News: Battery Replacement

[Bakertech]

My battery had gone near death this past Winter and it took some time to get it charged and operational again. Twice in a period of 2 weeks recently, it was low voltage again. I had been having a problem with the car switching from Imperial to Metric.
I pressed the various dash buttons trying to find the setup for switching that back.

According to GM, batteries are specific for the XLR and one with additional CCA is not available.
After reading XLR Service Manual pages 795-802 in Volume 2 of 4 it was obvious that I needed a 12VDC supply prior to unhooking the battery. Too many settings could be lost.
There were several options but I chose to go to my local garage and hook up a connector to the OBD and plug it into his battery pack. Change out is simple and once the new battery was installed and a minute for the system to reboot or whatever it does, all was well.

$147 for replacement Delco. It bugs me that the label is upside down as you face it.
While in my garage last night I noticed that the 2 lights on the bottom of the mirror were illuminated. Hmmmmm. One of the buttons pressed when I was trying to get the Metric Speedo working turned them on.
I then checked my CB radio which is plugged in to the console receptacle. Radio was ON. I thought that outlet shut down when the engine was turned off.

No doubt I did not need a new battery, just some paying attention to detail.

For anyone who leaves accessories like phone chargers etc., plugged in the console outlet, be aware that it is always 'on', draining the battery over time.
The lights under the mirror are not noticeable in daylight hours if accidentally switched on.

Gord

 

[David_B]

Plug something with a light on into the 12v socket and leave it where you can see it from outside the car.

Leave the car for an hour, come back to it WITHOUT your keys, see if the light is off.

My outlet turns off automatically after less than half an hour.

I read that's what they do, I just wanted to verify it for myself, and this test did.

 

[Phrede]

Plug something with a light on into the 12v socket and leave it where you can see it from outside the car.

Leave the car for an hour, come back to it WITHOUT your keys, see if the light is off.

My outlet turns off automatically after less than half an hour.

I read that's what they do, I just wanted to verify it for myself, and this test did.

Agree, mine is the same

 

[Bakertech]

Cigarette lighter outlet

Plug something with a light on into the 12v socket and leave it where you can see it from outside the car.

Leave the car for an hour, come back to it WITHOUT your keys, see if the light is off.

My outlet turns off automatically after less than half an hour.

I read that's what they do, I just wanted to verify it for myself, and this test did.

GOOD ADVICE
I tried that and as you said, the outlet de-energizes after a short period of time. Since my car is usually under the car cover in the garage and since I have automatic lighting when I open the garage door, the mirror lights being on were not evident.
I tried with keys in my hand and it did not energize until I touched the door open button.

A combination of events led to the cover being off and the garage lights as well and that is when I noticed the lights On at bottom of inside rear-view mirror.
I tried the same test on my '09 Denali but the socket stayed energized even though it has Battery Run-down Protection that shuts everything else off after 20 minutes.
Thanks for the tip.

Regards
Gord.

 

[PAK XLR8]

Battery discharge - GM recall

This may not be related to your situation, but it is worth posting, just in case.

I was searching the GM Recall site to see if my car had the dreaded airbags installed. So far, nothing shows up about this, but they have two months to post all of the affected models. A recall did show up related to the ONSTAR Module/Vehicle Battery Discharged - GM program #N140648. They suggest taking your car to the dealer for a repair/replacement under this recall.

While my car is a 2009, I don't know how many other years are affected by this recall. The only way to find out is to get on the www.recalls.gm.com website and type in your VIN.

I don't have any problems with my battery going dead, but I don't want to find out later that this is something that I could get fixed, to eliminate one possibility in the future. The batteries in our cars are too small for all of the electronics anyway (probably due to lack of real estate), so anything we can do to keep them full of juice is a good thing.

Hope this helps someone!

GOOD ADVICE
I tried that and as you said, the outlet de-energizes after a short period of time. Since my car is usually under the car cover in the garage and since I have automatic lighting when I open the garage door, the mirror lights being on were not evident.
I tried with keys in my hand and it did not energize until I touched the door open button.

A combination of events led to the cover being off and the garage lights as well and that is when I noticed the lights On at bottom of inside rear-view mirror.
I tried the same test on my '09 Denali but the socket stayed energized even though it has Battery Run-down Protection that shuts everything else off after 20 minutes.
Thanks for the tip.

Regards
Gord.

 

[Bakertech]

Battery Replacement finale.

This may not be related to your situation, but it is worth posting, just in case.

I was searching the GM Recall site to see if my car had the dreaded airbags installed. So far, nothing shows up about this, but they have two months to post all of the affected models. A recall did show up related to the ONSTAR Module/Vehicle Battery Discharged - GM program #N140648. They suggest taking your car to the dealer for a repair/replacement under this recall.

While my car is a 2009, I don't know how many other years are affected by this recall. The only way to find out is to get on the www.recalls.gm.com website and type in your VIN.

I don't have any problems with my battery going dead, but I don't want to find out later that this is something that I could get fixed, to eliminate one possibility in the future. The batteries in our cars are too small for all of the electronics anyway (probably due to lack of real estate), so anything we can do to keep them full of juice is a good thing.

Hope this helps someone!

Well, I took the old Battery (likely the original) to a shop and the magic machine said "Battery needs Replacement"
I went to the GM site (thanks PAX) and was pleased to read that there were no present Recalls.
There is room for a larger battery but not much. None recommended.

Time to enjoy. Thanks for everyone's contributions.

Gord.