thumper
Active Member
I thought I’d share my latest adventures with 2008 XLR-V on the chance that what I have learned might help you with the care and feeding of your XLRs.
I live just outside Toronto, Canada so I don’t start the XLR much after top down weather. Maybe once a week or 2 weeks until mid November when I put it into storage for the winter.
About 3 weeks ago, I went to start it and the battery was very low. It did start but only just. After driving a couple of kms the DIC came on and said “Engine overheated, AC off” yet the temperature gauge was still at bottom reading indicating not even warm.
I drove another couple of kms and decided to pull over and check. The rad was cool and the hoses showed no sign of pressure in the cooling system so I continued on to see my mechanic friend. He checked the error codes and found faulted temperature sensor. He reset the code to see if it would come back and it did not. The DIC cleared and the temp gauge started reading correctly. Looks like the low battery caused an electrical aneurism in one of the computers.
On to the next problem:
Last week, I went to start the car and the AC Delco 85-6YR battery would still light up the dash but not crank the motor. I attached my battery tender (1.5a) and left it for a few days. (I had run a short pigtail from the battery up to the window so I could plug in with hood down.) I noticed that the yellow light on the tender would start flashing after an hour or so indicating that the battery needs to be checked. I checked the water level and it was down slightly but not down so far as to expose the plates. After a couple of days on the tender, I figured I would try to start again.
No way. Battery is completely dead! Of course the hood is latched, the doors and windows are closed and the trunk is locked. No problem, I said with a knowing smirk. I read the manual. All I have to do is insert the key that is hidden in my fob into the lock in the rear bumper and unlock and manually lift open the trunk giving me access to a manual door release. Once inside the car, I can release the hood and attach a real battery charger. Piece of cake.
There is an old Yiddish saying that comes to mind in situations like this: Man plans; God laughs. The key won’t turn. Now what?
I Figured I may as well try the key from my #2 fob and fortunately, it did work. I compared the two keys and they are quite different. I guess the previous owner got a replacement fob off eBay or somewhere and never go the key part changed. More about the key later.
Once I got the hood up, I connected up my 10A charger and away it went charging at 9A. After an hour it was down to 8A so it was looking hopeful. By next morning, it was down to 2A so I disconnected the charger and tried to start the car. It started fine but of course lost memory setting that had to be reset and windows indexed. I did notice that my Mild2Wild was set at Wild. I remember setting that the last time I used the car and I guess I had left it in the Wild setting. A quick search of the interwebs found that that could indeed explain the battery to drain. Good to know.
I also ran across another interesting theory about Keyless Entry systems. Normally when you turn off your car and walk away, after about 45 minutes, it goes into a deep sleep mode to minimize battery drain. Only the fob sensor and security systems are live. If you leave your fob within about 20 ft of the car, it never goes into deep sleep and that could drain the battery much quicker. Good to know. Also, in my case, every time I go out to the garage with the fob for my other car, a 2011 CTS Wagon, the XLR wakes up seeing a GM fob, says “that’s not me” and stays awake for another 45 minutes. I don’t know if this is the case but it could explain the XLR battery drain.
So, did the M2W drain my battery? Did the CTS fob cause the extra drain? Is the XLR battery now pooched from being drained right down?
Best check the battery first. Went to my mechanic friend and he did a load test and charger test and everything was ok but he said I should consider getting a new battery. Once they get drained right down, they are never the same again. (Unless you have a Deep Discharge Battery)
I decided to leave it for the winter (with the battery tender connected) and see what it’s like in the spring. When I do get a new battery, I think I’ll go for the Optima Yelowtop - Tractor Battery | Forklift Battery | YELLOWTOP® | OPTIMABATTERIES . It’s almost $300 with taxes and core charge but that or the Redtop seems to be the most popular replacement.
I drove the car around for a couple of hours to get the engine computer to relearn its stuff and took it in for the DriveClean Test so I don’t have to do it in January when my plate sticker needs to be renewed. It passed.
The car is now stored, covered and batter tender connected for the winter.
So I need a new key. I stopped at a GM dealer and expected that they would tell me I need to buy the entire fob at a price of somewhere around $1,000 but they said they could supply me with just the blank key for an extremely affordable price of $78.00. (plus tax plus cutting charge)
That’s $78.00 for this
!!!!!!!
Fortunately, eBay has a somewhat more affordable option at $5.25.
Uncut Smart Remote Replacement Key Fob Case Insert Blade for Cadillac Chevy | eBay
I ordered 3 to give out as stocking stuffers.
I live just outside Toronto, Canada so I don’t start the XLR much after top down weather. Maybe once a week or 2 weeks until mid November when I put it into storage for the winter.
About 3 weeks ago, I went to start it and the battery was very low. It did start but only just. After driving a couple of kms the DIC came on and said “Engine overheated, AC off” yet the temperature gauge was still at bottom reading indicating not even warm.
I drove another couple of kms and decided to pull over and check. The rad was cool and the hoses showed no sign of pressure in the cooling system so I continued on to see my mechanic friend. He checked the error codes and found faulted temperature sensor. He reset the code to see if it would come back and it did not. The DIC cleared and the temp gauge started reading correctly. Looks like the low battery caused an electrical aneurism in one of the computers.
On to the next problem:
Last week, I went to start the car and the AC Delco 85-6YR battery would still light up the dash but not crank the motor. I attached my battery tender (1.5a) and left it for a few days. (I had run a short pigtail from the battery up to the window so I could plug in with hood down.) I noticed that the yellow light on the tender would start flashing after an hour or so indicating that the battery needs to be checked. I checked the water level and it was down slightly but not down so far as to expose the plates. After a couple of days on the tender, I figured I would try to start again.
No way. Battery is completely dead! Of course the hood is latched, the doors and windows are closed and the trunk is locked. No problem, I said with a knowing smirk. I read the manual. All I have to do is insert the key that is hidden in my fob into the lock in the rear bumper and unlock and manually lift open the trunk giving me access to a manual door release. Once inside the car, I can release the hood and attach a real battery charger. Piece of cake.
There is an old Yiddish saying that comes to mind in situations like this: Man plans; God laughs. The key won’t turn. Now what?
I Figured I may as well try the key from my #2 fob and fortunately, it did work. I compared the two keys and they are quite different. I guess the previous owner got a replacement fob off eBay or somewhere and never go the key part changed. More about the key later.
Once I got the hood up, I connected up my 10A charger and away it went charging at 9A. After an hour it was down to 8A so it was looking hopeful. By next morning, it was down to 2A so I disconnected the charger and tried to start the car. It started fine but of course lost memory setting that had to be reset and windows indexed. I did notice that my Mild2Wild was set at Wild. I remember setting that the last time I used the car and I guess I had left it in the Wild setting. A quick search of the interwebs found that that could indeed explain the battery to drain. Good to know.
I also ran across another interesting theory about Keyless Entry systems. Normally when you turn off your car and walk away, after about 45 minutes, it goes into a deep sleep mode to minimize battery drain. Only the fob sensor and security systems are live. If you leave your fob within about 20 ft of the car, it never goes into deep sleep and that could drain the battery much quicker. Good to know. Also, in my case, every time I go out to the garage with the fob for my other car, a 2011 CTS Wagon, the XLR wakes up seeing a GM fob, says “that’s not me” and stays awake for another 45 minutes. I don’t know if this is the case but it could explain the XLR battery drain.
So, did the M2W drain my battery? Did the CTS fob cause the extra drain? Is the XLR battery now pooched from being drained right down?
Best check the battery first. Went to my mechanic friend and he did a load test and charger test and everything was ok but he said I should consider getting a new battery. Once they get drained right down, they are never the same again. (Unless you have a Deep Discharge Battery)
I decided to leave it for the winter (with the battery tender connected) and see what it’s like in the spring. When I do get a new battery, I think I’ll go for the Optima Yelowtop - Tractor Battery | Forklift Battery | YELLOWTOP® | OPTIMABATTERIES . It’s almost $300 with taxes and core charge but that or the Redtop seems to be the most popular replacement.
I drove the car around for a couple of hours to get the engine computer to relearn its stuff and took it in for the DriveClean Test so I don’t have to do it in January when my plate sticker needs to be renewed. It passed.
The car is now stored, covered and batter tender connected for the winter.
So I need a new key. I stopped at a GM dealer and expected that they would tell me I need to buy the entire fob at a price of somewhere around $1,000 but they said they could supply me with just the blank key for an extremely affordable price of $78.00. (plus tax plus cutting charge)
That’s $78.00 for this
!!!!!!!
Fortunately, eBay has a somewhat more affordable option at $5.25.
Uncut Smart Remote Replacement Key Fob Case Insert Blade for Cadillac Chevy | eBay
I ordered 3 to give out as stocking stuffers.
