How long do factory batteries last & unlock radio.

[Huney1]

Bought our 2000 Venture that lived in Virginia most of its life until we bought it four months ago and now lives on the SC coast near the GA border. I know heat effects battery life and performance and summers here get real hot. Ours apparently still has the battery that they put it it when it was built and I was wondering how long they typically last before they go ka-flooey. Five and a half years is a long time under the hood being subjected to heat and whole lot rather replace it at my convenience than under stress situation. I looked and have to take that fender brace off to get the battery out.

If I buy it at Advance Auto they will install it for free, so why not. The radio will have to be reprogrammed to unlock it and I found these instructions somewhere.

"The following procedure will give you a new code that you can use instead of your personal code. Using this new code, you can “unlock” your radio and then “re-lock” it with a new code if you wish. Prerequisites: The radio must be in LOC mode NOT in INOP mode. Let me explain. If you have activated the Theft-Deterrent feature of your radio and loose power, the radio goes into LOC (theftlock) mode. With the ignition on, you must use the MN and HR buttons to enter you personal code in order to unlock it (The instructions are on page 3-27 in your Y2K Owner’s manual). If you fail to enter the correct code eight (8) times, the radio goes into INOP mode. You have to wait an hour with the ignition on before the radio returns to LOC mode (go for a long drive somewhere).

Procedure:

01. Turn the ignition ON (The radio displays LOC)

02. Hold down the Radio Presets 2 and 3 buttons for six seconds

03. The radio display changes from LOC to a three-digit number. Write this number down. Don’t take forever, fifteen seconds max before the next step.

04. Press the AM/FM button

05. The radio display changes to another three-digit number. Write this number to the right of the first one.

06. You now have a six-digit number, the first three digits are from STEP 03 and the last three digits are form STEP 05

07. Call 1 800 537 5140 08. Press 1 then # (pound). You’ll hear “Invalid Code, try again”

09. Press 139010 then # (pound). You will be asked to enter your four or six digit code followed by * (start)

10. Enter the number from STEP 6 then * (star)

11. Listen to the four-digit number and write it down. It will be repeated twice

12. Turn the ignition ON (The radio displays LOC)

13. Use the MN and HR buttons to enter the code from STEP 11

14. Press the AM/FM button. The radio display changes to SEC Your radio is now “un-locked” and usable. The Theft-Deterrent feature is STILL active! If you want to disable it, use the instruction on page 3-27 in your Y2K Owner’s manual. Use the code from STEP 11 instead of your personal code.

Note: This tip originated from LOTZAHP, Austin TX (credit must be given where credit is due). I verified it on an Y2K C5 with a locked radio - mine."

Coments on unlocking radio and battery life appreciatd because I don't want to get on a road trip and have a cell go dead. Thanks and have a nice Sunday.

EDIT - See last post. Had to put a new battery in and disconnecting the old one did not cause the radio to lock up.
I put the new battery in, hooked everything up, turned the radio on and it worked fine. 2000 Venture.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by Huney1

Bought our 2000 Venture that lived in Virginia most of its life until we bought it four months ago and now lives on the SC coast near the GA border. I know heat effects battery life and performance and summers here get real hot. Ours apparently still has the battery that they put it it when it was built and I was wondering how long they typically last before they go ka-flooey. Five and a half years is a long time under the hood being subjected to heat and whole lot rather replace it at my convenience than under stress situation. I looked and have to take that fender brace off to get the battery out.

AC Delco batteries are some of the longest lasting batteries I have had experience with. In fact I JUST replaced the one in my '97 Venture last week. It was the original battery, installed in October 1996. In fact, the battery still seemed to have some more life left in it, I just replaced it for "peace of mind" as I don't want to get stranded 'just in case ' it does decide to die. What made me replace it was that I had gone into our credit union to conduct some business which lasted about 20 -25 minutes. Upon getting back into the van, I realized I left the headlights on, and my wife was listening to the radio on "Accesory", ( she had the radio on a little loud so I couldn't hear the "headlights on warning chimes.") The van would barely turn over, so I got out my jump pack and tried to jump start it. That didn't work too well, so I called AAA. They said about 45 minutes before a truck could get there. I tried one more time knowing from experience that sometimes given a rest a battery can start. That didn't work, so I waited. Well about 15 minutes later I tried it "one more time for the hell of it" and it started. I ran it home and shut it off and it restarted with no problem. It even started the next morning without incident, leaving me to believe it was still good. But as I said before I didn't want to risk it. I took it to a neighborhood garage that installs a lot of AC Delco products and had a new AC Delco battery installed. The battery was $69.99 and installation was another $20, not bad at all. ( Didn't feel like going through all it takes to R&R the battery myself being short on time and it being 20 degrees outside with a steady 20 to 25 mph wind.) Living in this part of NY the weather here can range from -30 degree winters with wind chills in excess of -45 to summers around 95 to 100 degrees, so that can put a lot of stress on the battery. But these AC Delcos I have had can handle that, unlike the ones I bought at other places such as Wal Mart where I have to return it for replacement within a year or two. I've also had other friends going back to the late 70's through the '80s and '90s who owned GM cars with AC Delco batteries that far exceeded their "normal" life span, some surpassing 7 or 8 years. I've made it my point from now on to only purchase AC Delco brand batteries for my vehicles.

[534BC]

I have a original 99 batt in mine, but if lights are left on for 5-10 minutes it is dead. I think it is going bad real soon,,, Only had to jump it once per year.

[Huney1]

Thank ya'll for the good replies, certainly good food for thought there.
Since ours is a Y2K, no telling how many cranks on that battery and even though it seems good and strong now, there comes a time when discretion becomes the better part of valor. Think I'll swing by Advance Auto and get some prices and 'prolly let them drop me a new one in. I live in the deep South so don't need a whopping big voltage for sub zero cold cranking amps.
I looked at the battery and it has a sort'a jacket around it, I guess to protect it from cold and heat.

[Huney1]

LOL! Well, wouldn't you just know it. Friday morning I went out to crank up and all I got was a click, click, click, battery dead as a door nail. I jumped it off and ran a couple errands with the AC wide open and never shut it off and when I got back home shut down then immediately tried to start and nothing but clicks. Experience tells me a during the night a cell died so off to find us a new batery. Advance Auto had Titanium batteries on sale, got one and came home to install it and when I looked at what it took to install it I thought WHOA!

My bro-in-law was in town for Easter so I called him and we put our heads together and put the new one in in about half an hour. DISCONNECTING THE BATTERY WILL NOT MAKE THE RADIO GO DEAD and I didn't have to do anything to unlock it. Ours is a Y2K AM/FM/CD.

To put the new battery in; Remove the three bolts that hold the fender support pipe and the small bolt that holds the fuse box to the fender, then roll the pipe a little clock wise and push it over clear the battery. You need a 8, 10 & 13 mm wrench and/or socket. Take the positive and ground loose from the battery. The hold down bracket is in the back of the battery, use a socket with extension to remove it. Lift the battery out, put the new one in, hook everything up and rock on.