[ocautomotive]

Originally Posted by SSDan

Well, I finally broke down and took my car to the dealer with one month left on the basic warranty for the slow crank/no start issue. Up til now the car had never failed to start but at times the starter cranking was so slow I wasn't so sure it would start. This would happen on a fully warmed up engine after the second or third stop (like running errands, going to the bank- etc.)

Well low and behold the car finally did not start right there in the service bay when the service advisor went to start it and move it into the garage. So, I didn't have to convince them it was a problem.

The tech wheeled out the battery charger/tester they are required to use to prove a failed battery. It took an hour to get enough charge back in the battery to get the diagnostics to read. Unbelievably the battery passed the test! The tech said they could not warranty the battery unless the tester spit out a read out that said "failed". I said " you and I both know and witnessed tht the car failed to start". I said I had no desire to leave in a car that I couldn't trust would start. The solution they offered was to keep the car over night and they would force the battery to fail by turning on the lights and leaving them on until the battery was fully dead. That way "wink - wink" the battery would fail and then a replacement battery would be covered in full under warranty.

I left the car with them and drove away in a 2019 four door Silverado - what a big beast that is when you daily drive a Camaro! I picked the car up today with the new battery installed and the assurance that the problem was solved. I'm not so sure as I still suspect the problem also includes starter heat soak. The tech did not agree. He fully believes the problem was a faulty battery. It does crank faster now both cold and warm - so we'll see.

I had the same issue, tech said battery they replaced it and the issue came back. It turned out to be one of the main ground cables of the car was bad and had to be replaced

[ecko04]

Originally Posted by SSDan

Understood. This was not situation as normal. The tech had his ways to make enough systems stay on over night to force a failed battery as measured by the GM tester. The point is that until that silly battery tester (that GM insists the dealership use for battery warranty issues) printed out a reading on a slip of paper that said "failed" the dealership could not replace the battery under warranty.

Except your battery, most likely, isn’t the issue. You’ll get a new battery out of it, the car will go out of warranty, and the issue will reappear. It’s the starter, always has been. The dealership is grasping at straws by replacing the battery.


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[Umbriel]

Originally Posted by SavageSS

There are multiple reports that adding a good ground to the block resolves this issue.. This is my 16 2SS M6 mid day autocrossing.. https://photos.app.goo.gl/QybLJtccba38VGKX7 I'm going to try to run a new ground. Easy enough, will see if it works

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Adding a larger ground from the block to where?

[SSDan]

Originally Posted by ecko04

Except your battery, most likely, isn’t the issue. You’ll get a new battery out of it, the car will go out of warranty, and the issue will reappear. It’s the starter, always has been. The dealership is grasping at straws by replacing the battery.


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I agree. It seems a dealership visit for this problem is resolved on the first visit in one of four ways:

1. Could not duplicate the problem so everything is fine
2. faulty battery
3. faulty starter
4. bad ground

Of course number 1 is BS - we all know there is a problem. Number 2 seems to be treating the symptom and not the cause. So, the dealership just kicks the can down the road with a battery replacement. Its a mixed bag for 3 & 4. Some folks report that even with a new starter the problem comes back over time. I haven't heard one way or the other if the fourth solution stands up over time.

BTW - the attempt to put a heat shield wrap around the starter was a fail today. The factory shield covers not only the starter area but some wiring above the starter as well. There wasn't room for both the wrap and the shield. I chose to leave it alone for now as I didn't want to leave the factory shield off and then maybe melt some wiring. Ugh!