Ve commodore series 1 LLT power draw

[Kerseristhesickest99]

Hi everyone,

My ve series 1 sv6 wagon has been having an issue where if the car is sitting for 1 to 2 days without being drivin it will start to lose a considerable amount of current and won't start or struggle like **** to start on cold. I've taken it to 2x auto eletricians and both have not been able to figure it out. However, the second sparkie told me that it could potentially be the starter motor being knackered. Does this sound about right? Has anyone had this kinda of problem with their VE?

 

[rambunctious]

Hi everyone,

My ve series 1 sv6 wagon has been having an issue where if the car is sitting for 1 to 2 days without being drivin it will start to lose a considerable amount of current and won't start or struggle like **** to start on cold. I've taken it to 2x auto eletricians and both have not been able to figure it out. However, the second sparkie told me that it could potentially be the starter motor being knackered. Does this sound about right? Has anyone had this kinda of problem with their VE?

How many k's has the starter been starting it ?
How old is the battery ?
I never thought I had a problem with the starter (kept looking at other things key remotes etc) until I replaced the starter then stripped the old one down and found it chock full of carbon.
Cleaned it out and sold it
Some years later I had a problem where the starter would not want to start the car so fitted a new battery (old one was 5-6 years old) and problem solved.

 

[Kerseristhesickest99]

How many k's has the starter been starting it ?
How old is the battery ?
I never thought I had a problem with the starter (kept looking at other things key remotes etc) until I replaced the starter then stripped the old one down and found it chock full of carbon.
Cleaned it out and sold it
Some years later I had a problem where the starter would not want to start the car so fitted a new battery (old one was 5-6 years old) and problem solved.

The battery is only a year and a half old i've had both sparkies load test it and both said that its in great shape. The wagon has done 236,000kms and this issue has been going on since about june last year. One of the things that make me think it could be the starter is when it struggles to start instead of just cranking but not going over (which would also sometimes happen when it first started happening), recently it would just click and click and click until eventually it would go over. But when it did go over again it would struggle a lot and also throw an esp fault on the dash. Would it be worth a gamble to replace the starter u reckon?

 

[lout]

if you drive it every day and it starts fine
that would suggest the starter is fine
i would be measuring battery voltage after a few hours and then again after a few days
should not be much difference

 

[Kerseristhesickest99]

if you drive it every day and it starts fine
that would suggest the starter is fine
i would be measuring battery voltage after a few hours and then again after a few days
should not be much difference

I kinda agree with what you are saying but last couple months I have been driving pretty much everyday and last weekend it started playing up so I'm not really sure what to think tbh. Are there any other reasons why a VE would be draining heaps of current? I've also heard from other threads that shot BCM's and other software issues in the VE's can cause this but I feel thats in extreme cases.

 

[rambunctious]

The battery is only a year and a half old i've had both sparkies load test it and both said that its in great shape. The wagon has done 236,000kms and this issue has been going on since about june last year. One of the things that make me think it could be the starter is when it struggles to start instead of just cranking but not going over (which would also sometimes happen when it first started happening), recently it would just click and click and click until eventually it would go over. But when it did go over again it would struggle a lot and also throw an esp fault on the dash. Would it be worth a gamble to replace the starter u reckon?

The starter is the cheapest option so I would be replacing it with a new one and clean the terminals and battery clamps while they are disconnected..
They are on ebay for around $85
The one I put in was $69 for a high torque but that purchase was some 8+ years ago.

 

[Kerseristhesickest99]

The starter is the cheapest option so I would be replacing it with a new one.
They are on ebay for around $85
The one I put in was $69 for a high torque but that purchase was some 8+ years ago.

That's kinda what i'm thinking tbh because even if its not the starter i'm not gonna be out of pocket by much so I feel its worth a go aye

 

[lout]

get an OEX brand starter if you decide to go that route
but i prefer to know what is wrong, before spending money
costs nothing to check your battery voltage after a day or so
most common problem on ve battery discharge is the door actuators not telling the bcm that the doors are locked

 

[J_D 2.0]

The battery is only a year and a half old i've had both sparkies load test it and both said that it’s in great shape. The wagon has done 236,000kms and this issue has been going on since about june last year. One of the things that make me think it could be the starter is when it struggles to start instead of just cranking but not going over (which would also sometimes happen when it first started happening), recently it would just click and click and click until eventually it would go over. But when it did go over again it would struggle a lot and also throw an esp fault on the dash. Would it be worth a gamble to replace the starter u reckon?

If the car has been driven every day then it’s probably the starter. I got about the same mileage out of the starter in my old SV6 before it went cactus.

No need to overthink these things, mine started clicking occasionally so I replaced the battery as it was a few years old, which didn’t fix it. Replaced the starter motor and it was all good.

 

[Kerseristhesickest99]

get an OEX brand starter if you decide to go that route
but i prefer to know what is wrong, before spending money
costs nothing to check your battery voltage after a day or so
most common problem on ve battery discharge is the door actuators not telling the bcm that the doors are locked

Well I did get my drivers door lock actuator replaced in December 2022 cuz it wasn't closing properly (door would bounce back when I tried to close it). The wreckers replaced it with a ve series 2 mechanism and it's been sweet since. What causes the actuators to not tell the BCM that the doors are locked if you don't mind me asking?