Help!! Everything just died

[Master8ter]

Leaving work I went out to the car and turned the key to start it and "click", the whole thing just died. I mean all the lights shut off, key would not come out of the cylinder, not headlights, no dash lights, it's as if I removed the battery from the trunk.

I had a coworker come out and connected jumper cables to it and everything powered back up normally. The car was like nothing happened. I didn't even loose memory on the radio or clock. I grabbed a volt meter and the battery read 12.5 (not running) at the battery and at the post under the hood. I had my coworker hold the meter while I started it and he said it dropped to 10.5 during starting, then quickly ran up to 14v while running - all which is normal so I don't think this is a battery issue. I checked the terminals at the battery and everthing is very tight, still connected as it came the day I bought it.

Any ideas on the problem before I take it to the dealer would be helpful. I've never had a car do something like this. I'm hoping it's not a computer issue.

[SRG963]

Weird...so the key was locked in until the jumper cables were attached? Sounds like a alternator or battery problem. Monitor the charge in engineering mode.

[jnak]

There were some G8s that were shipped with loose battery cables. Did you check to make sure they were all tight?

[GRRRR8]

Check cables at the battery, the drivers fender and the fusebox on the passenger fender.

[KEV-O]

There were some G8s that were shipped with loose battery cables. Did you check to make sure they were all tight?

I checked the terminals at the battery and everthing is very tight, still connected as it came the day I bought it.


:)

[Master8ter]

I didn't see anything on the driver fender other than the jump connections, but those seemed really tight. The battery was tight too. I'll check the fuse box connection today.

It hasn't done it to me again yet.

[bigtreepu]

i tried to get the dealership to start up the firehawk and had the same exact issue....and key could not be removed when the battery seemed to be dead....weird.

~Matt

[Tempest2000]

I don't know if our cars even have this, but I had a similar issue on my firebird and it had a security system linked to the key albeit this was old school and used a resistor, but do our keys have any kind of security system linked to the key that could act up. just throwing it out there.

[Master8ter]

All of the cables are tight. I'm just waiting for this car to do it again during normal business hours for the dealership and get it towed there while still off. If it happened again late at night, I'm going to grab my meter and try to see where the break in the system is.

[todds87ss]

I don't know if our cars even have this, but I had a similar issue on my firebird and it had a security system linked to the key albeit this was old school and used a resistor, but do our keys have any kind of security system linked to the key that could act up. just throwing it out there.

This problem only kills ignition, not the electrical system. And our keys don't have that damned resistor thing. What a pain in the ass. Had to bypass every one I ever had.

[HoldenMan21]

Many VE Commodore owners have experienced with regards to a lack of battery charge, we received many complaints from owners agreeing that the issue was getting long in the tooth, especially when vehicles would be dry of charge at inconvenient times.

This information was forwarded to Holden Australia with the ambition of resolving the matter and hopefully putting owner’s minds at ease.

Thankfully, Holden issued a response to our article with some information about the issue, along with the steps owners can take to resolve the matter.

Holden’s Communications Manager – Kate Lonsdale – responded to our queries with the following information:

“we [have] identified a battery related issue with some of our early production VE and WM models, whereby under certain driving conditions and customer usage patterns the battery state of charge may deteriorate and may not be fully recovered by the vehicle’s charging system.”

Further to that, Mrs Lonsdale went on to say, “A fix for this issue was identified and released to the Dealer Network in July. Subsequently, all vehicles brought in for a routine service and those where customers have specifically reported the issue have been fixed.

If any customer has experienced this matter and has not reported it we encourage them to contact their Holden Dealer or our Customer Assistance Centre to have their concern investigated and corrected.”

When asked about the proper procedure of jump starting vehicles affected by a loss of battery charge, Mrs Londsale said “the vehicle’s owners Handbook explains the correct procedure including the location of the jump start posts which are on the left hand side of the engine bay.”

For those interested in a technical explanation of the issue; a technical adviser for a Sydney Holden dealership explained the following:

The issue does vary alot with the different models.

Holden have release updated BCM (Body Control Module) software to correct SOME
of the charge problems, the new software changes the the rate of charge from the
altenator and sets the BCM’s “state of charge” to a different tolerance.

We have had some cases where the batteries in new VE’s have been faulty from
factory, with the batteries only receiving half charge.
When only given half charge from factory the ECU and BCM automatically see this
as “default charge” and will only ever charge to that level.
This level is enough to start the vehicle and operate all the systems, but the
drain becomes too much for a half charged batteries, so if the problem is
presented to the dealerships, the battery is usually replaced and the updated
BCM software is installed.

The drain issue changes from model to model, we have had a Calais V where we
replace 2 modules of the electronic system to correct the battery drain issue.

The issue can sometimes be the computer system (the high and low speed buses of
the ECU and other components), they have a shutdown timer as they stay active
after the vehicle has been shut off for other features of the vehicle, like
lighting features and security.

Sometimes they need resetting as they stay on for too long after the ignition
has been turned off and can drain the battery.”