[dpevans]

I wonder if you know someone at Chevy or someone on this site that could track the VIN and see what work was done on it before you bought it. If there is a trail of electrical work and not reported on the car fax maybe you need to talk with a lawyer and possibly sue the dealer that sold it to you for fraud. If you bought it from a private party you are probably stuck.

[KirkH]

Aftermarket taillights are a known cause of battery drain.

[Bosse'sBoss]

Originally Posted by jzana7

I’ve been having a ton of issues with my 2016 Camaro 2SS that I purchased used with 17k miles on it in summer of 2019. The car was in pristine condition with a clean car fax and one previous owner. A couple months after I got the car is when I first started having issues, the car would randomly completely drain the battery to the point where it wouldn’t even start after being jumped and had to be towed several times. Local certified Chevy dealership had the car for a week and noted no unusual draw of power so they gave me a new battery and sent me on my way. A week later the car was dead again. Dealership has it for another week and says the ECM was faulty and needed to be replaced and charged me $600 after labor. Several weeks later my check engine light starts flashing, I’m getting tire pressure sensor errors on the dash and every time I open or close the door it says window position lost and prompts me to roll the window down and press ok. Take the car back to the dealership and they give me a rental to drive, they had the car for over THREE WEEKS. They said that they contacted Chevy directly and the only option to troubleshoot further was replace all tire pressure sensors, my window motors and they said I had a faulty ignition switch and that’s what was causing the check engine light. After over $3,000 worth of work and driving a rental for almost a month I get my car back and less than two months later my touch screen is completely and totally unresponsive. Please help.

That's why when I buy used I prefer certified dealer vehicles, for them to take care of the gremlins, and maybe an extended warranty. That help me a lot when I bought my '14 Corvette Z51. It was a big headache like yours, until I got tired of the car and got rid of it.

[jzana7]

Update:
To address several comments at once, The car was out of warranty when I bought it, and the dealership I have been taking it to is one of the largest in my state and well respected so I would hate to think that they wouldn’t check things like that especially if it was a recurring issue. I am beyond frustrated with this car and all in all they have already had this car in service for more than a month and a half. When I parked it tonight I have 40,029 miles on the car, and the touch screen has miraculously started working again. I use a battery tender whenever it is parked for any amount of time but this car is daily driven. Saved cash for 4 years to be able to purchase my dream Camaro in my first color choice and it’s been a total bunk experience so far.

[jamala00]

Originally Posted by jzana7

Update:
To address several comments at once, The car was out of warranty when I bought it, and the dealership I have been taking it to is one of the largest in my state and well respected so I would hate to think that they wouldn’t check things like that especially if it was a recurring issue. I am beyond frustrated with this car and all in all they have already had this car in service for more than a month and a half. When I parked it tonight I have 40,029 miles on the car, and the touch screen has miraculously started working again. I use a battery tender whenever it is parked for any amount of time but this car is daily driven. Saved cash for 4 years to be able to purchase my dream Camaro in my first color choice and it’s been a total bunk experience so far.

This is the time to sell a used car. Get a offer from Vroom or Carmax and dump it. What is the point of owning your dream car if it's nothing but a bunk experience? My '16 SS has just over 40k miles and I am not having any issues. So there are plenty of used cars out there you can get and drive trouble free. Seems you unfortunately just got a lemon. Intermittent electrical issues are the absolute worst.

[Spaceme1117]

Originally Posted by Jaxcam02

Look for a loose ground. I've seen many posts on this loose/faulty ground causing electrical issues. Can't remember which one or where it is but my guess that, its pretty well documented on the first year of the 6th gen cars. I'm sure a search for "loose or faulty ground wire 2016 camaro" would help. I swear I've read it a few times on this site.

I also think that it is likely you just have a bad ground wire somewhere on the car.

I am active on the Corvette forum and bad/loose ground wires are a common problem on the C5, C6, C7 cars and are the cause of all kinds of electrical gremlins.

Here is a link to a thread that has information as to where some of the grounds are: https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showt...ghlight=ground

From that thread, a common problem was that the bolt on the engine near the passenger side manifold near the starter is commonly loose from the factory.

I would have all of the body to engine ground locations and bolts checked for corrosion and tightness. Even check the wires at the battery. Even a small amount of corrosion can cause problems.

[zaimer]

Originally Posted by N Camarolina

Uhhhhhhh..... You do understand that the factory bumper to bumper warrantee is 3 yrs or 36K miles, which ever occurs first, right? That warrantee expired in 2019, likely around the time that OP purchased the used SS.

[FlukeSS]

Originally Posted by N Camarolina

Uhhhhhhh..... You do understand that the factory bumper to bumper warrantee is 3 yrs or 36K miles, which ever occurs first, right? That warrantee expired in 2019, likely around the time that OP purchased the used SS.

Doesn't matter, if it was taken in under warranty for repair, the warranty still applies because the issue was not resolved under warranty. You can also check the car's service history as well if the previous owner brought it in for electronic issues.

And he bought the car with 17k miles on it, which means the original warranty still applies. 36k bumper to bumper is transferable when you buy the car. Surprised more people don't know that?

From GM: "The warranty transfers automatically with vehicle ownership during the warranty period."

IF he bought the car during the warranty period he STILL gets the 36k bumper to bumper.

The real question you should be asking, is what month did he buy the car? What month did he bring it in for repairs?

I bought my 2016 during the exact same time frame he bought his, and I had the full bumper to bumper warranty. I also paid extra to extend it. Again, negotiating the terms of the warranty was part of my purchase strategy.

Also from GM: GMC OPTIONAL EXTENDED LIMITED WARRANTY†
The optional Extended Limited Warranty may be selected for new GMC vehicles only at the time of vehicle purchase. When you choose the Extended Limited Warranty, your coverage is 5 years/60,000 miles, whichever comes first. GMC Extended Limited Warranty has no deductible and the entire vehicle is warranted for repairs, including parts and labor, to correct defects in materials or workmanship

[N Camarolina]

For the sake of not creating confusion to other members about how a warrantee works, I'll respond to your last post in hopes of correcting what you said:

Yes, a vehicle warrantee is transferable to the next owner (for whatever portion of the warrantee is active based on the original terms at time of original purchase).

No, the bumper to bumper warrantee is not necessarily in effect out to 36,000 miles; not if the time limitation (3yrs after original purchase date) has already come and gone. Here is the verbatim text from Chevy's website: "Coverage is for the first 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. Chevrolet is committed to ensuring satisfaction with your new vehicle. Your Chevrolet dealer also wants you to be completely satisfied and invites you to return for all your service needs, both during and after the warranty period. To help keep things in proper working order, Chevrolet will warrant each 2021 model year new vehicle from bumper-to-bumper for 3 years or 36,000 miles (whichever comes first; see dealer for details).

Most of the Camaro owners on this forum don't put a lot of miles on their cars each year. Thus, the warrantees are tending to expire due to time, not mileage.

No, selling the vehicle while under warrantee does not "reset" the warrantee time clock for the next owner. Think about it. If that were true, a vehicle that only accumulates 5K miles per year (like a Camaro for instance) and is resold to a new owner each year would only have 35k miles after 7 years and would still be covered under it's original bumper to bumper warrantee. There's no way Chevy would allow that.

You may have a point about the the warrantee being "extended" beyond the normal term if the problem was was brought tot he dealer's attention during the regular warrantee period but the dealer was unable to fix the problem. I don't know if this true or not, but I would like to hope so.

To the OP, suggest you check back to whether there is documented proof that you or the previous owner brought the car in for electrical problem warrantee service while the vehicle was still eligible under the original 3yr.36k warrantee.

[chevybill]

To the OP, get rid of the car as soon as possible.
You can find another car.

[Gunkk]

Parts cannon status: Fired. At this point I think only a very competent electrician (Joe's Auto Electric or South Main Auto level of competence) can deal with this. Random dealer flunkies will just keep using the OP's money to fire more parts through the cannon.


Here's some background and steps taken from my personal experience with similar battery drain issue.

Our cars have a low power "sleep" mode that uses about 5-20mA normally when the car is sleeping properly. The car will enter sleep normally about 30 seconds after you exit the car and close the door. Only the alarm, onstar system in low power listening mode, and remote keyfob systems are active (there may be others as well). The battery in the car will sustain sleep for 6-12 weeks under normal healthy conditions. More than that will drain the battery.

When the car is off but one or more of the modules are "awake" it will use 200-500mA of power. If the car stays awake and never enters sleep, it will drain the battery in less than 48hrs. This can happen under a number of circumstances:
1. leaving a door or trunk ajar and/or associated switch faults,
2. faults within a module that keep it from sleeping,
3. wiring faults that trigger error codes in modules that keep them from sleeping.
4. aftermarket tail lights with incorrect impedance/resistance (this is more common than most will admit).
5. software bugs or goofy states triggered by GM OTA updates (rare).

This is a bit flippant way of putting it, but wiring can go bad ANYWHERE on the car and cause these problems. And they might, but will not always trigger a CEL (intermittent of otherwise), depending on the fault and affected module. In my car I sometimes get a CEL (maybe 20% of the time on startup) and they can be one or more of several faults seemingly picked at random. Almost never the same list. CEL always shows up only on cold start, never while driving. No physical oddities with car behavior or drivability issues at all with the car ever.

I will tell you from personal experience that 1) most of the primary modules are interconnected on various levels, 2) many of the modules can broadcast signals on the data bus that cause the others to wake up, and stay awake, and 3) unlike the old lead-acid flooded cell batteries, you cannot completely recharge a dead AGM battery with a 30 minute drive; our AGMs recharge SLOWLY. I bought this CTEK tender which took a few days to recharge my battery to "full" after one of these awake module dead battery events. When the battery is healthy, it might top out at full and enter sustain mode (green lights on the CTEK I linked above) in just 12 hrs. Something I noticed with using the tender, is that steps #2 and #5 can fault if the modules are not sleeping (CTEK detects high current from the awake computer modules and thinks the battery is leaky/shorted).

So to fix all of this, I bought one of these disconnects. This version has the correct orientation for our cars. Commonly used in old-school cars with random wiring issues and museums, when the switch is open it is 100% effective at reducing battery drain to 0 mA. I can hook the tender clamp up to the battery side of the switch when open and it will fully charge and maintain the battery without faulting due to random module insomnia. I already had a $15 OBD2 reader and $5 Torque Pro to read and clear CEL codes.

Bottom line: Yes I most likely have an intermittent wiring or module fault somewhere in the car. No I do not trust any of the local dealers (Chevy or Cadillac) to be competent enough to properly diagnose it. Way too easy for them and way too high an incentive for them to just fire the parts cannon and take my money. No, I will not be a parts cannon victim.

I have avoided my problems for under $15, under $100 including the CTEK that I can use on any of my cars.

If I can find a competent electrician or ever decide to sell the car (or both), I might drop a grand or so on to properly diagnose and permanently fix the problem(s). But right now I don't need to.

Your experiences, of course, will vary.


Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[FlukeSS]

Originally Posted by N Camarolina

You may have a point about the the warrantee being "extended" beyond the normal term if the problem was was brought tot he dealer's attention during the regular warrantee period but the dealer was unable to fix the problem. I don't know if this true or not, but I would like to hope so.

To the OP, suggest you check back to whether there is documented proof that you or the previous owner brought the car in for electrical problem warrantee service while the vehicle was still eligible under the original 3yr.36k warrantee.

That was more or less what I was trying to point out. Even if the warranty is expired and there is proof the problem existed. Then under lemon law they have to fix it or replace the car or refund the cost to the OP so he can buy another car.

Now this is in my state, so I am not sure how it is in the OP's state. Or what those qualifications are.



To the Op for the state of Nebraska:

Lemon Law Criteria: Is My Car A Lemon?
A "lemon" is a motor vehicle with a defect which substantially impairs the use or market value and cannot be repaired after reasonable attempts. The vehicle must be:

purchased in Nebraska,
under warranty and
less than one year old when notice is sent to the manufacturer.
The vehicle may be used for any purpose: business, family, household or personal purposes. It may be any size, from a motorcycle to a semi-truck. It may be leased from a dealer in Nebraska.

The vehicle cannot be a trailer or self-propelled motor home.

A vehicle is presumed to be a lemon if

the vehicle has been sent to the dealer four or more times for repair of the same problem, or
you have been without the use of the vehicle for 40 or more days total.
A manufacturer, however, is allowed to argue that the problem does not substantially impair the use or market value of the vehicle or that the problem is a result of abuse, neglect, or unauthorized modifications of the vehicle.

[Pupilbone]

Originally Posted by Gunkk

Parts cannon status: Fired. At this point I think only a very competent electrician (Joe's Auto Electric or South Main Auto level of competence) can deal with this. Random dealer flunkies will just keep using the OP's money to fire more parts through the cannon.


Here's some background and steps taken from my personal experience with similar battery drain issue.

Our cars have a low power "sleep" mode that uses about 5-20mA normally when the car is sleeping properly. The car will enter sleep normally about 30 seconds after you exit the car and close the door. Only the alarm, onstar system in low power listening mode, and remote keyfob systems are active (there may be others as well). The battery in the car will sustain sleep for 6-12 weeks under normal healthy conditions. More than that will drain the battery.

When the car is off but one or more of the modules are "awake" it will use 200-500mA of power. If the car stays awake and never enters sleep, it will drain the battery in less than 48hrs. This can happen under a number of circumstances:
1. leaving a door or trunk ajar and/or associated switch faults,
2. faults within a module that keep it from sleeping,
3. wiring faults that trigger error codes in modules that keep them from sleeping.
4. aftermarket tail lights with incorrect impedance/resistance (this is more common than most will admit).
5. software bugs or goofy states triggered by GM OTA updates (rare).

This is a bit flippant way of putting it, but wiring can go bad ANYWHERE on the car and cause these problems. And they might, but will not always trigger a CEL (intermittent of otherwise), depending on the fault and affected module. In my car I sometimes get a CEL (maybe 20% of the time on startup) and they can be one or more of several faults seemingly picked at random. Almost never the same list. CEL always shows up only on cold start, never while driving. No physical oddities with car behavior or drivability issues at all with the car ever.

I will tell you from personal experience that 1) most of the primary modules are interconnected on various levels, 2) many of the modules can broadcast signals on the data bus that cause the others to wake up, and stay awake, and 3) unlike the old lead-acid flooded cell batteries, you cannot completely recharge a dead AGM battery with a 30 minute drive; our AGMs recharge SLOWLY. I bought this CTEK tender which took a few days to recharge my battery to "full" after one of these awake module dead battery events. When the battery is healthy, it might top out at full and enter sustain mode (green lights on the CTEK I linked above) in just 12 hrs. Something I noticed with using the tender, is that steps #2 and #5 can fault if the modules are not sleeping (CTEK detects high current from the awake computer modules and thinks the battery is leaky/shorted).

So to fix all of this, I bought one of these disconnects. This version has the correct orientation for our cars. Commonly used in old-school cars with random wiring issues and museums, when the switch is open it is 100% effective at reducing battery drain to 0 mA. I can hook the tender clamp up to the battery side of the switch when open and it will fully charge and maintain the battery without faulting due to random module insomnia. I already had a $15 OBD2 reader and $5 Torque Pro to read and clear CEL codes.

Bottom line: Yes I most likely have an intermittent wiring or module fault somewhere in the car. No I do not trust any of the local dealers (Chevy or Cadillac) to be competent enough to properly diagnose it. Way too easy for them and way too high an incentive for them to just fire the parts cannon and take my money. No, I will not be a parts cannon victim.

I have avoided my problems for under $15, under $100 including the CTEK that I can use on any of my cars.

If I can find a competent electrician or ever decide to sell the car (or both), I might drop a grand or so on to properly diagnose and permanently fix the problem(s). But right now I don't need to.

Your experiences, of course, will vary.


Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Great info. Thanks.

[jzana7]

Originally Posted by FlukeSS

That was more or less what I was trying to point out. Even if the warranty is expired and there is proof the problem existed. Then under lemon law they have to fix it or replace the car or refund the cost to the OP so he can buy another car.

Now this is in my state, so I am not sure how it is in the OP's state. Or what those qualifications are.



To the Op for the state of Nebraska:

Sorry new to this forum thing if this doesn’t show up correctly. They have searched my VIN and there are just regular servicing and oil changes on record. Also, the car was bought through the Edmunds app out of state in Kansas, I reside in NE. The dealership I bought it from is a major Audi dealership that took the car in on trade and posted it on edmunds because they were not allowed to display any cars other than Audi with their dealership agreement. To others commenting about wiring and grounding issues, I also have multiple signed service receipts saying the car passes a 52 point inspection, shows no signs of unusual power draws and I’ve had them check at least twice for damage to wiring harnesses or grounds, both times they say it’s up to factory spec. I am taking that with a grain of salt though, but one would hope that a major dealership with certified mechanics, one of the biggest and most well renowned in my area would know what they are doing, but even they are throwing their arms up at this point. I am leaning towards selling, just sucks not only having saved so long for it but to put so much money into it that I know I’ll never get back out. Might just have to take the proverbial “L” on this one as I am no electrician or mechanic.