factory battery

[DRW1000]

My wife has had occasional troubles starting her car. It acxts like the battery is too dead to crank the engine and then sometimes it will all of a sudden crank so i never suspected a weak battery or charging system. I have boosted it on 3 occasions and it has always started right away so I ruled out starter ignition, solenoid problems at least temporarilly. Tonight I had to give her a boost as she couldn't even get the power door locks to work. I started to look around the battery even though it is covered by the relay panel and I gently pulled on the positive cable where it is screwed into the battery and it looks like the entire threaded insert (The GM style in lieu of a post) came out. It was getting dark so I will look more in the morning.

It is the factory battery. Has anyone ever heard of these inserts coming out of the GM batteries???

[cdru]

Originally Posted by DRW1000

It is the factory battery. Has anyone ever heard of these inserts coming out of the GM batteries???

They are just a screw on terminal. Easier to remove the the old clamp, but sometimes they wiggle their way off. I've expereinced similar problems where some electrical things work, such as lights, radio, locks, but there just isn't enough current through the poor connection to engage the starter and turn the engine.

I'd remove the fuse box and support member (should be 3 bolts), unbolt both terminals, clean them, put some battery terminal protectant or dielectric grease, then tighten them back up.

[DRW1000]

Actually it was the pressed in threaded insert part of the battery that came out with the cable. In other words there is no female screw terminal left on the battery.....It is still attached to the cable.

Similar I suppose to breaking the post on a conventional type battery.

['97ventureowner]

I don't recall anything like this happening in all of my years of working on vehicles, but I have learned one thing; anything's possible. You say that the battery is the original factory battery,that would make it around 6 years old now. A lot can happen in 6 years and if there was a minor defect present when the battery was produced, maybe it took all of those 6 years to manifest itself by finally falling apart. Did the battery suffer any type of "trauma" recently? In my area we suffer every Spring with large and deep potholes on our roads. These pot holes cause hundreds of dollars in damage to front end parts, tires, other suspension related parts, and possibly electrical parts. It's possible for the sudden jarring of the vehicle as it hits a pot hole could damage a battery's terminal, especially if it had been weakened before. I've seen these Delco factory batteries last close to 8 to 10 years, so 6 years is nearing the end of it's useful life. When you go to replace the battery, it might not hurt to ask if they have seen damage like you experienced , before.

[DRW1000]

Well the wife drives it so anything is possible..................

Yeah I agree it could hsvr been caused by a number of things. I bought a new battery today and I ruined the battery tray getting it out. GM wants $40 Cdn and I looked at a universal fit type but I might just bite the bullet...........

But it looks like the problem is solved. (touch wood). And I agree I doubt the battery owes us anything after 6 harsh Toronto winters.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by DRW1000

But it looks like the problem is solved. (touch wood). And I agree I doubt the battery owes us anything after 6 harsh Toronto winters.

I hear ya, being across the "pond" in Syracuse NY.The factory battery in our '97 has given us 8 years of faithful service through our harsh winters. What I can't understand is how well these factory batteries are built, why can't the quality be carried over to the aftermarket? I have purchased MANY aftermarket batteries of different brands over the years for many of my vehicles, and none seem to make it past 4 or 5 years.( A lot not even 3 years.) My understanding is that there are only a few companies who produce batteries in this country, and most of the batteries sold in this country come from these few manufacturers, where they are labeled for each specific brand.

[shooter_va]

GM side post terminal: Same thing happened on my 2001 Silverado a while back, battery was 2 years old (original GM) and the positive terminal came loose, the truck did exact the same what you were describing (hit or miss strats, but always starts when jumped). This is the second time this happened to me, another truck of mine with an 18 months old GM battery did the same and a buddy of mine, his battery did it after about 2 years as well.
Get you another battery, but don't buy the AC Delco.

[PteHoward]

4 years and the factory battery has decided to die.. It started in a very unusual way. Guages were going crazy, van refused to start, partial electrical. So.. break out the canadian tire toolset.

What I had actually seen still confuses me today.. I noticed the positive terminal of the acdelco battery was damp. Being the nitwit I am, i rubbed my finger on it an tasted it.

Well.. After washing my hands and spending 10 minutes cursing and spittin I noted that this was indeed battery acid. Odd. So i began to loosen off the terminal for a better look when the whole post came off the battery, still attached to the terminal!

A hundred bucks and 20 minutes time solved that mystery...

[Booch]

Same thing happened to my 2002 Venture; thought the battery died all of a sudden, pulled on the positive cable to make sure it wasn't loose, and the entire metal part pulled out of the battery.

I was still under warrenty, so it was covered. Check with GM to see if there was a recall for this or not....I've heard of it happening to a number of people besides me.

[JMouse]

just about all side post batteries will leak acid from the positive post! ACDelco batteries seem to do it the most. ACDelco is now paying for the damage caused to a vehicle from installing their battery. Check with the ACdelco battery rep. in your area.

[Allbert]

Same thing just happened to 2002 Saturn L. To everyone who has had this happen, please be sure to report the incident to the NHTSA at their website (www.NHTSA.gov). If there are enough reports, they can have GM initiate a recall. This should be considered a safety defect since the pos battery terminal popping off can make a spark that could ignite the battery gases (hydrogen gas formed during charging).