Hey guys, Have had my 06 ve omega for 4 months now, and have recently had weird warnings come up on the display like abs fault, contact dealer etc.. yesterday i was driving and visited a friend for a few mins when i got back in the car it would constantly go to contact dealer.. was confused so i thought id try start the car and it wouldnt start it would crank over very slowly.. I phoned holden and they where telling me about low voltage etc and im putting this issue down to my kicker sound system.. not sure?? anyone else had these problems and if so how did you get it fixed? oh and how do i find out what software my car has? Cheers
if the ignition voltage drops below a certain threshold (in most cars 10 volts) while cranking it over you can store false codes and it will set many lights on the dash like if one computer hasnt got enough voltage to turn on the others go where is that guy hes late and set codes new battery (likely) software update at holden for flat battery and an hour check over charging wiring at holden (quickest solution) if the car has only been doing it since you installed an amp etc check it turns off when car is off and that its wired in correctly
cheers, notso. i've had the amp + sub + front splits installed since february and its only just started doing these weird things now, i had them wired by a professional so i doubt that is the issue, i was thinking it was that which was draining the battery. i had battery world come out today to install a new battery and she is starting now, im just concerned with the codes it was coming up with. now when i turn the car on i let it do the start up and it comes up complete instead of contact dealer, but when i start it two codes come up first being stability assistance on and then ABS fault then they disappear and go to my speedo. does that mean everything is all good or do the ABS need to be checked out? I havent actually checked before if the Amp turns off when the car is off.. going to look now.. cheers
Fitting a larger capacity battery will only solve part of the issue. The alternator in the VE has a different charging characteristic to previous models. The charge rate to the battery is controlled by the cars ECU/BCM and will reduce the amount of charge (down to 12 volts) during times when the battery reaches "Full" (which is questionable) state while driving to save overal load on the engine and alternator. This is an aspect of their increased full economy figures. Under normal circumstances this is sufficent for normal operations. Earlier in the peice (2006 - early 2008) the VE has a number of issues with batteries going flat due to system software and the cars BCM and other modules either not going into sleep mode or staying on once the vehicle was locked. This was "largely" retified with the release of software updates. Most of the vehicels produced from MY09 series should have the latest update from factory. Its also another know fact that leaving you key in the ingnition will keep the system in an alive state thus drawing voltage from the battery potentially leading to either "Low Voltage" or flat battery problems. It is recommended that if you fit a larger capacity battery (which is what I did) you should have the charge rate or charactoristic should be changed. If you intend on running communications equipment or aftermarket sound systems which create an increased load on the battery, again a change in the charging behaviour. This can be achieved through the use of holdens tech2 and to set the charge rate to "Police Mode". This will maintain a higher charge rate (around 14.6volts) for a longer period. I had similar issues to you with my SSV and I run high powered communications equipment. The problem was fixed changing the mode over. The warning your getting are characteristic of low voltage on start up as mentioned above. If your vehicle is an earlier model VE I would definately call in the holden and see if there is an update to address that specific issue (low battery problem). If it has ask them to change the charge charatoristic to the police mode and retest. You may also need to have any DTC (diagnostic trouble codes) cleared is the system have suffered very low voltage for a period of time. Hope this helps. Cheers Phil
Hi HEXEM, Thanks for your post, I have changed battery today to a brand new century high performance battery. The guy said if i keep my car running while playing music it should be fine. I will look at getting the charactoristics changed to Police Mode as my equiptment does require alot of power, which is why i thought my last battery died but the guy said it was the stock standard battery from 06, which im suprised lasted this long. Is there any way I can see what software my car has? Again, thanks for your in depth reply, i now know what to approach holden with. Cheers Steve
the software updates are done over at holden they can see if there is new software available in just a couple of minutes...
My guess is that there is as it's an early 06, but if I am able to upgrade will I have to get a new fuel system or what not to cope with the new software? Cheers
Nope. The software update will be matched to your VIN. If there is any updates (and there have been a few over the years) it will load up the latest. When I mentioned MY09 I was just referrencing the date that most of the issues experianced in the earler models should have been sorted by then. You wont be getting a MY09 software update. Software for a MY09 can not be loaded into an earlier model VE (using holdens tech 2 anyway). All the specific update (Police Mode) will do is change the behavoiur of the alternator charge rate.
Hey HEXEM, i am new to this Forum Thanks Phil, I hope you comments are going to help me out. I have recently had an Alternator issue. This cused the battery to be completely drained. I bought a new battery - Top Brand I believe that also make Deep Cycle Batteries for marine and Off Road. Anyway they recommend a model that has 750 CCA rating. I also changed the Alternator (correct Part No: GM-92173960) 100 Amp rating. Then i realise that on start up the Voltage is all good at about 14.5V. After 3- 4 minutes, sometimes less, the Voltage drops to 13.1 V. I am using and ELM327 Scan Tool to see this happening. The Holden Dealer inspected the car and confirmed that the Voltage should be a steady 14.5 V as this insures that electronics and fuel injection etc have the voltage it needs. He claims there is NO FAULT CODES present on the Body Control Module (BCM).....After some discussion/s I felt they were trying to sell me another Alternator (I bought mine elsewher and it is brand new). They now claim that the Battery Rating (750 Amps CDCA) is too great for the BCM....What do you think? I get really annoyed at GMH with all it's ISSUES on BCM Software and Poor Assembly of wiring connections when they let the consumer test and pay for the faults that are 'built in'.
I'm running a century 650-700cca battery, on my voltmeter (extra pod gauges inside) at ignition on I have a reading of about 12.5v and multimeter reading of 12.65v, once started it will read between 12.5v approx. and 14.6v on gauge and slightly different on multimeter, when driving down the road it will constantly change depending on what's running and how charged the battery is, after say 20klm with aircon on it will settle to about 13.2v and if it is a long trip it has read about 12.75v and once stopped (visiting friends or going somewhere)the process will start again after the engine has started (drain battery) my scan tool shows the varying voltage (again dependant on what's running and state of battery charge) original battery lasted about 4-5 years (which is great-only expect 3 from a battery now a days)this one has been in for about 2 yrs. just giving you a fairly normal scenario. I do have a small 400watt amp for my 8" subs, you can fit a dual battery system to the car (as some police cars had) not sure how it was set up though.
