2011 Equinox Dead Battery Situation

cj_herring

Dead battery this morning on my 2011 LT Equinox for the first time ever since bought new. So I guess I can consider myself one of the lucky ones to go so long on an original manufacture installed battery. Over 120,000 miles. Heres the question though. No power to start car,XM radio, Onstar, lights ect... I did get some clicking sounds but thats has stopped, but when I FIRST turned the key on to start car without knowing battery was dead, both THE front and rear wipers went on and could not be turned off unless I turned key off. the wipers were never on to begin with.

Right now tough I have nothing and wipers are stuck in half position. Also the dash lit up saying low washer fluid which is the first time ever I have seen that message even when I have emptied the reservoir. Key wont wont come out and car is stuck in park.

Either the battery is just bad after all these years and miles without any warning what so ever as car is driven 30 miles a day everyday or something is drained it down. Wasn't too cold last night either (20's) Car has seen as low as 30 below zero and never had a problem.

Hoping the battery just decide to die and thats all it is and I can be on my merry way with a new battery. gonna get a jump start first though so I can get the key out.

Will keep you all posted.

PF_Flyer

Battery seems a likely culprit. Just replaced a battery in my daughter's 2011 versa that went bad with no warning, so that fits with the age factor. And as far as the weird wiper stuff, when voltages get screwy, strange things can happen. Hopefully that all rights itself with a new battery. Appreciate you keeping us posted. Stuff like this really helps others.

Mr_Shiftright

If you have a weak battery your car will do all kinds of crazy things. So that battery needs to be load-tested, and if it fails, replace it and then check your charging system with a simple voltmeter.

7 years is a long time for battery life, so you're pushing it.

cj_herring

So had my son in law come on down with his Chevy pick-up to give me a jump just to see if we could get it started. Had to use 2 sets of jumper cables connected together because my vehicle was facing in and he could only pull up behind me. As soon as we hooked up,..... immediately everything came on that comes on when you turn the key. Lights buzzers etc... Car wouldn't turn over at first so we let the battery charge for about 10 minutes using his trucks charging system. After that car started right up and ran normal.

Soon after I went to Napa Auto and got me a brand new battery. With tax the dang thing came out to $145. Put new battery in, reset the clock and calendar and went to town making multiple stops. Everything OK for now. keeping my fingers crossed it was just a bad battery. Car is just driving just fine and everything is working as its suppose to.

cj_herring

Thinking back I did notice lately before the battery died that the headlights did not seem as bright and would dim when I used the electric windows which I think is a sign of a battery on its way out. within the last two weeks for some odd reason the Traction control was disengaging (turning off) on its own when starting the car. Will wait and see if it does it again and have to wonder if that was related to a battery on its way out.

The Napa sales person did not believe me when I said the battery was 7 years old with 120,000 miles on it. He said no way, it must have been replaced at one time, especially living in the Northeast. It was not until I gave him the core when he realized it was indeed the factory installed battery that came with the car.