2024 BS Badlands -- Delivered with enhanced flooded battery

[Dude]

.. charged AGM battery to a 100% full charge. 3 days later it's down to 12.3 volts without driving

Did you happen to record the voltage when at the 100% full charge point?

Day 0: voltage? (100% full charge)
Day 3: 12.3V (if this AGM chart is accurate would be 70% charge)

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[wireman]

Did you happen to record the voltage when at the 100% full charge point?

Day 0: voltage? (100% full charge)
Day 3: 12.3V (if this AGM chart is accurate would be 70% charge)

Think it was about 13.1 but that was right after removing the charger.

 

[sajohnson]

Either something is severely wrong with the battery or there's a large parasitic draw. I haven't hardwired anything that isn't factory. The 12V "cigarette lighter" powerpoint below the radio turns off within 5-10 seconds of ignition off door open, but just to rule out a cause of any non-factory load, I've unplugged it. Putting the battery back on the charger.Called the dealership back and the first person who answered couldn't find any customers they've service for parasitic draw at their location. She told me she would circulate the issue with a more senior technician and have them give me a call back.

Bear in mind this test is this morning, 41 hours since charging it with a wall charger.

Car off, battery tester directly to the battery:

In car, accessory power on, engine off. It quickly declined from 11.6 to 11.3 volts. At 11.4 volts my radar detector spoke "low battery".

If the issue goes away with the accessory power unplugged, I at least have some control of it until I can work out when to get a fix (maybe a software update for whatever module controls the powerports). I am doubtful this is the case but it's the easiest thing to test, and if it is the case, my splitter has a physical on/off switch I can use when entering/exiting the vehicle.

If the issue does not go away... this is a bumper to bumper service issue.

Unless of course, the wonderful mice who kept nesting in my car have chewed on something to cause damage. I don't see any obvious nesting material, signs of mouse presence, or damage in the engine bay, but that does not mean that the mice could not have chewed on something that is in a difficult to see or impossible to see (without removing parts) area of the car...

My $18 aliexpress battery tester (convenient and pocketable) can test for voltage state of charge and a cranking test... but it does not do a load test. So off to Amazon I go to spend $21 on a different one (with a small LCD screen, no bluetooth) that will do an alternator test and an actual load test to see if it's the battery or not. I realize the dealer can run a load test, but for the price, convenient enough to just keep around home.

EDIT: Dealer tech tells me that 11.98V is basically 12V so that's "normal" which... contradicts every other resource I've ever seen. I'm probably just going to either battery load test it myself or go to an auto parts store to see if the load test fails.

Quote:

"Dealer tech tells me that 11.98V is basically 12V so that's "normal" which... contradicts every other resource I've ever seen."

Contradicts is right! 12V is NOT normal." That is a lie. If possible, a FLA or AGM battery should be kept FULLY CHARGED -- ~12.6 to 12.7V for FLA. Anything substantially less will cause sulfation over time and shorten the battery's useful life..

<Trying not to go off on a rant> That tech is either monumentally incompetent or (more likely) s/he is so steeped in the stealership's culture of fraud and deceit that they automatically spout bullshit like that. "Smoke coming from under the hood? Yeah they all do that..." The state AG should slap them with a huge lawsuit -- unless that truly was just raw ignorance -- perhaps not a tech at all, but just someone who was told to get rid of the pesky customer.

BTW -- dealerships are reluctant to replace batteries under warranty, and if they do, the replacement battery only has the remainder of the OE battery's warranty. The cause of the early failure remains, but you're on your own from then on.

Unless the owner doesn't mind paying for a new battery (and perhaps installation) every year or two, it's best to use a Battery Tender.

 

[rocks]

Long rides do not charge a battery near 100%. I've taken long drives and when I hook up my battery tender, the battery is less than 85%. It takes a while to get to 85% and then 100%.
This also applies to vehicles I've owned other than the BS. The BS seems to have more issues, though.

 

[cprcubed]

Just my opinion, but I should not have to put my vehicle on a tender or other device if it is going to sit idle for 2 weeks or not get charged sufficiently on trips. They should have designed the system to handle it, whether through better equipment and/or charging algorithms/strategies. I'm lucky in that I haven't had those issues to date (knock-on-wood). Cheers!

 

[BeauxZeaux]

No kidding! I could actually see the whole engine, even bits of ground when looking under the hood! When you shut that truck off, it was off. It didn't sit there and make noises for 15 minutes!

‘53 Chev I could stand between the engine and the front wheel and work on engine…course I weighed a LOT less in those days!

 

[RushMan]

Just my opinion, but I should not have to put my vehicle on a tender or other device if it is going to sit idle for 2 weeks or not get charged sufficiently on trips. They should have designed the system to handle it, whether through better equipment and/or charging algorithms/strategies. I'm lucky in that I haven't had those issues to date (knock-on-wood). Cheers!

Welcome to the 21st Century where cars are overly computerized, constantly checking multiple sensor and bus status and trying to connect to a wireless connection to update vehicle status.
It's a different world we live in.
I happen to agree with you though..

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