Truck Gets Taken Away On A Tow Truck 2nd Day

[AvalancheChick]

This morning me n my father where going out to the store and we got in my truck and to our amazment the battery is dead.....neighbors comes out and says told you you should have bought ford
we are calling the dealer now...i always thought the batterys are suppose to last like 6 years....wish me luck

he said there was nothing wrong with it....he said it was "weird" n gave me back my truck hmpf ?

So i wake up n about to "try" and go to the beach for the 2nd day in a row the truck isnt even making the clicking noises n e more we go to chare the battery wont charge they come and take my truck away on a tow truck....hmmm smart dealer ?" oh theres nothign wrong with it its just weird" ? Dealers

 

[DGonz]

Have they found the problem yet, keep us posted. And as for as your neighbor and his Fix Or Repair Daily, well.

 

[pdxkevin]

Sounds like a bad batery to me and/or a serious electrical leak. ?I doubt that the dome lights could cause that kind of drain.

You might want to see if the battery is being charged when the engine is running. If not, it could be draining the battery the whole time the engine is running.

My vote is for trying a new battery first.

 

[wrchism]

Hmmm . . . maybe you need a new battery . . I mean , just a thought. I'm sorry AvyChick . . . but 'new' batteries that have problems don't generally get better!

Good luck on getting your Av fixed . . . keep us posted!

 

[ygmn]

Could be many things....

Loose alternator wire
Crappy alternator
bad battery
Bad starter killing battery
Fuseable link if they still have them.

 

[Pegtech]

My Av had a dead battery when I went to test drive it. They jump started it but when I bought it, I made them give me a new battery. Once a battery dies, it will never be the same. Perhaps yours died at the dealership and they jump started it when they gave it to you. If this is the case, either the dealer is stupid or he just doesn't care about you getting stranded somewhere alone on a cold and dark night.

I'm just anti-dealer right now. I'll get over it.

Jake

 

[WS6Y2K]

Avchick,
How many miles on your Av. I bet the battery is good. Check you cable connections. I had this same problem with my last chevy truck. If the cables are loose they will corrode and the truck will not start. Clean the cables and I bet it will start. This happen to me more than once. I would just go out and move the cable and it would start.

Good Luck,
Let us know what the fix is

 

[orboater]

Avchick,
How many miles on your Av. I bet the battery is good. Check you cable connections. I had this same problem with my last chevy truck. If the cables are loose they will corrode and the truck will not start. Clean the cables and I bet it will start. This happen to me more than once. I would just go out and move the cable and it would start.

Good Luck,
Let us know what the fix is

I had the same thing happen to the last two GMC's that I had. I left a 5/16 wrench in the door pocket to tighten the battery cable as needed.

 

[WS6Y2K]

Yes this is very commen for GM cars and trucks. Someone told me it had to do with the bolts being too long and make the side post leak which cause all the corrosion on the terminals. That happen to my last truck till I put in a top post battery. My bother in law had a GMC truck, we had a GMC truck at work, and my bother had a Chevy truck as well as his Caddy Escalade. All had the same problem.

Funny thing my bothers wife drive the Escalade and she told me that sometimes it would start and sometimes it wouldn't. So I told to get under the hood and move the cables so it would start. She said no way I have a Caddy so I just call Onstar. She got tired of calling Onstar so the dealer replaced both cable and fixed the problem.

 

[RedAV]

Sorry, AVChick I am not sure about your AV but for the rest of you.

Look, they are going to save money anyway they can, like 16" spares on AVs with 17" wheels. Why do we think batteries would be any different? All of it low bid.

My previous truck, a Chevy, had a lame battery in it. The alarm and general power draw would kill it after 4-5 days in the driveway.

Get a new battery, check or change the alternator, same thing. THis happened for years. I used to have a solar charging in it all the time. When I went out of town I had a battery charger I would put on it.

I finally got tired of it and took it to a good shop who took a good luck at it. It seems it was those batteries I was always buying. I though I was buying good ones, Sears, NTB, Hi-Lo, AutoZone.

They hooked my up with an Interstate battery. Cost a wad compaired to the others.

After that I never had a problem.

When the battery in my 4 month AV gets to 2 years or so it is coming out and I am going to an Interstate.

D*mn the cost.

 

[Bruno]

This is weird. 4 weeks ago I took my wife out for a test drive of the Avalanche. At the first dealership we picked out one that we might be interested in and the salesman runs for the keys, goes to start it and nothing, not even a click. He then says lets try this other one 4 trucks down, runs to get the keys and comes back with the booster and a the new set of keys. Tries the 2nd Av and nothing, he then hooks up the booster and starts the Av. He is trying to convince me that everything is alright now and go ahead and take a spin. As I go to get in, it dies...turn the key. nothing. I walked.

Bought my Av elsewhere.

 

[AvalancheChick]

i just passed the 4k mark

 

[NJAV]

Good for you AVychick.....this only means that you have a very long life left on your AV....but do not ignore routine maintenance....it will kill you in the long run...

 

[dvd_rules]

$30,000 to $40,000 for the truck, and you can't even get a good battery? Those B@stards!
Good luck AvChick

 

[half-breed]

Bruno - my dealership had a similar problem, usually on Mondays and with Silverados. People test drive then, turn the fog lights on, and forget to turn them off. No buzzer, nothing. On the Silverados there is a small LED. When you get into a Silverado and no start usually there is enough power for the LED to light, and you know that they were left on. In the Av no clue. Mondays since they were test drove on Saturday, place closes at 5 PM and they stay on till Monday or later.

 

[Bruno]

Bruno - my dealership had a similar problem, usually on Mondays and with Silverados. People test drive then, turn the fog lights on, and forget to turn them off. No buzzer, nothing. On the Silverados there is a small LED. When you get into a Silverado and no start usually there is enough power for the LED to light, and you know that they were left on. In the Av no clue. Mondays since they were test drove on Saturday, place closes at 5 PM and they stay on till Monday or later.

Yeah this was a Sunday, (they are closed on Saturday) so that fits your scenario. But I thought the Av has a system that kills power after 20 minutes so these things don't happen. At least that is what I understood when I skimmed the manual.

 

[Beach]

Should have bought a Ford?! Yeah, and then when it doesn't start on the second day, it's not because of the battery, it's because the engine just had a meltdown after 10 miles! Then the transmission blows...followed by the rest of the vehicle just falling to pieces.

I wouldn't worry too much over this battery issue. It's common among A LOT of new cars that either sit on the lot too long without movement or have a very minor electronic glitch. My aunt and uncle just went through the exact same thing with their new Kia Sedona van, and after 3 new batteries, they found an incorrectly connected power seat lumbar wire! It was fixed in a minute!

 

[Bruno]

I wouldn't worry too much over this battery issue. ?It's common among A LOT of new cars that either sit on the lot too long without movement or have a very minor electronic glitch. ?My aunt and uncle just went through the exact same thing with their new Kia Sedona van, and after 3 new batteries, they found an incorrectly connected power seat lumbar wire! ?It was fixed in a minute!

Yeah, but two Avs sitting nearly side by side. Me thinks that the dealership should do a little more lot prep.

 

[dandan]

Was this problem from the start for most of you or did it happen over time?

 

[Supermobile]

This is a very routine scenario on car lots, doesn't matter which brand.

A new feature on the 2003 Av is that it DOES have a feature which protects the battery if stuff gets left on.

I need this feature, as I often leave various lights on.

Senior moment type of thing.

 

[Nikon4]

I doubt the problem here lies within the battery. ?I am sure it is within the positive side cable being slightly loose as others have commented. ?

Take the cable off completely, wipe it clean and re-attach. ?You should have no issues from this point on except for the occasional retightening at the terminal. ?

I come up to this problem about once every two months (non-Avalanche) or right after I would get the vehicle serviced. ?So I carry a small wrench in the glove compartment and replaced my GM battery with an Optima Red Top for good measure... ?

Good luck with everything, I hope this helps...

Happy AVing!

 

[WS6Y2K]

So I carry a small wrench in the glove compartment and replaced my GM battery with an Optima Red Top for good measure... ?

Good luck with everything, I hope this helps...

Happy AVing!

I did the same thing with my last car. The Optima batteries are great. You don't have to worry about acid leaking everywhere like the other batteries.

 

[imaniguana]

Just a thought . . . . Did you check to make sure the bed lights are off?

 

[BUDMAN]

This is a very routine scenario on car lots, doesn't matter which brand.

A new feature on the 2003 Av is that it DOES have a feature which protects the battery if stuff gets left on.

I need this feature, as I often leave various lights on.

Senior moment type of thing. ? ? ? ?

This is actually not a new feature. 2002 already has them. My ignorance has tested it out twice, and it does work. Quite a life saver.