No charge to start the engine

[Amn_Bly]

I will attempt to explain this in the most detail that I can because it is the strangest thing I have heard of. I will start by saying my battery is one month old, and don't know why any of this is even happening to begin with.

I had my camaro parked over the weekend. Sunday, I was able to start, and run my camaro for an hour drive with no problems. I stopped to visit a friend for about 2 hours, I was able to unlock my camaro with the key fob, however when I opened the door I had no overhead light, I thought I may have hit the off switch for it, but my camaro had no power and wouldn't start. So I got a friend to give me a jump, It took 15/20 minutes to get enough of a charge to start the car. I also disabled my aftermarket kicker amp/sub, by removing the fuse and positive terminal off the battery. I was able to drive it to another friends house about 5 minutes away, after driving around for about 20 minutes to get some charge on the battery. However as soon as I pulled the key, it lost all power again.

So Monday morning we jumped it again, taking another 20 minutes to start it. But now it is acting strangely. Any addition electric load (windows, radio, HVAC, turn singles, brake lights, and anytime the engine was over 3000 rpm) my driver display would flash on and off, with what sounded like the engine if enough load was pulling through the system. Not just the light, the needles would be stuck in place until it got power again. This happened all the way home (a 2 hour drive). I will also note that my volt gauge, showed for about 30 minutes of the 2 hour drive it showed a volt reading of about 15/16 volts. Then died down to the normal 13/14 volt range so I thought anything strange was taken care of, but the problems listed above continued to happen. Got home, and once again, no power once I pulled the key.

This morning, I put a charger on it and was planning on taking it to my dealer to figure out what is going on. It took a house charger, and a jump pack to turn the engine over. Once it got started, it was fine or so I thought. It did not recognize my key this morning, but did say it had two keys programs(the car with a lock in it indicator showed up on my display) with the same problems as yesterday with any addition loading.

My dealership of course has no idea what is happening because it is bazaar to begin with. I will say I forgot my parking permit in my car and went back to get it. They informed me that they took it out on the road and the volt meter jumped around, until finally the car just shut down. They towed it back and it is getting a full overnight charge currently.

I have no idea what is going on, and wondering if anyone could shed some light on the problem so that I can get an idea of what to tell them so they are looking for the right problem. Anyone have any ideas? I have heard everything from a bad battery, to a bad alternator, to a short in the system but nothing definite yet.

[PIPE]

Tell them to put a new damn battery in it and try it then. Sometimes batterys just go bad prematurely. I would venture to say the battery will not take a full charge after youre description. Just as a FYI driving around will not fully charge a battery.

[Amn_Bly]

I was more so hoping not to see any problems with the system, which none showed up at first. My original thought is I got a bad battery, but friends and family thought otherwise.

[PIPE]

I believe there has been some cases similar to youres I might have seen awhile back. Do some research here on the site in the recall, TSB section. You might find something. I do know bad cells in a battery or even a bad battery will make a vehicle do some crazy things.

[Amn_Bly]

I read through several of the issues, some are similar, but nothing to the level of mine.

I originally thought it was my amp causing the problems. However, it has always worked well with the signal from the radio to turn it off. It would sometime take a second after the car was turned off but nothing crazy. I am more so thinking there is a grounding problem somewhere, or some wire getting damaged to cause this problem, and the sudden nature of the problem

[PIPE]

I believe there was a tsb about 2010's having a ground and or power wire issue.

[SC2150]

What voltage is the guahe showing when running? Shoud be mid to high 13 range.....

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Originally Posted by Amn_Bly

I will attempt to explain this in the most detail that I can because it is the strangest thing I have heard of. I will start by saying my battery is one month old, and don't know why any of this is even happening to begin with.

I had my camaro parked over the weekend. Sunday, I was able to start, and run my camaro for an hour drive with no problems. I stopped to visit a friend for about 2 hours, I was able to unlock my camaro with the key fob, however when I opened the door I had no overhead light, I thought I may have hit the off switch for it, but my camaro had no power and wouldn't start. So I got a friend to give me a jump, It took 15/20 minutes to get enough of a charge to start the car. I also disabled my aftermarket kicker amp/sub, by removing the fuse and positive terminal off the battery. I was able to drive it to another friends house about 5 minutes away, after driving around for about 20 minutes to get some charge on the battery. However as soon as I pulled the key, it lost all power again.

So Monday morning we jumped it again, taking another 20 minutes to start it. But now it is acting strangely. Any addition electric load (windows, radio, HVAC, turn singles, brake lights, and anytime the engine was over 3000 rpm) my driver display would flash on and off, with what sounded like the engine if enough load was pulling through the system. Not just the light, the needles would be stuck in place until it got power again. This happened all the way home (a 2 hour drive). I will also note that my volt gauge, showed for about 30 minutes of the 2 hour drive it showed a volt reading of about 15/16 volts. Then died down to the normal 13/14 volt range so I thought anything strange was taken care of, but the problems listed above continued to happen. Got home, and once again, no power once I pulled the key.

This morning, I put a charger on it and was planning on taking it to my dealer to figure out what is going on. It took a house charger, and a jump pack to turn the engine over. Once it got started, it was fine or so I thought. It did not recognize my key this morning, but did say it had two keys programs(the car with a lock in it indicator showed up on my display) with the same problems as yesterday with any addition loading.

My dealership of course has no idea what is happening because it is bazaar to begin with. I will say I forgot my parking permit in my car and went back to get it. They informed me that they took it out on the road and the volt meter jumped around, until finally the car just shut down. They towed it back and it is getting a full overnight charge currently.

I have no idea what is going on, and wondering if anyone could shed some light on the problem so that I can get an idea of what to tell them so they are looking for the right problem. Anyone have any ideas? I have heard everything from a bad battery, to a bad alternator, to a short in the system but nothing definite yet.

We certainly apologize for the frustrations. Please let us know how everything goes at the dealership. We are here if you have any questions at your convenience.

Brandon
Chevrolet Customer Service

[Amn_Bly]

My dealership got back to me today. The cable running from the battery to the engine compartment went bad. It was dropping something like 1-1.5 volts. They are ordering the part, 3-5 days delivery, plus install is a good penny. Just wondering if this was the same problem on the v8's or if it is something new.

[PIPE]

Thats good to here ya found the problem. I thought it would be something along those lines as stated. Glad its worked out

[CWI]

That was my first thoughts. Bad battery or shorted cable losing voltage. I've also heard of a computer acting up and having to just disconnect the battery overnight so everything will reset to default and everything would be good after that.