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Chevy Tahoe Battery Problems

252 messages,  Last post on Feb 26, 2013 at 7:56 AM

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What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe, Electrical, SUV

    

Messages Page 25 of 26

#237 of 252 07 Chevy Suburban: No Start, Battery/Positive Terminal Fault by james0258

May 12, 2012 (8:34 pm)

Replying to: sarca (Mar 08, 2012 9:57 pm)
Just confirming the very real problems described in the previous 227 posts. I lived with it from summer 2010 (65,000 miles) to May 2012 (103,000 miles). I traded for new 2012 Suburban rather than invest more time in a futile effort to make the vehicle dependable.
 
First time, nearly got stranded in the desert of Utah with mystery no start problem; forced to stop in Tucumcari, NM on the way back to Dallas, or risk being stranded on the highway. Warning lights flashing, door locks popping up and down, ignition glitches; while running I40 at night.
 
Tucumcari GM mechanic "discovered" positive terminal wasn't properly torqued. I assumed my bad since I had replace battery myself several months earlier. Back home, one week later, problem came back. I started playing with positive cable at the terminal; found that if I twisted on the cable, contact would change, and auto would "come back on". I mean from completely dead to completely alive. Well I showed this to my local dealer, and suggested a defective positive cable. Hard to believe, but copper cable into a lead alloy terminal can have a poor contact resulting in voltage drop. Enough to fool the electronic sensor into "dead" behavior.
 
Paid about $300 to replace the cable ... the problem went away for about 9 months. Then the problem came back. Replaced the cable again (same symptoms) under parts warrenty at about 80,000, and THEN AGAIN AFTER 12 MORE MONTHS AT 100,000 miles. Don't know if I really had warranty coming, but the local dealer (small town) really wanted to make it right. Did any of this help? No. Toward the end, replaced the battery, and still had intermittant shut downs; where only solution was to fritz with the positive cable. An undependable vehicle is almost worse than no vehicle. Stranded at home is one thing; getting stranded on the road or in a desert will get you hurt or killed.
 
Final note, I nor the local GM mechanics ever this figured out. But I think that it is likely that there is poor design/manufacturing on the positive cable for the '07; and the voltage sensor is too sensitive, going into shutdown on minor voltage drops. Some GM engineer is probably totally aware, but not about to announce it to the world. My new 2012 Burb has a very different looking positive terminal, with secondary contacts on the battery. Hope this helps anyone with the same problem.

#238 of 252 Re: 07 Chevy Suburban: No Start, Battery/Positive Terminal Fault [james0258] by gmcustsvcsarah

May 14, 2012 (9:04 am)

Replying to: james0258 (May 12, 2012 8:34 pm)
james0258,
 
I'm sorry that the electrical concern you had been having with your Tahoe was unable to be resolved; I hope that your new Suburban is a different story! If we can ever answer any questions or look into anything for you, please be sure to get in touch with us at socialmediagm.com
All the best,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

#239 of 252 Draining Battery/No Start 07 Tahoe by rf_fanat1c

May 25, 2012 (6:52 pm)

I recently bought a used 07 Tahoe LTZ. Two times now I've had the vehicle off but the radio on and go to start it 15 minutes later and it won't start. Clock resets to 12:00 and cd changer and locks go bezerk. The other time this happened, my wife parked it for 4 hours with the key out and everything off. She came out to the vehicle and it was dead again and wouldn't take a jump start. The other two times it took a jump and started.
 
I've taken it to the dealership and they said the 07033 service bulletin (BCM Flash) has already been done and they then re-flashed the rear heated seat module. They also did a test on the battery and said it was fine, had almost all of its original cranking amps and only had a 0.1 amp draw when off.
 
I went out to the vehicle today to do a test and just turned the radio on and sat in the car for 15 minutes and the voltage gauge eventually dropped to just above 9. I went to start it and it was dead, lights and radio worked but it wouldn't start. Just before I tried this, the Stability Track light came on and it said the system was off. I turned the key, no start and the the radio reset to 12:00 and the cd changer went nuts. I've researched this to death on the issue and no one can seem to give me a clear answer. Thanks for any help anyone can provide. I'm going to try a new battery tomorrow but don't have high hopes.
 
Another strange thing I noticed was that when I bought the vehicle 2 months ago, I saw the engine hours were reset to 0. I didn't think this was possible and the dealership things it was from a cluster replacement. Thanks for any help.

#240 of 252 Re: Draining Battery/No Start 07 Tahoe [rf_fanat1c] by sarca

Jul 11, 2012 (2:09 am)

Replying to: rf_fanat1c (May 25, 2012 6:52 pm)
Seems like my battery prob is fixed. I took it in and they said that the fix was what you had done: reflash back seat heaters and bcm. I also had them put in a bigger battery, the largest one AC Delco makes for this veh. it has slightly more power. I wanted everything to be done at the dealer so they couldnt say that it was my battery etc. Anyway, when I picked up vehicle I just sat in the lot with veh off and radio running. When it turned off I turned it back on. I also had all seat heaters going at same time. I started up no prob. It's been 4 months now and no prob with battery. Just a bunch of other things. Doing oil consumption test, now they going to fix piston rings and seals, I guess they found oil pooling. Well hope I figure everything out before my ext warr comes to an end.

#241 of 252 2006 Tahoe by 2forty

Sep 18, 2012 (2:33 pm)

Just like the rest of the posts on here I bought my 06 tahoe a year ago and its been doing fine but in Jan of this year I went to meet some friends and turned it off and it did not start back up so we jumped it and its been running fine until about a week ago. I got up one morning to go to work and noticed a major lag when starting and its been doing this every since and several occassions it wouldn't start. I was going to get a new battery but reading all of these posts im not sure it will fix this issue. Is there an answer to this problem or is everyone in the dark like me???

#242 of 252 Re: 2006 Tahoe [2forty] by gmcustsvcsarah

Sep 19, 2012 (9:30 am)

Replying to: 2forty (Sep 18, 2012 2:33 pm)
Good afternoon 2forty,
 
Your vehicle does have a Voltmeter that you can use to see your battery's charge status. When your engine is not running, but the ignition is in RUN, this gauge shows your battery’s state of charge in DC volts.
 
Hope this is helpful in some way! Have you seen any warning lights come on?
Sarah, GM Customer Service

#243 of 252 Re: 2006 Tahoe [gmcustsvcsarah] by 2forty

Sep 19, 2012 (9:48 am)

Replying to: gmcustsvcsarah (Sep 19, 2012 9:30 am)
There are no warning lights. It seems to be getting worse because I put it on the charger last night and when I took it off this morning it was very hesitant to start.

#244 of 252 Re: 2006 Tahoe [2forty] by gmcustsvcsarah

Sep 19, 2012 (1:12 pm)

Replying to: 2forty (Sep 19, 2012 9:48 am)
2forty,
 
I'm sorry to hear that it seems to be getting worse. I am unable to do much troubleshooting, but I hope that you're able to get some great feedback from the members of the community. If you decide to work with a GM dealership to get this resolved, please be sure to let us know. We can be reached at socialmediagm.com
 
Sarah, GM Customer Service

#245 of 252 Dead battery by postaljo

Sep 20, 2012 (12:46 pm)

I have a 2003 Tahoe, recently went to body shop for repairs..hood flew up and wrapped around windshield during storm. When I got the car back, drove home parked, went out to start and nothing. Had a friend jump it, when I turned it off wouldn't start. Now I'm told it's a defective battery, I have to take the negative wire off every time I stop then car and reconnect when I want to start it. Could it be a short somewhere or possible a fuse? Help

#246 of 252 Battery drain by postaljo

Sep 22, 2012 (3:29 pm)

I have checked the alternator, pulled every fuse and still something is daring the battery. Does anyone have any suggestions before I take it to the dealer

Messages Page 25 of 26

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