05 XLR battery went dead now car is crazy...

[silkywilson]

Ok, so im new to the XLR family.. My 05 XLR sat for about a month and evidently the battery went dead.. put a battery tender on it and it showed it wouldn't hold a charge so I got a new battery. I slapped it in today and here is whats going on

#1 Key fob does not work (new battery) doors will not open, truck will not lift, car will not start
#2 tried the fob reprogramming as listed online turning the trunk lock 5 times to get it into programming mode.. never get any notice on the DIC.
#3 Car alarm goes crazy when we open the door from the trunk emergency release cable.
#4 normally when we go to start the car and it doesn't read the fob the DIC shows "No Fob Found".. DIC shows nothing when sitting in the car with the fob and push starter will not start or go into accessory mode.
#5 Doors will not unlock via key fob or inside buttons on the door
#6 doors will not open from inside buttons on doors
#7 truck sounds like the latch unhooks but will not lift from the button on the dash (and nothing at all from the fob)
#8 interior lights and headlights work as normal.
#9 gear shift leaver will not come out of park

I am so frustrated.. Honestly I never expected this sort of issues from a GM product.. I did put a battery Jumper on it to try and get it started last week when I realized the battery was dead.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.. I'm flustered at this point and its hard to make sense of what works and what doesn't work.. trying to avoid the hefty tow price ( 40 miles to the nearest dealership) not to mention costly repairs.

Thank you in advance...

 

[Phil105]

????

Gonna be watching this one! I too am a new owner also in Georgia. Have read several posts about battery issues. Hope someone will offer you a solution soon. Good luck.

 

[silkywilson]

Thanks.. I have heard how sensitive they are to battery issues and was hoping everything would go back to being great with a new battery... no such luck.

 

[David_B]

Do you have 2 fobs? Try both? Try both in the cubby in the glove box?

If it's totally freaking out and the new battery has been charged up, disconnect it, put just it on the battery charger to be sure it's totally charged, then hook it back up after an hour (with the doors open so you can try re-programing both fobs if they still don't work).

Believe it or not, most problems with any computerized device can be fixed by another complete power down.​

 

[silkywilson]

car only came with 1 fob and 1 key (tried starting it with the key in the pocket nothing happened).. ill try and pull the battery terminals again.. and see if that helps.,. Battery is brand new off the shelf i have no way of testing it..

 

[lextoy]

silky.
i had similar issues when i installed my new battery.
it seems like the car doesnt want to wake up after battery install.
after 10 min of opening and closing door, putting fob into slot in glove box, in and out.
it finally started.
after that it never acted strange again.
i am not the only person who experienced this.

 

[lextoy]

can you get the driver side window to roll down? then you can pop the door with the emergency latch by the floor on the driver side.
i also had the DIC not showing the usual "no key detected" sign.
mine wouldnt wake up at all.
eventually with the key in the slot in the glove box, it woke up.
dont worry about all the other stuff , trunk lid etc.
concentrate on getting it started.
once you get that, everything else will come back to life.
as you now know, the XLR kills batteries when it sits. you have to get a battery tender, if its not a daily driver.
when i got mine last year the battery would be fine as long as i drove every day,
but it was a dead battery, if it sat for 3 days. no start.
i am sure the previous owner traded it in with a dead battery and the dealer put a surface charge and sold it to me.
i replaced my battery within a month. new battery with battery tender.
no problems since.

 

[silkywilson]

I have been getting in it the hard way. open the trunk, pull the door release in there and so on.. I guess I need to take some time and just fiddle with it with the fob in the slot.. I also realized there is an on/off switch above the slot in the glove box.. not sure what it does.. Tomorrow Ill give it a go with disconnecting the battery again (some where i read to touch the positive and negative battery cables together to clear and or reboot everything) while its unhooked.. so maybe give that a shot as well.. so much crazy electronic issues.. hard to pin down the problem..

 

[AL_Jazz]

I also realized there is an on/off switch above the slot in the glove box.. not sure what it does. ....some where i read to touch the positive and negative battery cables together to clear and or reboot everything) while its unhooked.. so maybe give that a shot as well.. so much crazy electronic issues.. hard to pin down the problem..

I can shed a little light on some of this. The on/off is the valet switch for the top to keep them from playing with it.

I know on Jeeps and other vehicles we DO touch the DISCONNECTED battery cables together to drain the last of the capacitors to reset everything. I have read on other Cadillac threads where CCC stated he is not a fan of doing that to our XLRs, and I am not going to argue with him about these cars.

Your issues have been shared by several on this forum previously, and it usually ends up either being a bad battery, a bad connection, or simply playing with every combination until all the functions mysteriously come back to life. Our XLRs have 30+ modules all working in harmony when all is good. You get a few of those thinking it's the end of the world (dead battery) and nothing seems to work correctly.

 

[ccclarke]

There are a couple of things that come to mind to address this issue.

I've replaced my XLR battery once before and there were no issues (other than having to index the windows.) The most probably cause in your case is the new battery itself or its connection to the car's electrical system. You mentioned you jumped the car last week. Did you allow sufficient time to charge the (bad) battery? If not, there's an off-chance you may have tried to start the car too soon and pulled a lot of initial current, damaging something, but that's a lower probability than the new battery/connections.

Obviously, the XLR is incredibly sensitive to battery voltage/current. Anytime an XLR has a psychotic break, it's almost always the battery at fault. Being new to this, you fell into one of the oldest XLR traps in the book: XLRs are hunter-gatherers, they don't do well sitting in a cave for any length of time. Before you buy cool logo mats or new car smell Christmas trees, do yourself a big favor, and purchase a Battery Tender or Battery Minder. If the car sits for more than two weeks, you want to have the battery connected to one, or you'll spend more time on this forum searching for answers than driving your car. That would be bad.

In the case of the Battery Tender, (my personal bestie) it has an inline, quick-disconnect that remains permanently attached to the battery. You can route it in such a way that if God forbid, the car battery discharges and you need to give it some electroshock therapy, you can hook up without having to go through all the pain of trying to access the interior of the vehicle to pop the hood.

You might want to overnight a Battery Tender to speed up the process; the indicators on the unit give you a rough approximation as to the charge status of the battery.


First, disconnect the battery. Place it on a charger for twelve hours. Re-connect the battery and try again. If it presents the same symptoms, disconnect the negative terminal and let it sit for thirty minutes. Report back with the results, if the problem persists after two or three tries (disconnects/re-connects.) Don't discount the possibility that your new battery is bad. It does happen. If in doubt, any good auto parts store can test it. There's a lot more to a battery than it reading 12 volts to verify it's proper operation.


On a related note, I replaced a bad battery this weekend. The car started fine, but I connected my Battery Tender and it took seven hours to get the welcome "Green Light" --which means the battery is now 100% charged.

With the battery voltage low, the module that senses the fob is going to disregard it. Like making sure the airway is clear on a trauma patient before anything else, battery voltage is the number one thing to ensure before you can hope to troubleshoot the XLR.

Keep those symptoms coming. One of the good people here will jump in with a solution.

CCC

 

[GM MUSL]

I have owned 3 XLR's now and a bad battery or a not fully charged one causes a lot of problems you would not normally associate with a bad battery. Two tips; First I only buy factory original type GM batteries after a dealer friend of mine recommended that. His experience selling 30+ Corvettes a year with non factory batteries caused him a lot of grief. Replacing with factory batteries with the same spec. reduced problems for sure. Second remote batteries must be fresh good quality name brand to give the best performance. Your problems are likely more than just a battery but starting off with the factory spec. battery is a better place to start when ever you need to replace them.

 

[xlrlist01]

Thanks.. I have heard how sensitive they are to battery issues and was hoping everything would go back to being great with a new battery... no such luck.

As many have already explained, the XLR is incredibly sensitive to battery condition. You need to get that new battery tested, it is not unknown for a new battery to have a dead cell. Your symptoms do match the "failed battery" cause. You should check the terminals are in good condition too.

 

[silkywilson]

this is the battery tender I have hooked up to it right now..

XM1-5 - Schumacher Electric

1.5A FULLY AUTOMATIC BATTERY MAINTAINER FOR MOTORCYCLE & CAR & MARINE BATTERIES • Microprocessor controlled ─ Multi-stage charging for added precision, safety and battery life. • Float mode monitoring ─ Automatically maintains optimum battery charge • Auto voltage detection ─ 6 or 12 volt • Quick-connect harness ─ attaches either connector into place in seconds • Reverse hook-up protection ─ Charger will not operate if clamps are reversed. • Contents: (1) Schumacher XM1-5 (1) battery clamp quick-connect (1) ring connector quick-connect (1) owner’s manual


When I went to the car today obviously nothing worked.. but now even the LED on the door didn't light up.. I went straight to the battery (Unhooked it from the car) and put this charger on it.. The charger didn't go straight to Green (Fully charged) so I am hoping its low enough to cause issues and with a good full charge it'll magically fix itself. Now its a waiting game..

 

[Phil105]

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

As many have already explained, the XLR is incredibly sensitive to battery condition. You need to get that new battery tested, it is not unknown for a new battery to have a dead cell. Your symptoms do match the "failed battery" cause. You should check the terminals are in good condition too.

Man oh man is the XLR INCREDIBLY SENSITIVE!! I was reading these posts all morning and decided I would go ahead and have a new battery put in my car when I went in to town for lunch. Called to make sure they had correct one - yep. All set.

Got ready to go into town - got in car and BAM!! WON'T START AND LOW VOLTAGE streaming across dash!!

Have had it on charger all afternoon and now ready to, hopefully, go in for new battery tomorrow. I sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come when I swap batteries tomorrow!

 

[Phil105]

SUCCESS

Man oh man is the XLR INCREDIBLY SENSITIVE!! I was reading these posts all morning and decided I would go ahead and have a new battery put in my car when I went in to town for lunch. Called to make sure they had correct one - yep. All set.

Got ready to go into town - got in car and BAM!! WON'T START AND LOW VOLTAGE streaming across dash!!

Have had it on charger all afternoon and now ready to, hopefully, go in for new battery tomorrow. I sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come when I swap batteries tomorrow!

Ok, got new battery installed this morning - all with no issues! and after reading this initial post - don't think I wasn't nervous!

 

[silkywilson]

Mine has been on the charger for about 20 hours now.. I am about to go fiddle with it to make it come back to life.. all fingers are crossed here

 

[Army Al]

silkywilson

pm

 

[Phil105]

just touch her gently!!

Mine has been on the charger for about 20 hours now.. I am about to go fiddle with it to make it come back to life.. all fingers are crossed here

Man I can sure relate to the uncertainty! Use those "silky" hands while you're fiddlin with it! Hope the trolls
go away.

P.S. - where are you in GA?

 

[GizmoQ]

this is the battery tender I have hooked up to it right now..

XM1-5 - Schumacher Electric

I have the Schumacher SE-1-12S and love it. It is installed beside the battery and my 120V AC plug is hidden but accessible without opening the car or hood. I went this route because I do my mods over the winter and there's no telling where the car may be - a shop here in town, FL, TX, CA; ijust depends on who is doing what where. Having the maintainer installed on the car just gives me piece of mind.

Just keep in mind, these "maintainers" are not designed to charge a dead battery. (I have a 6Amp charger for that).

 

[silkywilson]

OK brand new battery, 20+ hours on the charger just to make sure its topped off.. hook the battery back up and as before first thing horn is honking (im assuming alarm/imobilizer?).. go inside the car i push the start button makes a clicking noise behind the dash between the radio and glove box and a noise in the trunk area (i expect fuel pumps priming) but nothing... i get a red light on the start button on the lower left corner, and when i try for accessory mode i get the same noises from the dash and trunk area but nothing else.. power seats work, lights work, rear trunk latch works but will not lift under its own power.. i fiddled with it for a hour moving the fob in and out of the slot pushing buttons looking for some glimmer of hope.. with nothing.... can the alarm be cutting everything?