Factory ZL1 battery life span

[Beachguysc]

Old thread but new info. I was having electrical issues in my 2013 zl1 I bought a few months ago. Was told it could be battery, so I checked for date code on battery, but couldn’t find. Then learned that I had a factory issued battery. Installed in 12/12. It’s now 7/23 and just now starting to decline. Never seen a car battery to last 10.5 years. Switching battery didn’t fix my electric issue, so it may have even lasted longer.

[Tomtom87]

My factory battery went bad last year. 2013 ZL1. Started getting Stabilitrack errors and a new battery fixed that. 9 years is pretty impressive.

If im not mistaken, GM vehicles have a system where the alternator only charges rhe battery when it goes below a certain voltage and in turn gives much longer battery life

[ZMEnow]

Originally Posted by Beachguysc

Old thread but new info. I was having electrical issues in my 2013 zl1 I bought a few months ago. Was told it could be battery, so I checked for date code on battery, but couldn’t find. Then learned that I had a factory issued battery. Installed in 12/12. It’s now 7/23 and just now starting to decline. Never seen a car battery to last 10.5 years. Switching battery didn’t fix my electric issue, so it may have even lasted longer.

Replaced mine this year it was stamped Nov 2012. I could no longer get a 14volt charge when driving and the lights would dim when slowing down which is all the indication of a bad alternator but it was the battery. Mine sits on a tender as soon a I pull it in the garage on the lift. I suspect it may have caused an issue with the suspension control module which can get affected when the battery gets low when driving.

[HDRDTD]

As a rule, I replace mine every 5-7 years proactively.

[el ess A]

On the 2010, its battery started to act up after 9 years, in 2018. Bought a Die Hard AGM for it and decided to swap out the 2013 factory battery into it and put the AGM in the 2013.

So far, the ZL1 factory battery in the 2010 is still cranking up the car easily without issue. 10.5 years at least. And the Die Hard AGM, still running strong.

Both cars get the battery tender as soon as they're in the garage. I truly believe they survived because of that. They're definitely not daily drivers.

[z28lt1]

I replaced my 2014 earlier this year. They last a while. Think the quality of the battery is good to begin with and the trunk is a much more friendly environment than under the hood which probably also prolongs its life.

[Bigtime53]

Mine is a 2013 ZL1 and it still has the factory battery in it but it is getting weak now. I drove it yesterday and noticed it acted like it was having a harder time cranking it over so I am going to replace it soon.

[Robmnrd]

Probably doesn't mean much but I'll toss in that my 2013 has the original battery and is not currently showing any (outward) indications of having issues. Starts first time, second time, third time, etc., however many times in a row I need to start it (for whatever reason if I am doing frequent starts). Cold weather, hot weather, both are fine. Still successfully does GM's weird "stops charging when full" thing, where it'll hit 14.8 (on the indicator) then drops, then recharges back up, etc. Runs without dropping below 'normal' range with lots of accessories on, etc.


I should definitely knock on some wood right now because I'm about to start a mini-roadtrip (3 hour drive one way), and with my luck by posting this I'll stop for gas and it won't start hahahaha.

Near the end of this year I plan to do oil change, flush/fill coolant (been about 5 years), and maybe look into a new battery (proactively) but "If it ain't broke don't fix it" has always been my motto with everything electronic on a vehicle, so I kind of don't want to do it yet. But we will see.

[HDRDTD]

Note: In the old days, you could tell the battery was getting old when cranking would start to be a bit slower.

However, that's not a good indicator anymore with our car that have much more electrical/electronic items.

Nowadays when a battery gets old/weak, it manifests itself in totally random electrical; hiccups/gremlins.

[VRZL113]

Just replaced the oem battery in my 2014 ZL1... 9 years.

Replaced it with the lighter weight ACdelco AGM battery for the Z28. Works great.

[VRZL113]

Originally Posted by HDRDTD

Note: In the old days, you could tell the battery was getting old when cranking would start to be a bit slower.

However, that's not a good indicator anymore with our car that have much more electrical/electronic items.

Nowadays when a battery gets old/weak, it manifests itself in totally random electrical; hiccups/gremlins.

Yep, agreed!

My car was having a hard time locking and unlocking the doors... It would fire up ok on the initial start, but if I parked it and tried starting backup, the car would crank hard.

[lbls1]

I have had a not so good experience with the battery, but I learned a few things along the line as well. My factory battery lasted 6 years with my tender attached. At first I thought that given it was attached to a power replenisher, that the life span was a bit short. I replaced the factory battery with a Delco replacement, and I got only 3 years out of it before it went dead. Now I was scratching my head wondering whether Delco batteries were crap. I figured out my problem; The tender was attached to the accessory pole under the hood. Normally one would not think that it was a problem, but recall that the tender will not recharge a dead battery. It will only top off a battery that has dipped in power. What I believed happened was that my battery went very low in power, and the tender did not fully re-charge it. Over the winter and spring, the battery died. What I did this time, was to connect the tender directly to the battery terminals (like I have it on my truck). I did this because my truck never had a dead battery issue with the tender, and its original battery lasted 9 years with the tender.

So hopefully I will have better performance this time around from the Delco battery.

[ZMEnow]

Originally Posted by lbls1

I have had a not so good experience with the battery, but I learned a few things along the line as well. My factory battery lasted 6 years with my tender attached. At first I thought that given it was attached to a power replenisher, that the life span was a bit short. I replaced the factory battery with a Delco replacement, and I got only 3 years out of it before it went dead. Now I was scratching my head wondering whether Delco batteries were crap. I figured out my problem; The tender was attached to the accessory pole under the hood. Normally one would not think that it was a problem, but recall that the tender will not recharge a dead battery. It will only top off a battery that has dipped in power. What I believed happened was that my battery went very low in power, and the tender did not fully re-charge it. Over the winter and spring, the battery died. What I did this time, was to connect the tender directly to the battery terminals (like I have it on my truck). I did this because my truck never had a dead battery issue with the tender, and its original battery lasted 9 years with the tender.

So hopefully I will have better performance this time around from the Delco battery.

Have always done it this way. Since I use a Ctek the cords disconnect in the middle so I just leave it on the battery and drop the cord in the trunk. When I return I just pull out the end cord snap the two cords together and don't close the trunk all the way.

[lbls1]

Originally Posted by ZMEnow

Have always done it this way. Since I use a Ctek the cords disconnect in the middle so I just leave it on the battery and drop the cord in the trunk. When I return I just pull out the end cord snap the two cords together and don't close the trunk all the way.

Gotcha. I sliced the rubber grommet inside of the well where the battery rests, and ran the end of the tender leads through it. Then the other end of the tender itself I will hook up and disconnect when I go to drive the car. This way I can keep the trunk closed. I was thinking of resting the tender inside of the trunk and leaving it open; That is another option.