STOCK1SC

I've notice d a few times I go outside to the car and hit the key fob to unlock the car and nothing happens. I have to stick the key in the door and manually unlock it then it starts honking until I get in. Well a few days ago I go to get in and same thing the key fob doesn't work, use my keys and the horn doesn't go off this time, go to start the car and it's completely dead, not even a click from the starter or a single dash light came on. Had to call roadside assistance and they eventually got me jumped and I drove it around for about 30-40 minutes and then parked it for the day. Yesterday go to get in it and same thing, key fob doesn't work but the car did honk when I opened the door and it did start. Drove to the Chevy dealership and they can't find anything wrong with the battery or anything else. Any ideas? Could it possibly be my bluetooth on my cell is hitting the car form inside the house and draining the battery? Anybody else have this issue? I only have 1100 miles on it and it did sit on the dealer lot for 9 months, figured the battery had just lost a lot of charge over that time but delaership says it is fine.

revhigh18

try your extra fob?

STOCK1SC

Yeah it isn't the fob, they both work. That wouldn't have anythign to do with killing the battery.

njg5gt

any electrical modifications made? stereo system?

STOCK1SC

No not a thing, I just got it a month ago and have around 1100 miles on it. I've taken it on several 4 hour trips and no problems. Car is bone stock.

Is this car like the Corvettes back in 2005 where they had to park it in reverse or it would drain the battery? I leave it in 1st when I park it.

lightningfast5

Just an FYI.... If you have to use the key manually?

If you put the key in the lock and turn it to the lock positions first then unlock, the alarm wont go off.

SSlobalt

1)Battery has a dead cell. Hard to detect.
2)Water seeping in somewhere and getting on electrical components.

STOCK1SC

I think it's the battery personally. The car had sit 2 days and not driven when it was dead and with the key fob it is normally when it sits for more than a day and hasn't been driven very far when it was driven.

Stamina

That was a case of the ECM/PCM not shutting off and running the battery down. To my knowledge we don't have any setup like that on our cars... plus you would think GM would have learned from that, but I wouldn't put it past them. Keep in mind that the manual tells them to put it in reverse when shutting down (ours doesn't mention anything).

That's a very cool factoid. I'll have to try that out sometime. I was wondering about if there's any workaround like that if you used the fob to lock it.

I think it's interesting how it supposedly doesn't have enough juice to unlock the doors, yet has enough to light the lights and honk it's horn at you for a while. I had something like this happen to me a couple times where I couldn't lock or unlock the car with the fob (or do anything else on the fob for that matter). I waited for awhile, trying different buttons, and the BCM seemed to "wake up" suddenly and was back to normal without a hitch. Weird indeed. That's happened twice to me and showed no signs of battery discharge.

IMO either it's the BCM busy doing something at the time, something's wrong with the BCM/fob/receiver (maybe keep the other fob with you and try it too when it happens to eliminate that possibility... I know I've dropped mine a few times), or perhaps the ECM/BCM isn't shutting off on its own and is draining the battery over time.

dthomp2366

Does your mileage display when this happens? My battery terminal was loose on the negative side and I couldn't lock the doors right after driving. Manually opened the trunk and pressed it down some more and it was fine again.

Stamina

I was working on something else today and needed to check the battery connections, and it appears everything's connected just fine in my case at least.

dthomp2366

Yeah mine was still physically connected to the battery but it wasnt snug enough.