[Ailurus2SS]

Originally Posted by ctrlz

That U109 code for the fuel pump typically means a connection problem. Damaged connector or wiring. if you have real fuel issues, there are more serious codes for low pressure in the fuel rail, injectors, etc. Those typically lead to a flashing CEL and limp mode.
Taken with the other codes in this case, I think the U109 is a "confusion" issue.

Yea it's not fueling as far as I can tell, seems like random codes being thrown from lack of power to connect to everything. When I had the tow truck pick up the car, the battery was reading about 10V and we were able to put the car into the On position to put the car into neutral. After a 15 min drive to the mechanic when we went to get the car off the truck, the battery was completely dead. Couldn't even roll up the windows.

[Ailurus2SS]

Originally Posted by HDRDTD

Another idea is, check and make SURE all your ground connections are good and tight both at the battery end and the engine/chassis grounds.

A bad/flaky ground can cause electrical issues even if the battery is fine.

A new battery just 'might' be strong enough to hide a bad ground.

Just a thought.

I know where the grounds are in the trunk but where would I find the engine/chassis grounds?

[ember1205]

Have you put an actual voltmeter across the battery terminals? If that voltage isn't high enough to start, you're sunk right there.

You also definitely need to know how the battery holds under load. Just because the parts store put your battery on charge for 30 minutes and "said it's fine" doesn't mean that it is. In order to validate that the battery is actually "fine", you need to fully charge it and then put a load on it and validate that it holds voltage while supplying the high demand for power. AGM batteries can be charged on a "regular" charger, but shouldn't be left on that charger once the charge is complete unless the charger has the proper circuitry to ensure that it doesn't overcharge it. AGM batteries can not be tested on a standard tester - they need to be tested with the correct equipment...

My in-laws ran into a problem with their car a couple of months ago where the car had sat for WEEKS in colder weather. They finally went out after staying at home for so long... Stopped for gas, and the car wouldn't crank.

AAA came, jumped it, told them the battery needed to be replaced (car is 3.5 years old, Subaru). Battery not readily available, AAA said they would call when it came in.

A week later, it essentially happened again just as above. I wanted to do what I could to try and prove whether the battery was good or bad, so I brought over once of my Schneider charger/maintainers and connected it up. I was going to install the eyelet terminal right on the post connections. In the process of starting to loosen the negative terminal, I determined that the actual ground connection to the battery was loose. Tightened it, left the charger plugged in overnight, and not a single problem since.

Our 'analysis' is that a repair to the AC compressor last fall required the dealership to remove the battery and they never tightened correctly. The problem slowly got worse until the charging process wasn't working "good enough".

TL;DR - Electrical problems suck. Check everything that you can in terms of the basics (tight connections). Go over any work that has been done to the car, too, looking for possible loose or damaged connections in the areas where the work would have been done.

[TBAtilidk]

Originally Posted by Ailurus2SS

It's definitely not your battery, when I first had the issue my first guess was to replace the battery to no avail. First the start alone was replaced but the issue came back within a month. The second time they had a look they replaced the starter, starter solenoid, and the battery cable which fixed the problem permanently. Haven't had a slow crank since, knock on wood.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to move forward with replacing the starter as it's been an option I've been considering. I have a few questions if you don't mind me PM'ing you.

[RenegadeXR]

If the car is throwing multiple unrelated codes, I'd doubt those are all legitimate. If a car has a nearly dead battery, sensors won't get clean and instantaneous power delivery when you crank the car and the computer will assume various systems have failed when they don't send sensor data back in a certain amount of time. I've unfortunately seen that myself on multiple cars of various makes and models where I'd let the battery drain.

When you do put a freshly charged battery that's putting out a proper 12.5 VDC or higher into the car, do all the codes clear, or do any still remain?

So far, this is sounding like an alternator issue.

Originally Posted by ctrlz

You are basically driving around with your battery powering the fuel pump, injectors, and everything else electric.That probably gives you a 30 minute range at most, depending on fan, lights, and other electrics that are running.

I'm not so sure about that. It's definitely possible that it's still charging the battery but just not quickly enough. He said he can drive 100 miles and the car fails to crank after its been parked. Definitely not a total alternator failure, but it still likely needs to be swapped.

[Ailurus2SS]

Originally Posted by RenegadeXR

If the car is throwing multiple unrelated codes, I'd doubt those are all legitimate. If a car has a nearly dead battery, sensors won't get clean and instantaneous power delivery when you crank the car and the computer will assume various systems have failed when they don't send sensor data back in a certain amount of time. I've unfortunately seen that myself on multiple cars of various makes and models where I'd let the battery drain.

When you do put a freshly charged battery that's putting out a proper 12.5 VDC or higher into the car, do all the codes clear, or do any still remain?

So far, this is sounding like an alternator issue.



I'm not so sure about that. It's definitely possible that it's still charging the battery but just not quickly enough. He said he can drive 100 miles and the car fails to crank after its been parked. Definitely not a total alternator failure, but it still likely needs to be swapped.

When I replaced the battery last month all the codes were gone and the car felt like normal. This makes me believe the alternator wasn't broken but was on its way out by improperly maintaining the charge on the battery. This is probably why all my issues came back within a month.

My mechanic said the alternator was bad but what was weird was that he was able to get the car to turn over with a hand held battery charger but I couldn't with either my parents malibu or equinox hooked up to it, both 2018s.

[ctrlz]

Originally Posted by Ailurus2SS

My mechanic said the alternator was bad but what was weird was that he was able to get the car to turn over with a hand held battery charger but I couldn't with either my parents malibu or equinox hooked up to it, both 2018s.

It would be interesting to check your old alternator for an internal short. Basically hook up a voltmeter and check for resistance across + and -, then flip the leads. If there is continuity both ways there is a short.
These things can fail in weird ways, maybe even an intermittent short. So if it was shorted when you tried to jump, it didn't work because the short was drawing most of the current. Then maybe when your mechanic tried to jump it the short had opened up (these things can be heat dependent in failure) and was not fighting him, so the car turned over.
Alternators now have built in voltage regulators. If the alternator side goes bad it can then cook the regulator circuits.
Best not to rebuild alternators anymore unless you really know what you are doing. Replace the whole thing.

[Ailurus2SS]

I can't even update this post because my mechanic had to order the alternator thru my local dealer and each day the dealer calls me with a different excuse as to why it hasn't come in. And each day they say it'll come in 'tomorrow' but tomorrow never comes after a week already. This is why I hates dealerships ��

[MrChrisLS3]

Originally Posted by Ailurus2SS

I can't even update this post because my mechanic had to order the alternator thru my local dealer and each day the dealer calls me with a different excuse as to why it hasn't come in. And each day they say it'll come in 'tomorrow' but tomorrow never comes after a week already. This is why I hates dealerships ��

Yep, guys in parts at the dealership just look at he alternator sitting on the shelf every time you call and decide they would rather talk to you every day rather than make the money for it.

Hopefully your mechanic didn't get it in a week ago and has been "testing" it all week by taking his girl around town in your car? J/K

Supplies and parts are backed up. A lot of manufacturers were closed down for a while. It sucks, but it is what it is.

[Ailurus2SS]

Originally Posted by MrChrisLS3

Yep, guys in parts at the dealership just look at he alternator sitting on the shelf every time you call and decide they would rather talk to you every day rather than make the money for it.

Hopefully your mechanic didn't get it in a week ago and has been "testing" it all week by taking his girl around town in your car? J/K

Supplies and parts are backed up. A lot of manufacturers were closed down for a while. It sucks, but it is what it is.

Lmao my mechanic has nothing to do with Chevy. He has his own shop, he just had to get the part from the dealership. The dealership has been the one calling me everyday to apologize about the part not coming in.

[Deputy Dog]

Originally Posted by Ailurus2SS

My SCT device was the one reading 11.3V from the ignition voltage but the dash read about 12.5 V. It was the first mark that starts the gray area on the gauge. The one at the 10:00 position. Not sure which was more accurate for the actual battery capacity, the dash or the ignition voltage reading. I'm not sure what test they ran on the battery but they only ran it for about a minute.

I plan on getting the car on a flat bed and brought to one of my mechanics tomorrow to check the alternator.

When I had this same problem a month ago, the mechanic the car was brought to when it broke down put the battery that was in the car to charge for a couple hours and still wouldn't turn over but a new battery did the trick.

Now that new battery is having the same issue, could it be the aftermarket batteries? The first one was a duralast platinum (from AutoZone) and this current one, that replacement is an autocraft platinum (from advance auto parts). Both of them had the tag H6-AGM on them

Even if they were cheap batteries, a good jump from a good power source should start it. Does it turn over normally but just not fire?

[ctrlz]

Originally Posted by Ailurus2SS

I can't even update this post because my mechanic had to order the alternator thru my local dealer...

Some of these guys have one move, and one move only...
Using this thing called "the internet" I could probably have this alternator on my front porch tomorrow.

[Ailurus2SS]

Originally Posted by ctrlz

Some of these guys have one move, and one move only...
Using this thing called "the internet" I could probably have this alternator on my front porch tomorrow.

He ordered it thru them cuz they originally told him it would come the next day but what do you know, the dealer ****ed up like always

[HDRDTD]

Originally Posted by Ailurus2SS

Lmao my mechanic has nothing to do with Chevy. He has his own shop, he just had to get the part from the dealership. The dealership has been the one calling me everyday to apologize about the part not coming in.

You need to remember that often during this Covid-19 issue, not only is actually having an item in stock at the supplier an issue, but more importantly is the actual shipping process. It sometimes takes quite a bit longer to get an item from point A to point B than usual.

Not that long ago I ordered a t-shirt from a company just north of Detroit, and to get it to me just south of Detroit (a distance of about 15 miles), it took the USPS 14 days.!