Sonic 2013 LTZ has a cranking problem

[sonic2013ltz]

Hi Folks,
Twice now My wife has had a what appears to be a dead battery problem. Twice I had the battery tested and it is better than ok. The problem only makes an appearance when my wife sits waiting in the car, key in ignition but in off position. No radio, no lights, nothing on. If the car sits for two days in the garage? Nothing happens, everything works fine, cranks fast and starts immediately. On inspection of the battery terminals (which I find the positive side to be crazy complicated) there was MUCH corrosion. White oxidation(?) all over the positive side all the way down into that fuse block addition below the post. In between the clear plastic protector also. So (don't hate on my next sentence) I used WD40 to clear out all the white corrosion wire brushed the posts and cable connectors. This procedure worked great despite the negative reviews of the old WD. I did rinse the residue out with a solvent and then baking soda mixture after wards. This happened about 8 months ago and the corrosion has not reappeared. I thought I had solved the no crank problem. Nope just happened again 3 days ago. Checked my work and no corrosion. It is a problem for me and my wife to have a car that sometimes doesn't start with no warning. Me>disabled Vet-amputee, so its worse for me to deal with. I have an old GMC Sonoma P/U with 350,000 miles on it and I have no problems with that beast. So it confounds me to what the problem is. No codes are set during this ordeal. No hint to what it is. So, I defer to the experienced and await your ideas. Things that we tried:

Tried using the fob remote start instead of the key, no joy
Tried locking and unlocking the door locks with key removed. (suggested by Chevy)? Then attempted to start, no joy
Charged the battery to be sure we had a fully charged battery
Checked charging system, in spec
Checked for short or parasitic drain, none.
No alterations or mods at this time. OEM lights etc.

Our Sonic:
2013 LTZ hatchback
1.8 NA
Auto trans
Around 80,000 miles on her (told you we did do some traveling)
Her Birthdate 12/2013
1 recall done: Bring Your Own Media radio chime problem corrected.

 

[spacedout]

Just because the battery test good doesn't mean it is. The batteries GM uses in most cars these days are junk some not even lasting 3 years. Remember with as many computers and electric systems in cars these days even a weak cell can cause all kinds of strange issues.

Have you checked for loose ground wires under the hood? not just at the battery, any point you can find grounds should be checked.

 

[Maddmatts]

When you turn the key to the start position, is there any sound at all that the starter motor is spinning? I had to have my starter replaced a few years ago due to the solenoid failing to push the pinion into the flexplate. The starter would just spin pointlessly.

Otherwise, I can only suggest to inspect the wiring at the starter motor for corrosion or looseness.

The entire startup procedure is controlled by the engine computer. You don't even have to hold the key in the start position and wait for the engine to start.

In terms of batteries, maybe try starting the Soinc with the battery in the GMC. It sounds stupid but it will rule it out completely if it still fails to start.

 

[sonic2013ltz]

Have been contemplating the battery thing. I have had batteries that passed a load test with a bad cell. The odd part about this is the stay in our garage for days sometimes, doesn't present this problem, only a wait outside the store or DMV like situations. I thought the wife was fibbing about the radio not being on, but it happened to the both of us without anything being on. The only difference being (from a garage stay) that the key was in the ignition, but in the off position. Is there a circuit open in this situation? I didn't notice anything on. We open and closed the door to shut the radio off after shutting off the car. The wife went outside with the grand daughter to talk to the neighbor and said the light were off. ? I will have the battery replaced, maybe I will exchange the battery with the GMC's, that one is only a few months old.
Thanks for the responses.

 

[sonic2013ltz]

When you turn the key to the start position, is there any sound at all that the starter motor is spinning? I had to have my starter replaced a few years ago due to the solenoid failing to push the pinion into the flexplate. The starter would just spin pointlessly.

Otherwise, I can only suggest to inspect the wiring at the starter motor for corrosion or looseness.

The entire startup procedure is controlled by the engine computer. You don't even have to hold the key in the start position and wait for the engine to start.

In terms of batteries, maybe try starting the Soinc with the battery in the GMC. It sounds stupid but it will rule it out completely if it still fails to start.

No spinning of the gear to flywheel. Just the click click that you would expect from a dead battery. The windows won't roll up either. A very quick jump and it starts right up.

 

[sonic2013ltz]

Just because the battery test good doesn't mean it is. The batteries GM uses in most cars these days are junk some not even lasting 3 years. Remember with as many computers and electric systems in cars these days even a weak cell can cause all kinds of strange issues.

Have you checked for loose ground wires under the hood? not just at the battery, any point you can find grounds should be checked.

I did trace all grounds that i could find. We live in socal so not much weather/salted highways etc stuff to corrode things. Garaged kept also. Remarkably clean and no issues with grounds. Except as described in the first post. The corrosion is a good sign that this battery is crap and the posts are leaking excessively.

 

[spacedout]

No spinning of the gear to flywheel. Just the click click that you would expect from a dead battery. The windows won't roll up either. A very quick jump and it starts right up.

The battery is cheap if it solves the headache, I had a few strange electrical issues and error codes come up on my 2012 cruze in the first year of ownership, I replaced the battery out of pocket with a Sears Diehard group 47 AGM, in 3 more years I never had any more issues.

I could have probably tired to warranty the battery but figured I would have to fight them to replace it since it did test good. I kept that battery and put it in an old tractor at our land with a 2.8L 4 cylinder. That tractor sat an entire winter outside and started right up in the spring, kinda surprised since it was causing me so many issues.

Since your window controls will not work when this happens, Ir's possible there is something wrong with the under hood fuse panel. Have seen a few that had defects that would cause all kinds of issues. Have you taken it in to the dealer yet?

 

[sonic2013ltz]

The battery is cheap if it solves the headache, I had a few strange electrical issues and error codes come up on my 2012 cruze in the first year of ownership, I replaced the battery out of pocket with a Sears Diehard group 47 AGM, in 3 more years I never had any more issues.

I could have probably tired to warranty the battery but figured I would have to fight them to replace it since it did test good. I kept that battery and put it in an old tractor at our land with a 2.8L 4 cylinder. That tractor sat an entire winter outside and started right up in the spring, kinda surprised since it was causing me so many issues.

Since your window controls will not work when this happens, Ir's possible there is something wrong with the under hood fuse panel. Have seen a few that had defects that would cause all kinds of issues. Have you taken it in to the dealer yet?

Yeah they did they first battery test and since no codes were thrown, we couldn't duplicate the situation, so that ended that check. Unfortunately I cleaned all the corrosion off before we went. Maybe if they saw that they would have popped for a battery?? I wouldn't hold my breath for that though. I worked for GM as a parts manager for new dealer startups in the early 80 to late 90's. set up the dept, stick around while they did the hiring of their crew, then move to the next. So I know how they work, and all my contacts around town have come and gone. I am going to go with the battery this weekend and see how it goes, Nothing worse than a intermittent crank problem... I put one of those jumper boxes by Schumacher In the back just in case.

 

[Papasonic]

There is a TechLink bulletin on this type of problem:

Search Results sonic ground connection

 

[sonic2013ltz]

WOW, I searched for a bulletin on this problem and never found one worded in such a way... I have since book marked that site. Thank you very much for that post. They showed a few of the locations of ground points that I did not notice in my inspection. The one under the battery tray is one that could very well be compromised as the corrosion from this POS battery was all over the place in and around the battery. I will pull the battery today and do a through inspection of ground points. Wish they would have given a worded or imaged description of under hood ground areas. Again thanks for all the posts.