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Battery Life

bdatlanta

Full Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2014
Messages
145
Location
Atlanta, GA
My 2011 has 30k miles. The original battery is still going strong. Am I rolling the dice if I don't replace it anytime soon?

Note: Researched this site further and have my answer. Thnx.
 
It has been a crap shoot for me.

My 03 lasted 5 years and nearly 80K miles before I had to take action.

The 2010 was traded at 36 months with no signs of fatigue.

The current 2013 lasted 34 months with only 32K miles. GM replaced it after much testing to confirm my issues that had been going on for nearly 6 months. I suspect they were trying to wear me down and just replace it myself.

When they relented, they were more than apologetic and have been very attentive to issues I have presented since and I'm 9 months and 3K miles past the original 36K GM Warranty.

As always, Your Milage and Experience May Vary!
 
I killed the OEM battery and it's replacement then bought an Optima deep cycle as warranty had expired on my '04 with low miles, it had 52k when I totaled it last month.

Notice I said I killed it  ???  Short commute to work and shopping probably left it undercharged then I'd use the power windows, sunroof and Bose sound system with the engine off. The Optima handled the abuse but I also began keeping it running before using the windows/roof most of the time.

I still think the OEM battery wasn't near what the old AC/Delco ones were.

 
I've lived in Orange County, California near continuously since 1959. We had an AC Delco Battery plant on the border of Anaheim and Fullerton until the late 90's I believe. Surprisingly, it was not the Toxic mess as we are hearing about now in the East Los Angeles area of late. It was a center for measurement by the local Air Quality and EPA agencies as they evolved so it was often in the news regarding additional imposing standards.

I'm beginning to connect some dots here with the described decline of OEM GM batteries to be about the time this facility was closed.

Was this possibly the End of the Good Old Days?
 
Cat Dancer said:
Was this possibly the End of the Good Old Days?

Nope, it started earlier. Maybe I'll publish an essay on that subject.

Batteries like every other component are subject to cost analysis beyond my pay grade.
 
2011 Z71... original battery with 100,000 (Km) this past weekend.... so around 65,000 miles. Battery strong as every, although 5 yrs does mark the expected life time. I keep a spare battery (dormant) in the extra tray in the engine compartment as a safety.
 
My 2013, 18,000 miles was never very good-i get a low battery lite with the radio on within 5 minutes, then shuts off after few minutes, with the girl friend in wally world. It may be programmed to shut off, but low battery shouldnt be coming on. I had battery tested, they said it was okay.
 
Our 2013 battery is right at 45 months old (01/13) and we've got just under 36k miles on it now, and it seems to be doing just fine.

It did get run down once, when the tint shop left the key on inside and the headlights with it.. When they went to back out of the bay, it wouldn't start.

I let it sit for about 15min, and it started without a boost (barely but it did). I haven't had any other issues since then, though.



 
2013avalanche said:
My 2013, 18,000 miles was never very good-i get a low battery lite with the radio on within 5 minutes, then shuts off after few minutes, with the girl friend in wally world. It may be programmed to shut off, but low battery shouldnt be coming on. I had battery tested, they said it was okay.

My 2010 was like that. If I was programing the radio, Bluetooth, or some such, after just a minute or 2 the Battery Light would come on.

If I shut the vehicle off and stayed inside listening to the Radio, it would not do that and the RAP would shut down after the 10 minute program period.

I've not sen this with the 2013 Avalanche, even when the first battery was failing for 6 months.
 
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