SandyBeach

Do you think the alternator is adequate to fully recharge the battery each time? I've never heard of a battery wearing down that quickly.

Fortunately, I haven't had this problem but I often recharge my cell phone overnight in my HHR. I might discontinue that practice just to be safe.

W0THK

I agree that battery died prematurely. I've never had one go bad before, but I guess it happens. Mr Goodwrench tested the electical system before and after the battery replacement, so I have to assume the alternator is food.

TomK
Mpls, MN

Lee3333

I just had to charge my car in order to start it. Yesterday was very cold here and the car cranked slowly. Today it started ok in the morning. I drove it several times, then parked it in the afternoon for about 4 hours. When I went to go out at 9 PM, the locks barely opened.

Part of my problem may be caused by my aftermarket radio. The dealer detected current drain when they checked my car last spring, and it seemed to stop when I removed my faceplate. The only thing I could attribute it to is the Metra adapter, since I have replaced the head unit last month, and today when the battery died I noticed that I forgot to remove the face plate. Still, the other night I did remove it, and the battery still drained. And last week I had the door opened for about 3/4 of an hour working on the car, and the car had to be boosted, and the rear dome lights were off (so the only light on was the front ones under the mirror).

I have looked into getting an Ultima but none of them seem to be a good match.

cc732

About the dead battery issue...
I was just reading Tom Weber's column from The Car Connection:
(http://www.thecarconnection.com/Enth...09.A13791.html)

A reader asked why his car battery was dead after two months while the car was in storage. He states that unless you drive your car regularly, you need to keep the battery charged with a trickle charger. Iding won't replenish the battery power used in starting the car.

Clare

Lee3333

This morning my car started but it was a little sluggish, so when I got home I put it on the charger. It read full, but I put it on trickle anyway just to top it off. But our batteries, like everything else these days, is just the basic minimum to start the car-not any reserve.

ChevyMgr

Glad to hear that it was a simple battery replacement. Batteries are covered for 3years or 36k (whichever occurs first) at no charge to the customer. If you pay for a Delco Battery after the factory warranty expires, then there is a proration on the battery warranty, but the during the first 18 months after purchase it is free (except the labor).

JimZ_HHR

I sit in my car alot during the day, and use my laptop plugged into power outlet, have had no problems, but I did get one of those solar trickle chargers that plugs into Cigerrette lighter outlet, have had no problems so far, Similar to the link below, I have found it cheaper,
http://www.batteries.com/productprof...p?appid=378172

JimZ_HHR

Anyone else try one of these?

Snoopy

Yeah, I use one similar to that.

When I fly out on extended vacations and need to park my car at the airport, I use a solar charger (habit acquired from previous business trips). One thing I noticed, the tinted windshield does tend to reduce the output. But I'm in Phoenix and what we get in 6-8 hours is comparible to 10 hours in other places.

Never had a "no start" problem on any car I used it on.

Mikey

Did a search and thought for sure I'd find something out about this...
Can one safely remove the battery from an HHR and replace it with another one without involving a dealer to do something?