A little venting, some advice is good but I more just had to talk/write about this. Sorry it’s long. It’s aggravating me as all get out.

Weird issue going on. I replaced my HHR’s alternator in summer. I was getting a Check Charging System message and I did hear the bearing on it whining. All was good until a couple of weeks ago. Got a battery light and Check Charging System message. A few minutes later it went away.

I took it to my trusted shop (actually my dad did for me) to have the alternator load tested. They said every checked out fine. I forgot to ask about battery voltage. The battery is 2 years old BTW. Drove it a couple of days later and got battery light and Check Charging System message again along with a Low Battery Mode message. All cleared up in a few minutes.

Now this all happened in single digit weather, so I’ve been driving my truck to work. Today it’s in the 30s so I drove the HHR. After 10 minutes I got a Power Steering message, which cleared after a few seconds. A few more seconds then got battery light and Check Charging System again. No low battery mode. Cleared up on it's own after a few minutes and did not come back for the rest of my ride, about another 20 minutes.

I really hate troubleshooting this stuff in the winter. It’s cold, even with a torpedo heater in the garage. And we’re getting snow every day so everything is wet and sloppy. But of course this type of thing really only exhibits itself in cold and crappy weather.

Time is not my friend so I have not had any time to actually look at anything myself. This whole thing is starting to smack of a bad battery, perhaps a bad cell. I need to check the voltage myself which won’t happen until this Sat. I also need to check the cables at the battery. I’ve had loose cables more than once. But usually that will cause intermittent starting failures. Beyond that I’m not really sure where to look next.

Thanks for reading through all that.

 

Sounds like the main wire from the battery to the fuse box that continues to the starter then the alternator. Or a bad battery.

 

Battery is suspect number one.

Second: Checking wiring, especially ground points... They (ground points) quite often get buggered up when temperature fluctuate.

 

A ground wouldn't surprise me but I'm leaning toward the battery too. I'll know more on Saturday. I hope...

 

We’ll wait for your test results, Saturday

 

As I suspected it's the battery, 12.2 volts. Now I just have to find time to go get one...

Again, thanks for letting me vent.

 

Speaking of that, get a new vent tube , the old one is most likely cracked or will crack when you change the battery.
And do not let the positive cable touch to ground , it could toast your radio!

 

Thanks. Yes, I'm aware of that. The current battery is a Napa battery and I was surprised it actually came with the vent tube. Most others do not. I'm looking at one from Auto Zone.