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Old 09-09-2020, 05:31 AM   #1
Amy Masey
 
Drives: 2014 Cheverolet Camaro
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: Gurdon, Arkansas
Posts: 1
Exclamation Battery Saver Active, alt.not charging, fuel gauge & range not working

A deer plowed into the passenger side of my 2014 Camaro, resulting in damage to both the front and rear body panels, as well as the door, in short, that whole side needed replacing. The resulting damage was strictly limited to body damage, as nothing mechanical or electrical was phased by the deer impact. I drove the car about 6months before taking it in for repairs, and absolutely nothing was wrong w it aside from the body damage.


When I picked the car up after the body work was completed, upon initial start up, displayed across the cars information center was "BATTERY SAVER ACTIVE!". I also immediately noticed my gas gauge and range were no longer working. The body shop checked the car out and told me the alternator was not charging, they were clueless about the battery saver active message. I had them charge the battery up, as it was not holding a charge, no doubt the alternator was bad, and drove it to a mechanic and had an alt put in. This fixed the not holding a charge issue but none of the others. From here I was directed to a dealership, who found my fuel sensor is bad and must be replaced and finally, just as they were prepping to start removing the recently replaced side panels, searching for the possibility of a crimped wire, probably as they were unhooking my battery, they saw the battery ground cable was hooked to the battery saver, not to the negative terminal, like it should have been. The body shop is claiming they didn't unhook my battery, but the dealership says, if they did not unhook my battery something is wrong w them. This kind of a job requires the battery to be unhooked. I have put it back on my ins to deal with as this work is not satisfàctory, and yes, the body shop got pd for the job, months before it was done. I am confident I will be reimbursed for the $1000 I have already been out due to this error (alt $450, battery ground cable $110, diagnosis $405) and I expect them to pay for the repairs still needed ($1000 fuel sensor). I feel extremely fortunate my ECM was not fried, and pray no other issues come up! Hopefully this doesn't happen to anyone else, but you never know so I thought I would share this.
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Old 04-23-2021, 01:37 PM   #2
AlanRubin
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Drives: 2010 LS
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: Pgh
Posts: 411
The battery saver active notification means that there is some issue with the
charging system. Either it’s not storing enough voltage (battery), not creating
enough voltage (alternator), or the voltage is getting lost from the alternator to the
battery (bad cables/corroded terminals or grounds). The ground from the battery
to the chassis is not a good one, there have been known issues with it. I added
one from the (-) post, so the striker RH side bolt. I pulled the bolts out, and pulled
the striker off. Sanded the RH bolt hole area to bare metal. Sanded the RH side of
the striker to bare metal (top and bottom), then put a 4GA ground there. This
also, after pulling the bolt from the factory ground to chassis, cleaned the bolt with
a wire wheel, and cleaned the threads in the chassis with a wire brush, like a
pipe cleaner.

If you are getting a battery saver active message, it means that your Camaro’s
electrical system voltage has dropped to a critical level (less than 11.7 volts). Typical
electrical systems run at 13+ volts with the engine running. The battery should also
be over 12 volts even with the vehicle sitting. If this feature is on, assume that your
car will stop running, and get it fixed immediately.

Check to be sure the current sensor is connected, and working. If that fails, BSM can
be activated.

If it was fine, then BSM came on while you were driving, then 10:1 it's the
alternator. Check the 2-wire connection at the back of the alternator, that is
where the ECU tells the regulator how much charge voltage is needed. They
use a 5V PWM signal to control that, by changing the duty cycle (pulses).

I got a Valeo alternator for $125.77 total on eBay, so $450 is pretty high.
Advance was $409... Valeo is what's in there now, more then likely. Mine
was.
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