H3 Jeez...my darling Gf's 06 H3 again...Lol!

[Happy Hummer]

She left to go to work about 7am this morning (me of course I did not need to be up til a lil bit later)(bye, bye sleep) well getting back to it...she knocks on door and says Sugar Baby wont start (ugh! again). I go out with my [FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important]DVM[/FONT] and the battery is reading 5.79V and I say WTF!
We had this problem back at the start of the New Year on Jan. 1st-2nd and this was a [FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important]brand [/FONT][FONT=inherit !important]new[/FONT][/FONT] battery from Farm-n-Fleet. They were great at the store and got it all replaced under warranty.
Fast forward and same exact symptoms 9-10 weeks later. We used a jump box got her started and then of course the luv'ly window on [FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important]driver [/FONT][FONT=inherit !important]side[/FONT][/FONT] wont work and the check engine lite.
Plugged in code reader and p1516......all ready looked this up and the code makes some sense. Her battery fell low enough that upon [FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important]start [/FONT][FONT=inherit !important]up[/FONT][/FONT] it must have dipped below 5.28V. Unless I'm missing something.
MAF & TB were both cleaned within the last 12 weeks.

What I'm confused about is that the H3 has run awesome these many weeks and then just out of the blue bang...

What would be the most logical course of action?
Is it possible the battery is of that low of quality?
Is it possible a parasitic drain? Where to begin looking?

Any thoughts?

She luv's her H3 so selling it ain't happen (yet)!

[FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important]Alternator[/FONT][/FONT] is putting out 14.57V. Disconnected Neg. cable and code cleared but windows not working.

Chris[/FONT]
:giggle:

 

[R-code17815]

Sounds like a cell inside just shorted out.

Probably some Cheapo Battery company.

IMO, get an Optima Blue top for her and call it a day.

There are battery complain threads on almost every automotive forum out there, alot of Garbage out there.

Some of your More Popular/Durable Battery Brands. (not a complete list or in any order)

Optima
Exide
Interstate
xs power
Ever Start from Wal-Mart (hard to belive but yes, I hear alot of good feedback)


No matter what, you need a battery so do a little research on better brands and it will probably be the end of your problem.

 

[4speedfunk]

The fact that you have repeated this problem, is actually helpful in troubleshooting it.

I find it very strange that the window doesn't work. Did this happen when you had the same battery issue back in January? If so...you might check the window switch and motor for sticking and/or a short. I could see where that might cause the battery drain. My dog actually caused one of my rear window switches to trip (from standing on the button). The switch would do nothing...and after I turned off the truck and re-started it...it worked again. I think there may be some sort of thermal breaker that resets or something. Whatever the case...a draining battery and non-working windows would most likely point to a problem with the window circuit.

The codes and check engine light could very well be the "effect" and not really the "cause" of your problems. Any time voltage drops that low...all bets are off on codes. The whole truck will go crazy, and start throwing codes all over the place. You'll waste a bunch of time and money replacing gizmos...when the real problem is simple (+) and (-). So, forget the codes for now. First things first...restore the voltage...clear the codes...and see what isn't working. You might try replacing the battery cables...they are known to be worthless, especially the early 06-07 models. Codes mean nothing unless you have a perfect charging system. I saw some earlier posts by you describing some codes at start-up that occurred when you parked outside on a cold night. This might very well be related to a battery problem (and not really anything to do with the code that appeared).

Electrical gremlins are so frustrating! Most of us naturally gravitate to the red wire...perhaps because it sparks and seems more important. But, my experience has taught me that more often than not...its the ground wire. Make sure you got a good, clean, tight, ground...at the frame, chassis, body, and battery. Its takes both red and black to make it work.

 

[alrock]

What he said, especially about codes being useless with a dead or recently dead battery, and grounds. Pull the door switch and/or door panel and inspect the wiring

 

[Happy Hummer]

Thanks Guys,


We replaced the battery connectors the same time we did the battery.
I'll take a look at the suggested areas.


She called 3 times this afternoon to let me know (I forgot to check cell) she took it in to get it diagnosed. They wrote on the report they checked it over and they believe it to be the ignition switch is mess'n up. Have not looked at right up as of yet myself.


Is this easy to replace? Where is the least expensive place to get it?


Chris

 

[08H3]

I can't tell you if it's causing your issues, but a bad ignition switch can cause all kinds of freaky electrical issues. I had a Grand Prix once that I thought was posessed. It ended up being the ignition switch. On that car, it was an easy replacement, but that's apples to oranges. I have no idea how easy it is to replace on an H3.

 

[alrock]

Another great suggestion, the H3 ignition switches have been known to fail and weird symptoms show up

 

[Happy Hummer]

Yes,
they actually stated ignition cylinder but wondering if that was interchangable with switch? Read right up when she got home. Is it true from searches ive done that BCM will need relearn to switch?
Chris

 

[Happy Hummer]

Slept little and got up pretty darn early to chase this problem down.


Lifted hood of H3 and promptly tested battery voltage after sitting since 10:30pm last nite at below freezing temps.... (12.59V)


Tested across pos. & neg. (removed from battery) ohm reading about 4.9-5.9 ohms fluctuating.


Checked amps with neg. battery cable connected and pos. battery cable held at distance from battery. 1.89A for brief period then drops to 70-80mA and fluctuates.


Cleaned post and cable end (+ - bat connectors)


It may be feasible that the switch/cylinder are slightly askew and this is causing problem.


Two tech's chased this problem together.


Chris

 

[Mr_Rich]

What confuses some people when "ignition switch" is mentioned is that they think it's in the key lock on the column. On all my other GM vehicles the ignition switch is on top of the steering column under the dash. It's actually easy to replace on my other GM vehicles. I haven't looked in my manual to see what it would take to replace the switch on an H3. It's probably packed tighter with wiring, etc. making it harder to get access to under the H3 dash.

 

[f5moab]

The lock cylinder is inside the "ignition module" or also know as the "theft deterrent module." You must remove the lock cylinder first, then the module.

 

[Mr_Rich]

On older GM's the ignition switch used to be on top of the steering column under the dash. The lock in the steering column was connected to a rod which ran on top of the steering column to the switch. They were fairly simple to replace. The late model trucks such as H3's look like it requires pulling the whole steering column to get to some of those electrical parts. It's a lot more complicated once I took a closer look at it.

 

[f5moab]

On most newer GM vehicles it is not a hard job. Trim covers come off in a few minutes, lock cylinder comes out fairly easy, and module comes out with a few screws. On some vehicles you might have to remove the air bag.

 

[Kyle]

i think a good fix to all the problems would be to get her a new hummer (for free) Heres what you do, take her out wheeling, find a steep drop off and tell her to park next to it and get out to look at the view, as soon as she does have two world champion weightlifters come out of the bushes and tip the car over down the side of the hill! Next you claim on insurance that you were peacefully driving on a calm dirt road that is very scenic and a freak accident occurred and the car fell off the side of the cliff due to unexplainable causes! :giggle:

(just trying to bring some humor to a dismal problem)

 

[SkinGripz]

Is it possible a parasitic drain? Where to begin looking?

Sorry, dont have anything to offer here, but you just reminded me of my ex.....

mike