I went out to the HHR to roll up the windows. I had left the keys in the ignition and the car was "clicking". It wouldn't start and the check engine light would flash on/ off as well as the security light, and the radio buttons were dimly lit. The remote would not lock or unlock the doors, but there was more "clicking" when I pushe the remote lock/unlock button.

An hour later, the remote works, the car wont start. I stuck my trickle charher on for the night. I'm wondering if the battery might be going. The last car that I had the battery died..One minute it worked fine, the next it was dead..must be the Florida heat. The car and battery is five years old.

Any other ideas??

 

Nope....

think you got it. But I doubt if the trickle charger will do the trick. And you'll probably have some other issues if you fooled with the fob and the ignition switch.

 

Yeah I'd say the battery is a goner, five years old combined with Florida heat is enough to use one up. As Snoopy pointed out you may have some other issues in the morning, HHR's can get up to some interesting "antics" after an attempt to start them with a low battery voltage. Just be prepared to have some codes that need clearing when the new battery is installed.

 

Yeah, the HHR can go a little crazy when the battery dies. My battery was crap and I had to have it replaced about 6 months ago. But before I had it replaced, I sorta lived with it for a while. Then when I had the Engine Power Reduced come on, Service Air Bag, security system problems, etc, I knew it was time for a new battery. A low/dead battery can cause the HHR to go loony.

 

The trickle charger must have done some good as the car started up this am. I'm taking it over to the mechanic this morning. I had read about how funky things can get when the battery dies. This is the second issue I've ever had with the car, the first was the stuck ignition key fixed under warrenty.

 

Turned out the battery was no longer holding a charge, so was replaced. No other issues or codes (other than those associated with a dead battery). In the old days my batteries would just get weak and you could tell that they were going, but in Florida they just suddenly die. Back up and running. I had them check the brakes for wear and they said 50%..not bad for original brakes and 81K miles.

 

Glad you got it fixed! And that's not bad at all for original brakes...

 

Great to hear you're up and running again! Batteries do the same thing here in Carolina, no real warning, they work one day and the next day they're deader than dead. Heat is a real battery killer.