susandb Posted November 30, 2011 Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 I just found this site, I don't know if I should be under battery problems but the problem is not with the battery. The car sometimes starts & then doesn't, I turned it off & 15 sec. later went to turn it on & then nothing. The tow truck came 30 min. later just as I tried the ignition & of course it started. We too were told by the Tow Truck operator that they get 10 calls a week for this exact same problem with this car. He said boosting won't help as that's not the problem. On Nov. 5/11 the Dealership installed a new computer software update as that may be the problem. Problems restarted almost immediately. Of course the car starts every time we have it at the Dealership. They've had it the last 2 days, decided it was the light bulb in the glove compartment., I don't buy that! We just got it back & 6 hrs. later it wasn't starting, of course it was with my Daughter @ 1:00 am where you don't want her stranded. It started this morning, hope it'll start to get her to work & then get the car back to the Dealership. They said that they may try a new starter switch if we run into more problems, apparently there was a recall on those for some cars. Any suggestions, ready to drive it into a wall, if only I could get it started!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caperinmuskoka Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 The dealer should put a D/C amp probe on the battery cable with nothing on and the key out. this will tell them if there is any draw from the battery when there should not be..except for the small electronics stuff like the clock and memory fuctions.....................The dealer multimeter should have a scope setting which they can leave on overnight and provide a graph of the AMP reading over a period of time..........I seen a draw like this happen on a Buick And it turned out to be a mouse nest near the rear speakers with chewed the trunk light wires ......................then in turn left the trunk light on even while it was closed,.thus draining thebattery every couple of days...........Caper....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bramfrank Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 (edited) The dealer should put a D/C amp probe on the battery cable with nothing on and the key out. this will tell them if there is any draw from the battery when there should not be..except for the small electronics stuff like the clock and memory fuctions.....................The dealer multimeter should have a scope setting which they can leave on overnight and provide a graph of the AMP reading over a period of time..........I seen a draw like this happen on a Buick And it turned out to be a mouse nest near the rear speakers with chewed the trunk light wires ......................then in turn left the trunk light on even while it was closed,.thus draining thebattery every couple of days...........Caper....... That isn't going to do anything, since the OP reports that the battery isn't going flat - there's an intermittent *something*. It could be hardware or it could be software (based on the reported numbers of vehicles with the problem and that apparent fact that just 'trying later' without doing anything brings it back I suspect it is more likely software). If they get 10 calls a week locally, then the manufacturer must be getting lots of complaints - has the dealer bothered to call engineering? Or are they just trying 'stuff'? Do you get chimes or anything else when this happens? Maybe the neutral switch isn't working? Next time this happens, try running the shifter through the gates and back to Park and try again. Is the battery being run down (dim interior lights, sluggish cranking)? I'm asking for the sake of completeness. Does the vehicle even try to start? Does it crank & not catch? Does it 'click' and not crank? Does it do 'nothing'? Do the accessories come on when you turn the key? The complications of today's vehicles and the stress of our temperate climate means that dealers need to be great diagnosticians - and very few are. It's a good thing your vehicle is under warranty . . . even so the dealer local to me told me that if HE didn't find a problem I'd have to pay his hourly rate . . . my comment to him was that if HE didn't find the problem then I should be compensated for his having wasted my time . . . I turned around and drove to another dealer who listened to my complaint, checked with the manufactrer and reported back to me (Issues with my 4.3). I wasn't happy to be told that 'that's the way it is' (255 songs or 1 Gig max MP3s on a USB device for the 2011 and that lagging controls while playing MP3s is 'normal'), but they didn't present me with a bill, either. Edited December 2, 2011 by bramfrank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtsr Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 I believe your your ignition key in the 2010s was that usb like device. I recall reading a number of posts on the net about it failing and having to be replaced for intermittent starting problems. Could be the fob or the receiver reader is intermittent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bramfrank Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 The fob system has no electrical connection to the vehicle, though there was a recall to increase the holding tension because people with a lot of hardware on their fobs were experiencing a situation where the key would rotate to the off position under the weight of that stuff . . . . I found no reference to intermittent failures in the system itself in my admittedly cursory search of the web, though that doesn't prove anything one way or the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtsr Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 I just tried to find the posts I was referiing to but as usual once seen never to found again,memories horrible since I turned 70. I did see the posts you referred to regarding it turning in the holder with excess weight/wear on the nub. The part I do remember was that the chip was not being read by the receiver or at least intermittently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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