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This issue was posted earlier in a more condensed form.
I am updating it with further important information pertaining to the same issue.
Earlier Post ........ What happens if you remove fuse #24 ??
I just had a harrowing experience while parked at the Ocean for an hour eating my Organic Bag Lunch and enjoying the sites and smells.
Nothing was turned on.
Went to start and Nadda..... Dead battery. Just enough to give a click and some flashing dash lights.
I have a AC Delco Gold battery about 1 year old and no sign of any issues till then.
Luckily there was one other guy there just leaving and a flagged him down.
He sad I can give you a jump as I have cables.
I did not have to think about it, I just said thanks an pull your rig over here. Hooked them up and waited 5 minutes ... Started right up.
Drove 50 miles home and put the charger on it but it was already fully charged.
Called my local GM parts guy to see if he had a replacement AC Delco Gold battery in stock in case the battery failed a load test. He said No, they only make the Silver battery now but here is a tip on your problem.
His father in law tows a 2011 HHR behind the Motorhome and his battery went dead. He took the HHR into the Dealer and they found a draw from the OnStar when not using it.
Rather then repairing the thing he thought they just pulled the fuse and put it in the glove box. Told him to reinstall if he has to use the OnStar for an emergency.
I do not use the OnStar and I have a hunch that could be the "draw down" I experienced today.
Just wondering if pulling the fuse #24 will solve the draw down problem.
As I look back ... I purchased a New 1LT in 2011 and the OnStar went haywire at about the same mileage. The dealer said they had to pull the headliner so I told them to just forget the repair. No problems after that but I do not no for sure what they did..
I think GM may have had some production issues with the HHR OnStar during that time frame.
Anybody else with a 2011 have this problem ?????
Silverfox Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverfoxThink I might have solved the mystery.
No problem since but I have not yet had the Battery Load Test done.
The location where I parked was facing North.
I was a rather dark and gloomy day but no rain.
I had the auto shift in drive position so as to give me more room to get to my Coffee cup.
Had the ignition key set on ACC. because that's as far as it will go without put the shifter in Park.
Had the radio on for approx. 15 minutes and then turned it off.
Every thing else stayed off.
I have done this same thing 100's of times without any issue starting when ready to leave.
Here is what I think happen on this day.......
It was just dark enough to trigger the Auto Set headlights on.
Sitting in the car and it being daylight I did not realize they were triggered so I had the headlights/taillights on for approx. 45minutes or more.
That drained the battery.
I have tested my theory here at home by driving the car partway into the garage to see if it is plausible.
Sure enough that combo happens and I am sure that is what happened to me that day.
OnStar checked out OK as well.
It's a kind of trap if you do not know this can happen under the right conditions.
There should be a separate OFF position on the light switch beside the Auto off so you could by pass this issue.
Silverfox
Well ... Bite my tongue !!
This just happened again and it is a Sunny day......
It just blew my theory of Auto Lights coming on causing the problem.
To me it means that with nothing turned on, there is a draw down somewhere when the key is in the ACC position.
I decided to charge the run down battery when I got home after getting another Jump to see how long it took to bring it up to full charge.
I drove approx. 12 miles to my house.
It was close to fully charged when I put the charger on. My Automatic 10 amp charger has an Amp Meter so I can see what is going on.
I let it fully charge to zero and then decided to do a test with the motor off.
Motor off and Charger running and sitting @ zero I put the shift in park and turned the key to ACC without anything turned on.
Amp Meter immediately jumped to 5 Amps...... ******* This is the problem......
I then turned the key to Run and it jumped to 7 Amps.......
I then turned the key to Off with the key in, Zero Amps
I then took the key out .. Zero Amps
There is a 5 amp continuous draw Plus anything else you turn on or use.
In other words what the heck is going on .... This ACC position is for things like listening to your radio in every car I have owned. Why should there be a 5 amp additional draw in that position that leaves you vulnerable to a dead battery in fairly short order.
It makes me wonder about the tip I got from the beginning on the On Star possibility causing a problem.
What else could it be .... I have no other know related issues with my HHR that I can think of that would draw 5 amps.
My next test is to turn on the radio and see how much it draws.******** UPDATE TODAY ********Tested 2 more things..1. Pulled fuse #24 and it disabled the OnStar and the XM Radio Station to see if OnStar was the Draw. No...Still drawing 5 amps.2. Tested amp draw from the Radio...Approx. 1 amp. on top of the 5 amps.So ... I am out of things I can test at this point.Can anybody look at the wiring diagram of the 2011 Ignition Switch to see what all is attached to the ACC key position.Maybe that will give a clue as to what could be drawing the 5 amps with everything turned off.....That's the 5 amps that is causing dead batteries after only 45 minutes to an hour without the motor running. Faster if you have something else running as well.
This HHR has had the ignition switch replacement fix.
Silverfox
You do realize there are computers in the car like the BCM that goes into standby in ACC? We call that the 21st century. I guess you could pull the maxi fuse by the battery, that seems to be the power supply for the BCM.
The OnStar problem was that it was trying to "call home" when there was an antenna problem that prevented it from connecting.
There is only 1 wire from the key switch it goes to the BCM. There is a resistor in the switch to send the correct signal. ACC is the same as Run, if the sensors responsible for checking if the engine is running don't the things timeout; fuel pump etc.
In short anything that only works when the key is on goes through the BCM; brake lights, headlights, radio, interior lights,
Thanks for the info Don.
Looks like the only solution would be to run a dedicated wire from the Battery source to the radio with an in line fuse.
The radio should then still turn on/off thru the switch on the radio. Right?
SF
Silverfox, I was fighting a parasitic draw a year about 2 years ago, and one thing I noticed was that initially there would be a larger current draw for a minute or so (I can't remember the exact reading, but it was more than 2amps I believe), then it would drop down into the millamp range. Keep an eye out for that in case it is throwing your reasons off.
The way I understand the computer thinks the engine is running for the first few seconds then turns unneeded things off.
In my 2 HHRs I could listen to the radio in ACC for an hour or so, but after they got older even with new batteries it got down to 20 minutes or less. I never got scientific looking for it
That was with an inverter running, to your point the battery would last hours with the inverter running while parked, but only 15-20 minutes in ACC.
Some cars, the convenience outlet is only hot when ignition is ON but the HHR stays hot all the time - for charging iPods, etc. But what about the rear convenience outlet? Does it stay hot all the time? Could the 5a draw be coming from one of the outlets?
Whopper,
Because I am feeling defeated I will test that later today to see if it is happening.
I'm also concerned for many other HHR owners that might get a surprise in the boondocks one fine day.
I am thinking about upgrading the battery as well even if it does not solve the problem it might add a little more reserve time.
The owners manual says I can run the radio in the key off position for 10 minutes without the 5amp draw but you have to keep refreshing and if you open a door it cancels the 10 minutes.
Do you see any problem with my thought of running a separate dedicated fused line and using the radio off/on switch?
I could take it off of the front battery post with an inline fuse right near by.
Silverfox - yeah that would work ok. I never did find the source of my parasitic draw which killed the battery within 2-3 days. Every time I thought I had it nailed, it turned out to be something else. Keep us posted on how you address this if you can. Best of luck.
12-11-2018 | 10:12 PM
Think I might have solved the mystery.
