee in the waiting room tho.

 

Again, not bashing GMC here, if the battery is the only problem I encounter, I'm happy. Just wondering if others have seen a short battery life and warning others that mine quit very unexpectedly.

 

John

[jblakeney]

Yeah, seems like a TSB is out on this and they have a re-flash procedure to fix it.... Might want to search a bit on it... I seem to remember reading about it once on the GMT900's.

 

But yes, I have change and sold numerous batteries in GMT900's, even in trucks that are several month old trucks (4+ months old).

 

I managed 5 years on my OE battery before I touched it.... But I have a GMT-800....

 

Jbo

[r1byker]

I had the battery go out on my Suburban about 22 months after I got it. The battery on my new Caddy started failing after about a month. They were both replaced under warranty. I attribute the failures to the vehicles sitting on the dealer lot for a long time.

[Vortec-Z71]

I just replaced my AC Delco battery. It was the original one, 8 years old.

[VO1BMD]

The wife's car is 10 yrs old, original battery plugs and wires. My Cheyene truck was 9 when I got rid of her and she had the OEM as well. She had 6 yrs of hard winters in northern NL so that battery took a pounding!

 

Some companies LIKE to know when stuff fails so they can track lifespan/reliability/etc. Stats guys loves that stuff....

[07blkchevyz71]

Mine died after 3 months...but the dealer replaced it and it's run for 3 years fine