drove HHR for 1hr,parked in driveway 5 hrs later vehicle completly dead,do I use battery charger,and if so at battery or terminals under the hood

 

When my battery died, I put the charger directly on the battery located under the rear floor panels. I never have quite figured out the under the hood front jump points. After about 1/2 hour of charge, I took it to my mechanic and he tested the battery. Initially it tested fine until he put a load on it and it soon failed. He got another AC Delco battery.

 

Check the owners manual link below ... page 322 in 2007 manual
it'll have pictures to show you how to jump under the hood, basicaly positive is under the red cap, and negative is the upper shock mount bolt.

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/general-hhr-4/online-owners-manual-3074/

 

With a dead battery, the rear hatch won't open, without going inside & releasing it manually..

Put the charger on the "PROPER" terminals under the hood. I don't use chargers anymore, I use battery tenders.. They can never overcharge.

Get it running, auto parts can load test the battery & alternator & etc, free..

 

But.... you can pop the hatch if you hook up as if you were jump starting, then disconnect the battery and charge it. I have never heard anyone recommending a charge while the battery is hooked up to the car, too many things can go wrong.

You need to find out why the battery died. The first day I owned my 2008 HHR I had turned the headlights "on" instead of "auto" then parked the car assuming they would go off by themselves, yeah when the battery died.

 

, bummer on that dead battery, the posts under the hood worked fine today to charge the bmw, which has a diesel truck sized battery in the boot like the HHR's. Owned the car 7 years, if you don't drive it for a while she needs a boost.

 

Have charged mine several times using the under hood connections, with no problems. I would be reluctant to jump start it using the under hood connections, but charging is a pretty low current process. Battery tenders are great, as are smart charges, as they will float the charge and not over charge. I keep one car we drive very little (not the HHR) on a smart charger, as it will often go six to ten weeks without being started. The battery in it is almost 10 years old and still checks out good.