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I own a 2008 Colorado which has been giving me problems for a long time. I purchased the vehicle in August of 2008, in February 2009 the vehicle went completely dead, couldn't even get Onstar to work. They came and jumped it and from that day on it ran fine until May 2010 where it wouldn't start again although the lights worked this time. Brought it in to dealership and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. Two months later, August 2010 after sitting over the weekend, the vehicle was completely dead again and had it towed to same dealership. They thought it was the battery and replaced it. Two months after that, same problem, towed again to same dealership and they claimed I received a bad battery and replaced again. March 2011, completely dead one more time and had towed again to same dealership. This time they found a small draw from Onstar and reflashed the "vcim". On October of 2011, once again, same issue and towed to same dealership where they replaced the battery and a few cables which they thought were loose. Two months later, on December of 2011, dead again and towed to dealership. Now with help from GM technical support, they are claiming that I don't drive my vehicle enough to recharge the battery. The service manager states that every car on their lot is started every 3 days to charge the battery of the car or else it will die. He also claimed that I need to drive at least 30 minutes a day by freeway in order to keep the battery charged. I fing this to be a load of crap. I have 27,000 miles on the vehicle and I drive 15 miles one way to work which takes 20 minutes and out of that 15 miles, 12 miles is freeway. He also told me that if a vehicle isn't started or driven whitin 2 to 3 weeks it will completely die because there is constant "draw" from the battery. Up until this point I respected all they tried to do to fix it, now they are kicking me while I'm down and I don't buy their answers

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I don't suppose they told you what the parasitic draw on your truck is?

I checked my 2011 Sierra when I got it and the parasitic draw is about 30mA (0.030A) which is typical for anything built in the last 10-15 years. At that draw, you are looking at 80-90 days for a battery that won't start the vehile.

 

Given the intermittent nature of you problem, you probably have some issue with a particular module in the vehicle properly shutting down at turn off.

 

Another thing to consider is do you have any aftermarket devices connected or electrical mods on the truck? Such as cell phone charger, mp3 player, aftermarket audio equipment, trailer brake controller, anything?

 

For example, I have a cell phone charger that draws about 120mA even if the phone is charged or not connected to the charger. This would kill my battery in 2 weeks or so.

 

As for the amount you need to drive daily to keep the battery charged, they are overstating it unless you have heavy draw equipment in the vehicle.

 

At this point, it might be worth it for you spend a $100 or so on a clamp on ammeter that will measure parasitic draw and do some of your own troubleshooting.

 

Another option which is not a fix but work around would be to buy a "Priority Start" battery disconnect. At least you would not be stranded with a dead battery..

Edited by waumo1
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Thanks for the input. Everything on the vehicle is straight from the dealer, nothing fancy. Apparently at least once a week the vehicle needs to be running for at least 30 minutes straight. All of this makes no sense to me, especially since it ran trouble free from Feb. 09 to May 2010. I am not a mechanic, but I'm not an idiot either and all the answers from the dealership and GM technical support are shady. If I would've known about this issue from the beginning I would've never of bought it and neither would anyone else. And if this all true about the recharging, how can GM get away with this?

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Your vehicle has an intermittent problem that is killing the battery - the dealer can't find it and they are tired of fooling with it and are probably hoping you will get tired of fooling with it and trade for something else. If you haven't already, escalate your issue up the GM chain. Unfortunately as a troubleshooter myself I will say that finding intermittent problems can be difficult and sometimes impossible,

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Did you ever get a full alternator test? Not just voltage but amperage as well? My opinion is your dealer is crap & you need to run away from them fast. Find a real mechanic get the electrical output & parasitic draw tested & get back to enjoying your truck instead of dealership coffee.

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Jim, that is my thinking as well. This is a vehicle that needs to be torn apart to find what the real problem is. The dealership is grasping at straws for answers since they don't have any. Unfortunatley I'm fighting against a monster and will most likely lose, I already tried filing a claim with a Lemon law lawyer and it was rejected. In the end I will probably trade it in and it will end up being someone elses problem. I know it will happen again and I will for sure take it to another dealership and see what they say, as frustrating as it is.

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The Dealership you are taking it to, do they just have monkey's in the service department? GM Technical Assistance would NEVER, I repeat NEVER say any of that shit!! There is a problem with a draw on your truck, take it to a dealer with Technicians not parts changing monkeys, don't let this dealership ruin your truck expeirience for you it can be easily fixed

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Item 1.

This does not apply to your truck.

My 2008 Sierra the battery kept going dead.

What was finally determined was some switch that was for an option that I did not have was in the on position. Once the dealership pointed out the off setting - no more issues. Odd to have a switch that does nothing. But it was there.

 

Item 2.

My 2010 Chevrolet Colorado.

I rarely use.

Couple of times I go out and battery is completely dead.

I could not figure out what was the issue. Drag out battery charger and charge.

Then one day as I was walking away from truck I heard the dinger ringing. The door was not completely shut. And the dinger would ring until the battery was completely dead. Now I have to double check before leaving truck that doors are shut and that the dinger has stopped dinging.

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To the person with the 2008 Sierra, do you know what switch it was that was on and where the switch is located? I think it is Onstar that is doing it, although I haven't had it since the free one year trial expired. As far as the dealership goes, I feel like they were just brushing me off since they really don't know what the real problem is. I would rather they would've told me that they really don't know what is causing it then the line of crap they fed me. You mean to tell me that every single GM owner in the whole entire world runs their car at least 30 minutes once a week, if that was the case no one would buy a GM. Also, I spoke to the salesperson which sold me the truck and he felt I drove it enough and had no idea about this "30 minute" minimum recharge time. I can't wait for the dealerships quality survey to arrive!

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Hope the survey accomplishes something. Last one I did for a fourth time failed repair on wife's Jeep got me nothing but more pissed off. I'll tell you what if you lived somewhere near by I can guarantee you better answers from my garage than that crap dealership.

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On the 2008 Sierra.

 

I think it was a flat type toggle switch on overhead console that some light option or some other option that I did not have. I really can't remember what they told me it was used for. But once in the off positon no more dead battery.

 

Why put a switch in that does nothing?

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for the input. Everything on the vehicle is straight from the dealer, nothing fancy. Apparently at least once a week the vehicle needs to be running for at least 30 minutes straight. All of this makes no sense to me, especially since it ran trouble free from Feb. 09 to May 2010. I am not a mechanic, but I'm not an idiot either and all the answers from the dealership and GM technical support are shady. If I would've known about this issue from the beginning I would've never of bought it and neither would anyone else. And if this all true about the recharging, how can GM get away with this?

 

I leave my 05 silverado sitting at home for 4 months when I am comerical fishing . Get back and it starts fine still .
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  • 1 year later...

Hi! Just thought I would offer a suggestion. We have a 2009 GMC Sierra 4x4 Crewcab, and our battery had been giving us trouble. Just like a few of you said it would be dead if we left it sitting over the weekend. We live in a really small town with alot of farmers around, and lucky to have a guy who is a Mr. Fix-it. He has had alot of farmers going to him with their trucks, and we told him what was happening with our truck. He got us to take it to him, and he said right away that it had been our remote starter module. He took it off and it is maybe 1 inch by 1/2 inch box that plugs in close to the battery along a wired line, he said they seem to draw from the battery when they either need to be replaced or just faulty. Our truck has worked fine since he took it out, and we never replaced it yet. We just don't have a remote start working of course but thats no biggy. Don't really care for them anyway. Hope this helps out someone : )

Edited by Carebear
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  • 3 weeks later...

There was a warrantee recall for 2008 Colorado's equipped with the CD mp3 player causing a battery drain problem. If this applies have your vin checked for any recall service performed at a dealership.

Edited by Gray 08
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