Well, it was me vs the dealer who said it was just fine (after replacing 2 batteries in less than 2 years).

In any event, I hope whoever buys my trade-in uses it every day or they will find out about how hungry it is for batteries that don't get tender loving care from an external charger.

Meanwhile, I STILL think 15 volts is TOO HIGH a voltage irregardless of inputs from sensors and a fancy ECM. And that is what my new 2014 Impala usually sits at irregardless of the charge level of the battery. In a year or so when it gasses the battery to an early death the dealer will replace it for free and then probably replace the ECM (or whatever is causing the battery to be overcharged).

 

You ask the dealer to correct problems that don't exist then mock them when they give you the correct answer. You are going to believe what you want.

what kills batteries is deep discharging. After about 5 complete discharges, a battery is never the same. If your 06 had a draw that would discharge it completely; that's why the battery life is so short. Having to charge a battery every night is NOT normal.

Climate is another factor in battery life. Average battery life in hot climates is 2 years. 5years in cold climates...as long as it doesn't deep discharge and freeze.

My 05 j-body car charges at 14.8 all the time....never put a battery in it

 

I didn't ask the dealer to correct the voltage problem with my '14 Impala. I simply asked them about it. A short, uninformative answer like "it's controlled by the computer" didn't impress me. They could have explained it a lot better.

My '06 battery was never discharged completely. The vehicle would only produce a voltage of 12.8volts when the car was running. This isn't enough to charge the battery-only to maintain it. That is according to many web sites that I'm sure are accurate. Every day the car wasn't used, the battery discharged. When it was used, the car didn't RECHARGE the battery sufficiently so it gradually got to the point where it could barely start the car.

Well, you'd better send a memo to GM about this because the battery in my '06 as well as my '14 says right on the side of it in big letters that it has a SEVEN YEAR WARRANTY. Maybe that only applies to the state of Alaska??

OK, so your battery is at least 8 years old but you state that batteries only last 5 years in cold climates and even less in warm climates.

 

so nothings wrong with your 06 but you need to charge it after every use. Your new car never needs to be charged but in your opinion is charging so high that it will fry the battery...and that seems right to you because of information you read on the internet.

Truly laughable...offence intended

 

do I have to explain what average means

 

There is good information in this thread , lets try to keep to that good information

 

I agree. This listing of the modes was helpful and I wrote it down. The next time I visit my dealer for my Impala's (free) maintenance, I'll ask them to look up the charging system limits/particulars and maybe they'll print it out for me. If this is possible, I'll share the info here.

 

My 2014 LT also says around 14.6 or so a lot. I believe temperatures have a lot to do with it. The weather has been cold ever since I got it. Maybe I will be able to report again when summer comes.

 

I agree with almost everybody.


The terminal voltage of a charged lead acid cell is 2.1v so 6 of them make 12.6v. A traditional charger holds the terminals at 13.8v. When the battery is discharged it charges it at a safe rate. When it's charged it delivers a safe trickle charge.


In the early '70s maintenance free batteries arrived which are tolerant of continuous overcharge. GM started using a temperature sensitive regulator inside the generator. When it was cold it held the terminals at around 15v and reduced it to about 14v when warm. It charged the battery at a high rate when it needed it after cranking then dropped to a trickle. Sadly, these batteries are damaged by deep discharge as someone else said. Old fashioned batteries are still available. They're called deep cycle or marine batteries. You can't use them in modern cars.


In the '80s I had a couple of old Motorola trunk mounted 2-way radios for hamming. They used temperature controlled crystal ovens for frequency stability. I had to leave them powered on all night and or they'd be off frequency during my morning and evening commute. Delco made a regulator that held the terminals at 13.8v so I used one of those with a Delco deep cycle battery made for emergency vehicles. I got about a year and a half each out of 2 of those batteries.


I trust that GM understands lead acid chemistry to a Fair-The-Well and you can trust the ECM to do it right. If there's a charging failure there should be a code for it.

 

My wife had a 1980 Z-28 with a similar problem where the battery would run down in 3-4 days, even after replacing the battery. Found the problem by accident. The Z-28 was painted black. One morning when I went outside, I noticed one small area of the trunk lid that had no frost on it while the rest of the car was totally covered. I then realized that where this area was located was exactly where the trunk light was mounted. I cracked open the trunk and sure enough the trunk light was on. Replacing the socket fixed the battery going dead problem. It should be just a matter of looking for excessive current draw with a meter.