Battery and ESP/ABS Errors on startup

[Supe]

Hi guys,

I've been having problems with my VE Calais (V8 Auto 2006) pretty much since I got it, and my local dealership at Orange don't seem to be able to solve it.

Basically, long story short, the car appears to be drawing more power from the battery than it charges back into it. After a few short trips, or cold winter morning/night time starts it will get errors upon starting the engine. Like the ESP and ABS will bring up error icons in the screen, the ESP will need to be turned off then back on again to work.

Holden have really been pretty poor on this one, their fix is to charge my battery at every oil change, but within a week it's almost flat again.

Holden told me the tech2 had low voltage alarms logged.

Any ideas any one, I've heard there is a tech release on this issue but can't get my locals to do anything other than effectively pee in my pocket.

Thanks

 

[andyman]

have they replaced the battery yet, it may have a dud cell and slowly discharging

 

[Supe]

Well no, they seem to not want to do anything that involves warranty parts. It's as if the cost is coming out of their own pockets!

 

[andyman]

Well no, they seem to not want to do anything that involves warranty parts. It's as if the cost is coming out of their own pockets!

well to a point they could, when holden replace a part it is sent back to the manufacter, if the part is found to be in good working order holden charge back the dealer, thats why its hard for them replace stuff

 

[Supe]

well to a point they could, when holden replace a part it is sent back to the manufacter, if the part is found to be in good working order holden charge back the dealer, thats why its hard for them replace stuff

Yeah I know what you mean, it's just frustrating after spending so much on a car to have to treat the thing like a "work in progress" if you know what I mean.

 

[KITTAU]

My Calais had the same sort of issue and I was also getting the check engine warning on startup. They replaced my BCM Module and it sorted out good. Apparently the old BCM was telling some systems to run even when the car was off and not driven. This lowered the charge rate and warnings would appear when the car was started as the other systems were drained of power. See if they can try that... Have them speak to Heartland Holden at Blacktown in Sydney and they will be able to tell em what to do...

Cheers
Tim

 

[Supe]

Thanks, I'll mention that too them.
Sounds exactly like what mine is doing.

Fingers crossed they might do that and fix it finally.

I have to get it fixed before winter because with the cold starts it gets really bad!

 

[VZTHUNDER]

if i were u as a temp fix id invest in a battery charger. it might come in handy whilst ur trying to get ur dealership to fix it properly

 

[Jaydub]

I've seen these alarms pop up on my SS from time to time.
The explaination i was given is due to some regulation on how much charge the battery receives under normal driving conditions. Which is not as much as the battery would like.

The solution given to me was...
make sure the vehicle is taken for a good long drive somewhere so the battery can get a full charge.
lucky for me that isn't a problem, given that my family live 400km's away.
when i take a trip to see them and back again, i noticed i don't get these annoying little alarms on start up.

when i start to get them again...its a reminder for me that i need to go see the family !!!!

 

[Supe]

I find myself doing the same thing, taking the car the long way round to make sure it doesn't have too many short trips which might strain the battery, but honestly it's just a pain and shouldn't be that way.

This is going to sound terrible, but I'd drive 400km in the other direction so I didn't have to spend time with my relatives..