Thanks Tom. The XM system is included with the mfg. installed radio as far as I know.

 

reading this, although I normally drive my HHR within a couple of days, I'm going to simply disengage the battery to prevent mine from going brain dead. That would certainly suck. Thanks stranger for the good tips on isolating a problem.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but absolutely nothing is plugged in anywhere when the car is garaged. Going to the dealership for the third time tomorrow. Hopefully they will be able to find the parasitic drain. Otherwise, I have found suggestions from other owners to have them install a new battery and a "battery tender" and/or a "priority starter", which I will suggest to the service manager. I really appreciate everyone's help!!!!!

 

Well, thank you. My battery is extremely hard to access, so a solution I have found is to start the HHR every couple of days when it is garaged and let it run a little while. That is easier for me than trying to unhook the battery cables. Or, is there another way to disengage the battery?

 

I can be difficult to tell if the XM system is factory or aftermarket unless you actually looked at the components. They function exactly the same, and none of the parts are normally visible. They're probably located under the center console.

One easy way might be the XM antenna. Does it have a factory antenna, or something else? An aftermarket antenna might be a dead giveaway.

TomK

 

If you don't have an amp meter, use a test light between the neg cable and neg post. Any draw will make the lamp light up. I agree with Stranger, any tech that can tell what's good rather than bad isn't providing much of a service.

 

I had the SAME EXACT problem, only mine would die the next day, especially in cold weather. Dealer kept saying the battery was fine, and blaming it on the new stereo I installed. I even tried unplugging the fuse to the radio, and the battery still would die. I would fully charge it in the evening, then the next morning it would barely crank.

Finally, I found a bulletin here that said some of the HHR batteries are defective. I showed it to my dealer, and he checked it on a different meter and finally changed my battery.

That was 1 1/2 years ago, and no problems since then. Same stereo, etc. It is apparant that the battery was the problem. (I hope I didnt just jinx myself)

 

12-11-09 The dealer has had my car for four days. They say they think it is fixed but they will keep it over the weekend and see if it will start on Monday. I have asked for a new battery, but don't know if they wil give me one. I think the one I have must be very weak after being fully drained at least four times. I'm hoping they have solved the problem. We will see...

 

I wish you luck. Until my dealer finally changed my battery, I was looking into getting an Optima. Meanwhile, I removed the panal under the tailgate and bought a small jumpstart battery. I would connect it right to the battery when mine died, and it fired right up, indicating that my battery was not discharged-it was just a bad cell. If I shut the engine off as soon as I started the car, it would still fire right up. With that back panal off, it is very easy to access the battery, and my jump start battery was bought on sale for under 35 bucks. Good to have for emergencies. It still annoys me when I think how the dealer jerked me around for over a year until I showed him the TSB curtesey of ChvyMgr here.

 

1-8-09 I need to report a solution to the "dead battery syndrome". On the third try, my dealership FINALLY "Replaced BCM 12.9 and programmed", and my car starts perfectly now. Yay!