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Battery issue

SonOfPower

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So I own a 2007 Holden VE V8 Calais and the battery is always needing to be jumped every 2 days. I went and see someone to diagnose the car and the bloke said something about the cars having two alarms and it draws power from the battery. He did something to make it not draw power but it still needs to be jump started. Any ideas what this could be and I did read there was a recall for this issue but is there any way to check to see if the car was recalled.
 

Martbar

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So I own a 2007 Holden VE V8 Calais and the battery is always needing to be jumped every 2 days. I went and see someone to diagnose the car and the bloke said something about the cars having two alarms and it draws power from the battery. He did something to make it not draw power but it still needs to be jump started. Any ideas what this could be and I did read there was a recall for this issue but is there any way to check to see if the car was recalled.
Hey mate, you don't say how old the battery is and whether you've had it load tested. It would be good to know the C.C.A. (cold cranking amps) of your battery.
Also you should find out what the "bloke" did to your alarm. It would be helpful to get your alternator and starter motor checked as well.
You might have a look at Similar Threads VE Battery issues at the bottom of this page. Mate there's an exceptionally high level of knowledge on this Forum, but you must give them as much relevant information as possible. Good luck
 

SonOfPower

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I've put a new battery in it and it still drains the power, an auto electrician had a look and he just said that something to do with having two alarms in the calais. He did just unplug the boot globe and said its running .4 of an ohm and should be fine. Two days later still needed to jump start it
 

lmoengnr

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I've put a new battery in it and it still drains the power, an auto electrician had a look and he just said that something to do with having two alarms in the calais. He did just unplug the boot globe and said its running .4 of an ohm and should be fine. Two days later still needed to jump start it
Try a better auto electrician...
 

Skylarking

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VE smart alternator doesn’t work the same was as old dumb alternators so the auto elec needs to be aware of that when checking these vehicles. These smart alternators are controlled by the BCM which measures battery state of charge level among other things and it decides how much charge the alternator should throw into the battery. IIRC there was some service bulletin which updated the BCM firmware(?) to adjust the charge algorithm but I’m not across the details.

A dealer service tech can check that the latest software is loaded to all modules, for a fee.

I’d assume the auto elec did a battery load test and checked the (smart) alternator charges the battery correctly. If so and all was well, then you’d have a parasitic drain issue which is sucking the life from your battery. Parasitic drain issue can be as simple as a door switch not working so the vehicle system doesn’t go to sleep or it can be complex and time consuming to find what device is causing it.

In any case, IIRC, VE came standard with a basic alarm though some dealers fitted an upgrade… the alarm upgrade was possibly done with poor wiring standards, etc… It may be this dealer option that is now faulty but a good auto elect would have found the exact cause and resolved it (or clearly identified and isolated the faulty circuit).

I’d have another chat with the auto elec and clarify exactly what the problem is and what needs to be done to correct it, whether the alarm upgrade module (or whatever) acan be removed and the system reverted to the standard factory alarm, etc.

If he can’t oblige with some clear details, you may need to go another auto elec or a dealer (unless you’re good at automotive electrical issues and fault finding, then DIY)…
 

Pollushon

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Are you daily driving the car? It's going to be one of two issues. Faulty or crap battery, which isn't impossible twice, just improbable..... or your alternator circuit isn't up the task of running accessories and keeping the battery topped up. A free load test at battery world should answer the question

Parasitic drain shouldn't bother a healthy 50+ ah system in a couple of days
 

LS2

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I have recently purchased a trickle charger after buying a new battery, the battery likes to be charged frequently to get to 98%....

I suggest buying a charger and when you get home from work switch off car and hold enter button on steering wheel, then turn ignition to start and this will put the display into "Engineering mode, scroll down to Battery charge and if its below 80% throw the charge on it and leave it over night...i got a " Projecta Pro-Charge 12V 2-8 Amp Battery Charger for mine because its a Calais V V8 and the battery is different to V6, Its piece of mind aswell in the morning when you need it to start for work...

Hope this helps
 

losh1971

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I have recently purchased a trickle charger after buying a new battery, the battery likes to be charged frequently to get to 98%....

I suggest buying a charger and when you get home from work switch off car and hold enter button on steering wheel, then turn ignition to start and this will put the display into "Engineering mode, scroll down to Battery charge and if its below 80% throw the charge on it and leave it over night...i got a " Projecta Pro-Charge 12V 2-8 Amp Battery Charger for mine because its a Calais V V8 and the battery is different to V6, Its piece of mind aswell in the morning when you need it to start for work...

Hope this helps
Thanks, I'd heard of this Engineering Mode but never knew how, now I do. That's one to file way.
 
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