Petrol Fuel age concerns - Not driving my SS as much...

[kleanphil]

Now thats a WTF story. I cant beleive you salvaged the >$100 of fuel

The initial plan was to salvage the whole vehicle and get it going again , we suspected the tank would be full of water so the first thing was to drain it . There was only a small amount of water in the fuel , and unfortunately the rest of the car was unsalvageable . He had only just got it when he lost it and was still paying it off when it was found

 

[Voodoo_SV6]

My HSV is usually garaged with 1/4 tank of fuel in it for the once/twice a month drive. When I take it out, I put in 10-30 litres, (whatever I feel I will use on that drive) and then pack it away again with 1/4 tank. Last weekend, it went away with the low fuel light on. It's out again this weekend and I will fill it up with fresh fuel as it's going in for some engine mods and I want as much fresh as possible.

 

[Skylarking]

Fuel is just one (minor?) issue for infrequently driven vehicles as battery preservation is also an area of concern.

Obviously one can place the battery on a quality trickle chanrge but does anyone use "transport mode" to conserve their battery? Supposedly transport mode reduces electrical load when the vehicle is parked thus extending battery stand time. Seems that after 24hrs of being in transport mode with vehicle off, the keyless entry system will no longer work until transport mode is turned off. This would reuire the physical key to enter the vehicle thus making ones car safer from key relay thefts.

Seems easy to do according to GM service bulletin 11-08-49-001W but i've not tried it myself.

To turn on/off transport mode,
- start vehicle
- activate hazard flashers
- press brake pedal (auto) or clutch pedal (manual)
- press and hold start button or turn key to start for 15 seconds

When turning off transport mode on Chevy SS, the "service front camera" message may appear in the DIC, no codes are set and should appear only one time. Cycle ignition to clear. No diagnotsics or repair are required.

Thoughts?

 

[abuch47]

Fuel is just one (minor?) issue for infrequently driven vehicles as battery preservation is also an area of concern.

Obviously one can place the battery on a quality trickle chanrge but does anyone use "transport mode" to conserve their battery? Supposedly transport mode reduces electrical load when the vehicle is parked thus extending battery stand time. Seems that after 24hrs of being in transport mode with vehicle off, the keyless entry system will no longer work until transport mode is turned off. This would reuire the physical key to enter the vehicle thus making ones car safer from key relay thefts.

Seems easy to do according to GM service bulletin 11-08-49-001W but i've not tried it myself.

To turn on/off transport mode,
- start vehicle
- activate hazard flashers
- press brake pedal (auto) or clutch pedal (manual)
- press and hold start button or turn key to start for 15 seconds

When turning off transport mode on Chevy SS, the "service front camera" message may appear in the DIC, no codes are set and should appear only one time. Cycle ignition to clear. No diagnotsics or repair are required.

Thoughts?

too hard rather buy a new battery

 

[Skylarking]

too hard rather buy a new battery

Haha, you're a prefect new car customer

 

[Mattricho]

The mistress just turned 4 yesterday and is lucky to get driven on the weekend.
my tank is always empty when I get home (fuel light on) left sit for 2-3 weeks and I have never had a problem with my battery

 

[Anthony121]

Fuel is just one (minor?) issue for infrequently driven vehicles as battery preservation is also an area of concern.

Obviously one can place the battery on a quality trickle chanrge but does anyone use "transport mode" to conserve their battery? Supposedly transport mode reduces electrical load when the vehicle is parked thus extending battery stand time. Seems that after 24hrs of being in transport mode with vehicle off, the keyless entry system will no longer work until transport mode is turned off. This would reuire the physical key to enter the vehicle thus making ones car safer from key relay thefts.

Seems easy to do according to GM service bulletin 11-08-49-001W but i've not tried it myself.

To turn on/off transport mode,
- start vehicle
- activate hazard flashers
- press brake pedal (auto) or clutch pedal (manual)
- press and hold start button or turn key to start for 15 seconds

When turning off transport mode on Chevy SS, the "service front camera" message may appear in the DIC, no codes are set and should appear only one time. Cycle ignition to clear. No diagnotsics or repair are required.

Thoughts?

Transport mode only allows for when the vehicle is running eg: short trips off trucks and yards. It was probably set up for the export vehicles being moved many times before they got to their final destination. Most systems turn off after 10 minutes anyway. More of a pain to activate it and switch it off when you want ot use your vehicle.

 

[figjam]

I don't know what is the correct recommendation, but like others on here, a certain car does not get much use.
The fuel tank is kept about half full, and the amount of 98 that goes in after a drive is the amount shown on the trip computer as 'fuel used'.
The battery is kept on a float charger.
No problems encountered. Yet.

 

[Voodoo_SV6]

I bought my CTek 0.8a charger for around $60 and it spends one week on the Clubby and the next week on the EH. The clubbies battery is now 7 years old (OEM unit). Never had an issue starting either yet.

 

[Skylarking]

Transport mode only allows for when the vehicle is running eg: short trips off trucks and yards. It was probably set up for the export vehicles being moved many times before they got to their final destination. Most systems turn off after 10 minutes anyway. More of a pain to activate it and switch it off when you want ot use your vehicle.

From GM's service bulletin, "transport mode reduces electrical load when the vehicle is parked thus extending battery stand time". So it obviously does more than a car with the mode turned OFF, otherwise there seems no point to have coded such a feature

Also the GM service bulleting also states "a customer may want to use the mode if the vehicle is going to be stored" so it's not like it only has one use

As for it being a pain to activate, nah not really, its a simple process but like most here, i personally find it simpler to just connect a trickle charger as it would have to be done at some stage if it's sitting for an extended period (regardles of transport mode being ON).

Oddly, Holden recommends the battery be disconnected from the vehicle when charging but trickle charges are somewhat different i'd think. Would have been nice for Holden to have clarified trickle charge usage.

Guess the only problem that could occur with a trickle charger is if there was a power surge within your area and it transfered through the charge and toasted your vehicle electrics and other home devices. I know one person who suffered a power surge and in his case the power company was at fault so they paid up for the damaged home devices (computer, playstation, router, TV and i think his fridge coped it) but he wasn't a car guy so no trickle charger connected to his drive.

Also good to hear that many have had no issues with their trickle chargers over the meadium term.