[Delooking1968]

Well, this time the dealer says the dead battery was caused by a contact in the driver's side seat switch making slight contact (enough to draw power, but not enough to move the seat). Maybe they found it this time, although last time they said it was the body control module. The really funny thing is that it's been almost 2 weeks and they can't get the part. Have they stopped production? Seems like there should be a new seat control switch floating around somewhere. If only the lemon law went to 2 years, I could save the hassle of selling this car and have them buy it back from me.

 

[screw991le]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a recurring dead battery. I have a Traverse LT with parking assist, but no navigation unit. The first time it happened at the end of November, I had Chev Customer Care come out and jump it, then drove to the dealer. They told me it was because I let the car sit for 3 weeks. When I asked them about the software update I read about on here, they just handed me my keys. The 2nd time it happened, I just had CCC come out and jump it. The 3rd time, I had CCC come out and jump it and they towed it to the dealer. This time the car had only been sitting 3 days (and I told them about the jump in between). They found nothing wrong. The 4th time it happened, I called the dealer as it had just been in 2 weeks before and asked them to send their wrecker (CCC dispatches from a town about 1 hr away). They told me to call CCC and I waited 3.5 hrs for a tow. This time, they found a draw coming from the body control module. They had it for over a week because their computers were down. I picked it up, drove 100 yds and all kinds of alarms and warnings sounded. Drove it straight back in and it turns out it wasn't test driven and the brake calibration was off (another 2 days to figure that out). Every time, they told me if I got a survey to fill out excellent, because anything less is a fail. I said I'd have a tough time making a case for average service. The results of the survey must have gotten to the Service Mgr, because he called me and apologized profusely and promised the next 2 oil changes on him. The day I got the card for the free oil changes, the car didn't start again! This time, they say the draw is coming from the seat control. When I pick it up this time I'm going to drive over to their used car lot and sell it.

Don't you love it? 6 trips to the dealership for the same thing and they ask for a 100% passing grade. LOL. After the second jump and visit, I will have made a direct complaint to GM CS. Then on the 3rd visit, ask them to give you a car, fix it right and do not give it back until it works 100% or you will call GM CS again and have the complaint escalated to the second step.

You can give me a lifetime of free oil changes, but if I have to visit the shop 10 times a year, you can keep the oil changes.

This is why I think, deep down, GM may cut costs, make a profit and sell more cars. But, they will end up right back into the hole they are in now, in about 20 years or so. It is to bad I am a life long GM customer (11 Gm models) and we came sooooooo close this year to switching to Ford and getting an Explorer. But after I found out they can catch fire and the back seats can crush a child in an accident, we decided against it and gave GM one more try.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Delooking1968,

I would like to investigate your situation further. I will private message you with the information that I will need in order to do this. I understand the frustration that you are feeling with your situation including your dealership.

Michelle P., Chevrolet Customer Service

 

[2LT AWD]

Did GM ever replace the battery with a new one.
The reason I ask is that I had a similar situation with a new 2008 Equinox , it sat in the dealers lot for eleven months before we purchased it .
One month after the battery went dead after listen to the radio in the vehicle after two and half hours , with all the doors closed and the windows down and the dome light turned off.
I charged it up every thing was fine for three weeks when it did it again when it was colder out .
This time after i charged it up I drove down to GM dealer and explained what was going on, they replaced the battery because there was a short in one of the six cells that drained the charge.

Your GM dealer should have been a little more proactive fixing the problem than just ignoring the situation .
Remember that GM buys these batteries buy the train car load and you don't know how long they have been sitting with out been charged before they are put into service....

 

[Delooking1968]

No, I'm kind of glad they didn't replace the battery now. After reading all the other posts, I thought that would be the solution. They have found 2 separate draws on the battery since this started. I have a feeling that they have been there all along and only after the battery got older and weaker (and the car was driven more sporadically), did the problems manifest themselves as a dead battery. If they replaced the battery the first time, I would be looking at some very expensive troubleshooting a couple of years from now when the new battery got older and weaker. I just wish the problem started sooner so GM would have to buy back this lemon.

 

[Delooking1968]

By the way, Michelle from Chev. Customer Service has monitored my posts and was nice enough to recommend that my situation get a case number. I spoke to a representative Wednesday morning, but haven't heard anything back yet. I guess they are digging through boxes and looking through ledgers to find this seat switch. I think the just in time inventory process might have bitten them on this one.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Delooking1968,

It is my pleasure to assist you with your situation. I really enjoy interacting with everyone on the forums that I monitor.

Sincerely,
Michelle P., Chevrolet Customer Service

 

[Delooking1968]

Sorry to say that I sold my Traverse back to the dealer. Even more sad to say the beating I took on the car. The FJ Cruiser I traded in to buy this vehicle lost about $2500 in value over 2 years of ownership. The Traverse lost about $8000 over 2 years (off the purchase price, about $14-15k off sticker). The car was great, but just not reliable enough. The dealer had more than 5 chances to fix it, and I can't be sure it was even fixed after the last visit (as they had assured me every other time it was fixed). While GM does a great job monitoring the board for issues, they have some other problems. The seat switch took over a month to procure, even after the repair was escalated and issued a case #. GM must also rethink it's policy for towing. Every time the car wouldn't start, I had to wait for a wrecker to be dispatched from an hour away, when the dealership is 10 minutes down the road. On one occasion, I had to wait over 3 hrs -- this is not acceptable (imagine being stuck on the side of a road for 3 hrs.). Even though I like the design of the GM products, this experience has soured me on them. Since the only other local dealership is Ford, I guess I will be switching to them or Toyota so I don't have to worry about ever going to the dealer again.

 

[bobg1951chevy]

It always saddens me when I hear or read something like this. No customer of GM, or anyone else, should be driven to this point of disgust.

The towing mess is not a GM problem, it is a dealership concern. If the facts are uncovered, you'll find the dealer works with this certain tow company for reasons not being mentioned here.

Customers need to be attended to in a professional and successful manner. While Customer Service makes you warm and fuzzy, if the end result to the complaint is not positive, all the warm and fuzzy statements mean nothing.

Seems 5 opportunities to fix something would have put this vehicle into LemonLaw range, but I don't know the specifics of the complaints. It would have been better for GM to buy this vehicle back, rather than the customer taking a bath on his investment.

Sorry to see this happen to you, even more sad/sorry no one from Chevrolet responded to your final post today.

Bob

 

[Delooking1968]

Thanks for your concern. The dealer did send out their wrecker the last time the car didn't start, but they said it was against GM policy (and they were against the policy). It probably just meant they wouldn't be reimbursed. When you call GM customer care for roadside assistance, they don't utilize all of the dealers. The one they use in our area is 45 minutes away. If they have another call in the other direction, you can wait quite a long time. In fact, the time I waited over 3 hours, the driver told me he had another call before me in a town 5 minutes from another area dealership.

Again, I understand electrical problems can be tricky to track down, but from not test driving a vehicle after a repair to waiting a month for a pretty basic part, the whole experience was unsatisfactory.

From what I've been told, in Delaware the Lemon Law covers you for the first year a car is in service. This started at 18 months.

 

[XRDreamliner]

New Source of Parasitic Draw on Battery

Found this subject on this month's GM TechLink:

http://www.sandyblogs.com/techlink/2011/04/intermittent-battery-draw-dead-battery-or-hvac-odor.html

Intermittent Battery Draw, Dead Battery or HVAC Odor
By Blog Post on April 25, 2011 9:42 PM | No Comments
On some 2007-2010 OUTLOOK; 2008-2011 Enclave; 2009-2011 Traverse; and 2007-2011 Acadia, Silverado, Avalanche, Suburban, Tahoe, Sierra, Yukon, Yukon Denali, and Escalade models, an intermittent no crank condition may be found due to a dead battery.

A recent Engineering study has shown that the vehicles identified above could experience a dead battery as a result of the HVAC afterblow function being turned on at the dealership (refer to Service Information document 1865501).

The afterblow calibration may cause the blower motor to operate in a series of operating cycles which, over time, may cause the battery to drain. This is more likely to occur if the vehicle is not driven long enough between ignition cycles to maintain a sufficient battery state of charge.

Until further notice, it is recommended that the afterblow feature not be enabled, to prevent the potential of a dead battery. Also disable the afterblow feature if a vehicle has an intermittent dead battery condition that cannot be duplicated.

 

[2LT AWD]

This feature is on GM vehicles to remove moisture in the system and prevent a mold growing in the A/C core that is near the blower motor .

The traverse with the Tri-climate has a separate rear HAVC system with it's a separate fan, that a fan for the front and one for the rear.
When moisture is detected around the cooling core the afterblower is engaged on both fans ,I believe , to dry out the moisture in the system.
If you live in a humid part of the country this HVAC afterblow function well run times after the vehicle is shut down .
This can drain your battery over time .

I had GM techs clean out the mold smell in my 05 Malibu with an A/C mold cleaner product . I asked them to enable the afterblow feature to
prevent any more mold growth in around the cooling core.. It turns on after i have used the A/C system and also when the humidity in the air is very high.
This sounds will the same type of HAVC system in the Traverse

You can hook up a trickle charger to the battery post under the hood to maintain the battery charge and prevent a dead battery condition

 

[Delooking1968]

I'm glad I got rid of it then, because they never diagnosed that. The first 2 times I was told it wasn't driven enough (a couple of weeks between uses). The 3rd time it was the Body Control module (needed 2 shots to fix that). The 4th time it was the driver seat switch causing the draw. At that point, the battery was going dead after 3-4 days. Seems funny that moisture would build up during the heating cycle.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Delooking1968,

I have read your post about having to wait an extended period of time for a tow truck to come get your Traverse when you used GM Roadside. I appreciate your feedback and I completely understand your frustration with the situation.

I have also read your post that is #52. I apologize for my confusion. In this post you state that you are glad that you got rid of it… did you sell the Traverse?

Michelle P., Chevrolet Customer Service

 

[Delooking1968]

Just a quick follow up to this post to illustrate that something is wrong at GM. The part they found at fault on the last trip to the service dept was a seat switch that took almost a month to procure. For a car still in production. For a repair that had 2 different escalations on it from my post here and from the dealer themselves. Seemed like a long time to me. I replaced the Traverse with a 2002 Toyota Tacoma. I bought it knowing full and well there would be issues with a 9 year old vehicle w/ 77,000 miles on it. Anyway, the other day the check engine light comes on and I take it to an independent garage. It's a minor thing, bad valve in the vapor recovery system. The garage tells me that they're sorry, but I'll have to wait until the next day for the part to come in. The next day. For a part for a car that has been out of production for 6 years.

 

[GXPWeasel]

The next day. For a part for a car that has been out of production for 6 years.

I would say that most of this is due to the fact that the car is out of production, and therefore there is an aftermarket parts availability for it. I have found that most cars that are about 5-10 years old are much easier to find replacement parts for. This is due to the fact that there is a OEM parts availability, and Aftermarket.

Sad to hear that you got rid of your Traverse, but hope your Yotota does well for you.

 

[2LT AWD]

I have found the same with older vehicle , parts are easier to find . I had to wait two weeks to get a passenger mirror that i broke while backing up.
They don't warehouse any new parts because they only build enough to meet production demands , you can thank the Japanese for this .

 

[rbarrios]

I can go and buy an Alternator for my 1964 Chevy truck- and take it home right there---. its been out of production for 47 yrs.


like they said- aftermarket/OEM

The switch was probably made by Company A. Now being made by company B. and they had to order it from Company B.
Or it was made in Japan- and the Tsunami wiped out the parts producer.

Im surprissed you went from a Trav- back to a Tacoma. big change in seating capacity.

 

[Delooking1968]

I would have thought that if the repair was escalated twice that someone would have picked up the phone and grabbed a switch off the production line. But maybe that's because I was the one suffering with the car in the shop all of the time.

We only used the Traverse for road trips with the kids surfing competitions, so once they grew out of competing, we didn't really need it for that. I need a 4 wheel drive truck to make sure I can get to work in the winter, and something capable of towing a boat. All of my friends with Taco's rave about them, and I wasn't about to give GM another chance at this point. It's a shame, considering I've bought 3 cars from this dealership in 6 years or so, but I need a more reliable car. I wish I had just stuck with the FJ I had before the Traverse.

Looking back, I think it's funny that the Onstar would tell me that my tire pressure was low, but wouldn't e-mail me when the battery was going dead.

 

[chrisc5]

Intermittent Battery Draw

Some customers may comment on an intermittent battery draw concern. This applies only to vehicles with a navigation radio and rear park assist. The radio may stay powered up if the rear park assist alarm is going off when very close to an object (continuous chime) and the ignition key is turned off before the chime cycle completes. This happens due to a software anomaly in handling the chime. Even when the conditions are right, this is an intermittent concern, and is hard to duplicate.

Two different bulletins have been released to address this condition, depending on model and year.

PIT4770 applies to 2007-08 Acadia and Outlook U3R UZR and 2008 Enclave U3R UZR with navigation radio and rear park assist.

For these vehicles, engineering is aware of this concern and is working on a software fix. Information will be updated when a fix becomes available.

PIT4771A applies to 2009 Enclave, Lucerne, Traverse, Acadia and Outlook with navigation radio and rear park assist.

For these vehicles, reprogram the navigation radio with the latest calibrations in TIS. Under the operating system there is a calibration titled "New software to correct continuous chime and potential battery run-down condition".


I have a 09 Traverse with these exact symptoms. The first time it happened I replaced the battery. Been to the dealer for them to tell me nothing is wrong with the car. Today I copied this thread and took it to the dealer to have this update done and was told no such bulletin exists. Spoke with Chevrolet and they were no help either. Does anyone know where I can find more info about this software update? Car is great as long as you don't mind not knowing if the battery will be dead when you come outside to get in car. When it happens it can kill itself in as few as 8 hrs. Very frustrating