2009s: Battery drains after six days?

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[lingohocken]

Are 2009 owners finding the battery draining completely if the vehicle sits unused for more than six days or so?

[duce]

Mine is idle nearly a week at a time and have no issues. The Enclave does have battery rundown protection.
If the interior courtesy lamps, reading/map lamps, visor vanity lamps or trunk lamp are accidentally left on. They are automatically turn off after 10 minutes.  The 12V power outlet are not protected though. If by chance you leave a faulty charger or other device plugged in this may be the problem. There are so many electrical drains on the battery now such as phones, radio, clocks, DVDs, GPS, heated seats, and power lift gates, its a wonder one battery can handle it all.  This time of year does also puts a drain on the battery especially if you don't go on extended drives to fully recharge the battery.

[lingohocken]

I haven't seen much on this in nearly a year on this group, but for whatever reason the Edmunds Enclave blog reports this quite a bit. Go figure.

Perhaps a software glitch, wiring/accessory leakage to ground (ambient humidity?), dud batteries or, as you suggest, an aftermarket gizmo that tricks the rundown protection.

Or maybe something else. A Mercedes service manager recently told me of a customer who thought the battery had gone dead on his fairly new $65k GL-class SUV. Turns out a mouse had chewed away a good deal of the wiring. The rub is that even though it is a current production model made in Alabama, he couldn't get a replacement wiring harness from Mercedes so he had to have an aftermarket firm custom-make one up, final cost including labor: $7,500, all paid by the customer.

http://townhall.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f134ee4!make=Buick&model=Enclave&ed_makeindex=.f134ee4

[duce]

I wonder just how much power continues to be drained when the car is supposedly off with all the electronics on board?  Maybe GM needs to put in a charger and we plug it in when its not used for an extended period.
Of course someone will drive off while its still plugged in and sue GM. I guess that will require another sensor to detect if the charger is plugged in. More battery drain, and on it goes. We are our own worst enemies.

[firebird]

My 08 sat 12 days while on a trip & it started as normal.

[RCH]

Mine sat for 15 days in the garage(50+ deg.) before being used and started fine. 

RCH

[GoldEnclave]

My '08 sat for 6 or 7 days once last March, and the car started normally except that the radio presets and resettable DIC info reset to factory default. In September the car sat unstarted for 8 days and all was fine.  I guess the first time was just a fluke.

[kidsenclave]

Are 2009 owners finding the battery draining completely if the vehicle sits unused for more than six days or so?

Nope.  That's ridiculous, it has battery rundown protection, and battery management, or whatever it is, so that makes absolutely NO sense.  Sorry it happened to you, but that's not normal at all, take it in.

[GoldEnclave]

...The Enclave does have battery rundown protection.
If the interior courtesy lamps, reading/map lamps, visor vanity lamps or trunk lamp are accidentally left on. They are automatically turn off after 10 minutes... 

Recently my '06 Subaru Tribeca ran its battery down in about 2 days after I left the third row reading lamp on, and I had to call warranty road side assistance. I also noticed a late model Toyota Camry with its inside lamps on the entire time I was at a restaurant recently. In contrast, my '98 Oldsmobile Intrigue would automatically turn off the inside lamps within about 10 minutes if they were accidentally left on. I guess that GM does do some things better than their much heralded Japanese competition. 

[PINK303]

MY 2008 did the same thing after returning from a 7 day cruise.  No power at all. Had to unlock the doors manually and recharge batteries.  Never did find a reason for it and it never happened again although we haven't gone away for that length of time since either.

[bdex75]

Lingo;
My 08 did it (several times actually) and my 09 had us at the delaer service department after 500 miles with a dead nav screen,  HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS.....there is a "flash" for the PCM for a "radio/navigation and battery rundown problem"  So obviously GM knows about it.  Search for a post that I made in the tech forum for the specifics from my visit.  Get your car to the dealer, my 09 had a code in it saying it needed the update.

[lingohocken]

Lingo;
My 08 did it (several times actually) and my 09 had us at the delaer service department after 500 miles with a dead nav screen,  HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS.....there is a "flash" for the PCM for a "radio/navigation and battery rundown problem"  So obviously GM knows about it.  Search for a post that I made in the tech forum for the specifics from my visit.  Get your car to the dealer, my 09 had a code in it saying it needed the update.

Bingo, thanks!

[Clave Man]

MY 2008 did the same thing after returning from a 7 day cruise.  No power at all. Had to unlock the doors manually and recharge batteries.  Never did find a reason for it and it never happened again although we haven't gone away for that length of time since either.

Same thing happened to me.  I carry a jump battery in the back.

[SkiForLife]

2009 Enclave owner...

I just experienced this problem in about 30 hours time frame, much shorter than six days.  After jumping the vehicle and running it for half an hour it was fine.  The next morning it started without a problem.

I called the dealer anyway, new vehicle should not do this.  As it turned out there was a software update involving the Radio/Nav system that I needed to have loaded.   I have entertainment package #3.   The software update fixes a rare event regarding the radio staying on and draining the battery.   I do find myself simply turning the radio down and not off, the system shuts off automatically upon exiting the vehicle.  As the dealer explained under certain circumstances it would not shut it off, and unless the volume was up you may not notice the radio is still on.   The software update fixes this issue.

Time will tell!

[wyoenclave]

I think the Argus Battery bug (link below) has also been discussed as a monitoring option, even if you don't have a drain problem, eventually your battery will need to be replaced and this system tells you when it's recommended,it's not bad for $40.  I had a new CTS cadillac that also killed batteries, found out it was related to a software glitch in the onstar system, which also runs when the vehicle is turned off, they updated the system and it never ran down again.  Gotta love the parasitic drain, drinking your battery juice.
http://argusanalyzers.com/index.php?id=32
http://argusanalyzers.com/battery-monitors/products/bb-sbm12.html

[firebird]

wyoenclave.....That looks like a pretty handy gadget at a reasonable price & extremely simple installation! Good find!   

[Clave Man]

wyoenclave.....That looks like a pretty handy gadget at a reasonable price & extremely simple installation! Good find!   

I installed this doo dad in my Enclave a while back.  It seemed to work for a while, then, after a few months it was "dead".  I have found that keeping a jump starter pack in the car is good for peace of mind.

[duce]

Save your money. It's a voltmeter! U got one on your dash people.

[wyoenclave]

If the one on the dash worked so good we wouldn't have dead batteries, we would know they were going to die, this meter has a chirp that alerts the user to a problem, it's the functionality that may be useful for some people having problems, my gauges never told me my battery was dead or going to die... also this company has developed a product that vehicle manufactures are planning on making standard equipment it monitors battery life and tells you via the instrument gauges when to replace your battery (embedded battery sensors).  This isn't different then our smart cell phone battery or smart laptop battery, they monitor charge and life.   I don't say this solution is for everyone, and I'm sure some of you won't get one, but for many it could be useful information.  Thanks for your comments, I personally think it's a good idea.

http://argusanalyzers.com/embedded-battery-sensors.html

[sdhanson]

This has been a problem in GM vehicles for many years, Corvette owners have coined the acronym DBS for "dead battery syndrome". I have a 2003 Cadillac STS that suffers from it, after having no luck with my dealer on getting the issue resolved I finally came across a solution that has worked. I have found that if I am going to leave the car anywhere I lock it with the remote. The problem occurs when the circuit controlled by the post shutdown timer, (the one that plays your radio after you turn it off, or keeps the light on for a bit after you close the door)doesn't release all of the circuits properly when it is activated after the car is off. If you go back to your car and open a door, the trunk or anything that arms that circuit, you will have a dead battery in a day or two. When you lock the doors with the remote it forces those circuits off. If you notice when you close the door after exiting the interior lights stay on for awhile depending on the setting of the timer switch, but if you lock the door the lights go out immediately. It doesn't fix the root of the problem, but it has been a solution for me. Google "dead battery syndrome" if you want to read more about it.