[CACer]

For the past month I've been having spuratic electrical issues with my 02. No indication when the key was turned on, Err..... code on radio, crank but not start.(never left me sit) Last night I start checking under the hood and decide to disconnect the batteries in an attempt to reset the puter. I found the positive terminal on the drivers side batt loose . Cleaned and tightened all connections......................congratulations, problems solved! Duh! Just thought I'd share with all. Guess they really need both batts to run!

 

[TheBac]

That can happen. Did you check to see if any battery acid was leaking from the positive lugs? Sometimes those Delco batteries will do that.

 

[enine]

Its not the delco battery, its the bolt. Around 00-02 they had an issue were the bolt was too long and it was cracking the battery housing causing leaks.

 

[TheBac]

Too long a bolt, eh? Thanks enine.

 

[CACer]

Didn't notice any, better check now that it's been tightened.

Too long a bolt ???? Maybe the hole is too shallow!

 

[enine]

It was a TSB a couple years ago, even if you replace the battery it will start leaking again because the bolt bottoms out in the hole. I can't remember what years and models exactly but they use the same parts across a lot of vehicles. IIRC the fix was to grind a bit off the end of the bolt or replace it.

 

[Impala SS AutocroSSer]

Its not the delco battery, its the bolt. Around 00-02 they had an issue were the bolt was too long and it was cracking the battery housing causing leaks.

FWIW, the issue has been around far longer than that (happened on the 94-96 Impala SS for example), and it is only partially too long battery bolts. The Delco batteries are VERY sensitive to being over-tightened as well. Basically, the batteries are crap

Got lucky and caught it on my SS right as it started leaking. The car was only a little over 1 year old at the time.

It was also an issue on the early C5 Corvettes. Unfortunately, on that car GM put the PCM directly under the battery. After they replaced more than a few PCMs, they decided that replacement with an AGM (gell cell like an Optima) Delco battery would be a smart move

 

[enine]

You still can't blame Delco though, there really isn't any such thing as a Delco battery, just a Delco label on a battery made buy one of the only half dozen battery makers in the US. Brands don't really matter, they are just a label, you seeing more Delco labeled batteries is most likely due to the number sold stock in GM vehicles. Labeling a Delco battery worse than another brand is like saying Chevy's Duramax is less reliable than GMC's when they are the same thing.
Acid eating whatever is under the battery isn't brand specific , it can happen to any brand of lead acid.

 

[Impala SS AutocroSSer]

OK, put another way...

Whichever "maker" or "makers" Delco was using was making crap batteries. For YEARS. This doesn't mean ALL batteries from said maker or makers were bad, just a large chunk of the ones that Delco happened to spec out.

An AGM battery does not leak. Ever. You can mount it upside down, for that matter! Downside is they do cost more, and can be sensitive to deep discharging (even moreso than a lead-acid battery) unless designed as a deep cycle battery.

If cost weren't an issue, GM would be smart to just use AGM batteries in all of their vehicles. On the C5, evidently the cost of warranty returns hit the point where it was cheaper to use an AGM battery than re-engineer where the PCM was located. I would also take this as a strong hint that GM knows the problem is not the bolt since replacing a single bolt and a cheap battery would be cheaper than an AGM battery .

As we owners are well aware, GM is definitely "cost conscious" and will often spec something cheaper even if it only saves them a few cents per truck (my, it sure is dark inside my glovebox ).

It's not a new problem. And I will not be shocked in the least if a 2015 GMC Pickup STILL has the same problem .

 

[dbcooper]

It's my understanding, in fact I ran this way for a little bit on my way to another Autozone to get a second red top, that you can run on one battery as long as it is the drivers' side, since it is the primary. So, if the drivers' side was loose, then it would cause an issue. Correct?