If our HHR's can't take a perod of time with no current flowing in, we have big problems with these cars. Every car I have ever owned, can have the battery changed without harming any of the electronics.

 

Did I read this right??? Big problems? What big problems? What harm are you talking about?

If resetting the clock is a major issue for you ........ Wow!!

 

could use one of these: http://www.vat19.com/dvds/auto-jumpe...out-cables.cfm

 

It was a rhetorical question, there are threads that talk about all kinds of things that stop functioning when the battery goes dead, and is subsequently replaced. I'm saying there should be nothing more serious than having to reset the clock, and perhaps the radio pre-sets, but all the remote functions, and computer functions should remain functional, which I believe they do.

Setting the clock, and radio pre-sets is not a major issue. Somehow you apparently missed my sarcasm, which was the intent of that post, sorry about that.

 

Ahhh ok I got :). Phew, ya had me worried for a bit there.

I know there have been a few problems (actually I'd call them symptoms) crop up, which seem to be generated by a low battery that is on the verge of dying. And that seems to be the norm with a lot of vehicles as they have become more dependent on computer based controls.

Ahhh for the good old days of changing points and condenser and setting the dwell and timing every six months or so!! Things were so much better then - getting 20,000 miles out of tires was fantastic - paint that faded or turned chalky after 3 years in the sun. We sure do got it rough now. (sarcasm again).

 

Why ? I've never had any issues..

& it is just to avoid possibly having to re-set my stereo pre-sets & clock. Which is not a big deal, just an annoyance.

 

Had the battery in my 2007 load tested yesterday. It checked out just ok, not great. Because we are going to be towing the HHR behind our motorhome on a long trip next month, I replaced the battery. Original was 4.5 years old, so I don't feel too bad about dumping it. If it were not for the trip I would have pushed it a little more, just don't want battery problems on the road. The battery shop has a device he plugged into the ??? under the dash, which kept power to everything while I changed out the battery. It went in without a problem, vent is connected, and obviousely because we kept power up, nothing had to be reset. Just didn't know how available an exact fit battery is on the road!

 

As already mentioned, applying the 10 AMP charger with no battery is a very bad idea. The battery acts as a ballast. I've had funky chargers that with no load put out a 50 V AC "ripple" on top of maybe 15 - 20 V DC. Inserting a second battery is a better idea, but from other replies, is probably not necessary.

The reason chargers, even some pretty funky ones, don't usually cause problems, is the ballast effect of the battery.

 

When I changed mine, I used a borrowed device from the battery shop, that plugged into the computer interface under the dash. It kept power to everything, whiile I changed the battery, didn't even have to reset the radio stations. This was in my 2007, and it was a pre-emptive change, since we were on the road for two months in our motorhome, with the HHR towed right behind it.

 

You can accomplish the same thing by using a device I have which consists of a 9 volt battery and an adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter receptacle.