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Service Theft Deterrent:::> Battery Issue?

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#1 · (Edited)
Service Theft Deterrent:::> Battery Issue? - :::::> Battery Replacement Intructions

This morning when I cranked my truck, it didn't seem to have the power in the crank I usually hear. Once truck started, I got a SERVICE THEFT DETERRENT message on the DIC.

I pulled up to the stop sign at the end of the street, killed the engine, pulled the key, opened the door, closed door, and re-started the truck. Got the same message, and when I cleared it, got the message about open & close window. Again, when I cranked it this time, the power seemed lacking. I opened and closed driver window and that message went away.

DIC voltage was 14.3 - 14.5 as I started my drive to work, as I got closer, had dropped to 13.8 volts.

In past vehicles, the hesitation in cranking power would tell me I was going to need a new battery soon. Assuming it cranks tonight to go home, will check out the battery with voltmeter, may be getting a new battery soon. Only 2 1/1 years old, but crossed 52K miles yesterday.

Just documenting for followup.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Weak Battery . . reads fine, but hard start, dubious DIC messages.

DIC voltage was 14.3 - 14.5 as I started my drive to work, as I got closer, had dropped to 13.8 volts.

In past vehicles, the hesitation in cranking power would tell me I was going to need a new battery soon. Assuming it cranks tonight to go home, will check out the battery with voltmeter, may be getting a new battery soon. Only 2 1/1 years old, but crossed 52K miles yesterday.

Just documenting for followup.
It's not unheard of for a factory battery to loose power in only 2 years or so. Especially in hot areas of the country where there may be weeks on end of +90F temps. That means under hood temps much higher. The thin plates in newer batteries do not hold up well in heat as you probably already know.

Best to put a meter on the battery and read the voltage . . . AS you turn the key to start. You may need a helper or position your meter so you can see via the windshield. It shouldn't drop much lower than ~ 12VDC or so. Any lower (like 10 VDC) and that means it is at reduced capacity.
Reading static voltage on a meter with the battery under minimal load doesn't always tell much. Also, if the battery voltage drops quite a bit, it can scramble other control modules in the truck due to lower starting voltage and cause vague or unrelated messages on the Driver Information Screen. .
Good to know though. . . . A lot of newer 2 or 3 year old vehicles from all car makers have batteries go out fairly soon.
 
#3 ·
Update

Ran tests when I got home last night:

Sitting in driveway with engine off, battery tested at 12.7 volts.

Cranked engine, battery tested at 13.5 volts once the truck ran for 30 seconds or so.

Killed engine, battery dropped back to 12.7 volts.

Turned headlights on, left engine off, battery dropped to 12.5 volts. (If you took your battery into a shop, they would have a load they put on battery, much higher than the headlights, to test if battery was good.)

Per these tests, the battery was reasonable.

This morning:

When I shut truck down last night, DIC was sitting on the battery output screen. So, when I cranked this morning, it was the display I saw.

Cranked slow this morning, saw the voltage drop to about 10 volts before alternator kicked in and brought it up to 15.2 volts. It came back down into the 13.5 volt range fairly quickly.

Busy day today, but I think I see a new battery in my truck tonight after I get home from work.

Trying to decide if I can get a larger battery - the battery pan is much longer than the current battery. It looks like the hot lead(s) would be able to flex enough to install a longer battery. I am a firm believer that, when looking at the exact same battery design and chemical composition, two batteries, the larger battery is going to have more backup power than the smaller.

As far as direct replacement, looks like O'Reilly and Autozone both have a battery around $155, Battery Plus has a "Duracell" with same CCA and warranty for $145, plus if I order online and pick up at store may be a 10% discount. Core charge is $18, will probably toss my tools in the truck and change in the parking lot to save us both the trouble of dealing with the core charge.

Anyone have any thoughts on batteries for our trucks? Anything to be aware of when swapping out the battery? All of these plastic covers and multiple taps off the battery make me a bit nervous. Might need a bit more than a 7/16 ratchet with an extension, or was it a 10 MM?
 
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#4 ·
Tuesday night I ran by Batteries Plus. The young kid hooked up his battery tester and announced my battery was fine. Truck cranked fine, after I first reported the issue, didn't seem to be an issue Wednesday or even Thursday morning. After work Thursday, I went to start the truck to drive home, and battery was dead. Thanks to the guy about my age driving a Ford car with several U.S. Marine insignia for jumping me off, I made it home to take my wife to dinner for our anniversary. After dinner, jumped it off and headed back over to Battery Plus. Besides having the best price, they are the closest place to me for a battery.

Replaced battery, only one issue: My radio is showing the frequency it is tuned to, but none of the other information, like call letters of station or song title/artist. I guess I will try to pull the ground wire tonight, let it set a few minutes, then re-attach. Any other thoughts on how to correct this error?

I didn't take any pictures, but here is a short HOW-TO on changing the battery. I know, should be simple, but there is a lot of junk attached to the top of the battery.

1. Tools needed: 10 MM regular depth socket, 13 MM Deep socket, or you could do this with open/box end wrenches in 10 & 13 mm sizes. Also, a fairly long, thin, slotted screwdriver. If you are short, you may want a small step of some sort. Probably not much, but a 1 foot tall platform to work from would make it easier to reach in, to lift the battery out, etc. Obviously, don't let your stool scratch the side of the truck.

2. Use 10 MM regular socket to disconnect ground. The negative battery clamp is one of those stamped sheet metal type, maybe a little better quality than some I have seen, and the head of the clamping bolt actually points upward. Uses a wedge type design to exert the clamping force.

3. Flip up the small plastic cover on the positive post and loosen the more traditional "lead" clamp on the positive side with your 10 MM socket.

4. There is a large square shaped plastic piece that covers the front 1/3 of the battery, pretty much from the battery hold down bar to the front of the battery. (Orientation is to the truck, the positive pole is toward the front bumper, the negative pole is toward the firewall. ) To remove this part, you have to gently pry the plastic clip that secures the plastic cover to the battery, this is located on the side toward the engine, other side from the fender. Once you release the clip from the engine side, you can work it loose on the fender side.

5. Using the 13 MM deep socket, remove the nut that holds down the metal hold down bar that stretches across the battery. With the nut removed, you can rotate the metal bar up, then pull it out of the slot in the fender wall.

6. The battery is held down by a second clamp, a more traditional plastic wedge at the base of the battery, engine side. The same threaded rod that you removed the metal hold down bar from in step 5 now has a hex shape portion an inch or so down the length that extends down to the plastic wedge at the base of the battery. Remove this rod and the plastic wedge. Take care to not let the washer fall off the rod as you remove the rod.

7. You can now remove the battery. A 3rd hand would be nice here, to hold the ground wires and that plastic piece from Step 4 that has multiple cables coming out from it while you lift the battery. The factory battery did not have any handles, but I borrowed from the store the scissor type battery clamp they use to carry batteries, and it was fairly easy to remove. Had to snake it out from underneath all of those negative and positive cables, but not bad.

8. New battery had some small handles integral to the battery, so I used these to pick up the new battery and place it in the truck. Little more difficult, keeping the cables out of the way as you try to drop it in. This is where that 3rd hand really would have been nice. I actually trapped part of the ground wire under the battery when I first dropped it in place, but I knew to look for this, so it was easy to clear.

NOTE: The plastic battery tray that the battery sits on in the engine compartment is perhaps 3-4" longer than the OEM battery and my battery was a direct replacement. In the bottom of the tray, there seems to be a series of raised bumps. In order to properly seat the battery, you need to make sure the battery is behind the bumps and the edge of the battery is not sitting on the bumps. These bumps would keep the battery from sliding forward once it is clamped down.

9. Re-install all the mounting hardware. Start with the plastic wedge and the long rod. Then re-install the metal hold down bar and the nut. (13 MM deep socket)

10. Snap the square plastic piece back over the front half of the battery. It snapped on nicely on my replacement battery. I was worried about whether this was going to be an issue, maybe these are all exactly to a tight specification. Hook up the positive clamp and then the negative clamp. (10 MM socket.)

You are done, insure all tools, rags, etc. are removed from under the hood and nothing could get sucked or fall into the fan or belt area of the engine compartment, then go crank your truck.

(Return old battery to retailer to recover core charge.)

Wash your hands. I am always concerned I may have gotten battery acid on my hands that I transfer to the interior of the truck or my clothes. The new sealed batteries don't seem to be as big an issue with this, but I still remember adding water to car batteries.
 
#7 ·
Wash your hands. I am always concerned I may have gotten battery acid on my hands that I transfer to the interior of the truck or my clothes. The new sealed batteries don't seem to be as big an issue with this, but I still remember adding water to car batteries.
It's too bad I didn't save all those battery acid eaten pairs of jeans and jean jackets back in the day. They would be worth money. They're in style now you know.
 
#5 ·
I am having a similar issue in my 2015 Colorado. The Theft Deterrent System message is showing along with the roll down and up the driver window. After following those directions the engine still did not crank. After sitting in the vehicle for less than 10 minutes with the key turned to on position I got the Service Charging System warning pop up and now I have no power to roll the windows or crank the truck.
This started as a Theft Deterrent System warning, but could it just be a battery problem?
 
#6 ·
I can't answer if this is a battery problem, but my initial test for a battery is pretty simple. Blow the horn. Does it sound proper, or does it sound weak?

I haven't tried this test on a modern vehicle, but it always seemed to work for older cars.

FYI - In my instructions above, I noted a problem with the Radio. This is called the RDS option, and for some reason, it got turned off - simply turn back on in the Radio setup screens.
 
#9 ·
Service Theft Deterrent:::> Battery Issue? - :::::> Battery Replacement Intructions

This morning when I cranked my truck, it didn't seem to have the power in the crank I usually hear. Once truck started, I got a SERVICE THEFT DETERRENT message on the DIC.

I pulled up to the stop sign at the end of the street, killed the engine, pulled the key, opened the door, closed door, and re-started the truck. Got the same message, and when I cleared it, got the message about open & close window. Again, when I cranked it this time, the power seemed lacking. I opened and closed driver window and that message went away.

DIC voltage was 14.3 - 14.5 as I started my drive to work, as I got closer, had dropped to 13.8 volts.

In past vehicles, the hesitation in cranking power would tell me I was going to need a new battery soon. Assuming it cranks tonight to go home, will check out the battery with voltmeter, may be getting a new battery soon. Only 2 1/1 years old, but crossed 52K miles yesterday.

Just documenting for followup.
I know I'm reviving an old post but wanted to follow up to say that my truck did this yesterday. I noticed it had been turning over slower than usual and yesterday, it started but immediately threw this warning about servicing the theft deterrent system.

I put the battery on a charger overnight since it would be colder tonight. This morning I took it to a shop and the battery tested as weak. After a battery replacement, all is well.
 
#10 ·
Well the original feeling was true, slow crank-new battery in your future.

I say try a local battery shop, I discovered they have better prices than Autozone and better batteries I'm guessing. They also usually have better testing tools too. AND lots more experience in changing them if you don't do it yourself.

One thing I noticed on mine when i changed it 1 month after the warranty !expired! was I didn't like the way the positive cable was laying on the bracket that even has a lip on it. It looked like a major burn down the truck short waiting to happen. I ended up moving the battery after they installed it when I got home to relieve some pressure off the positive cable to the bracket. Maybe take a look at yours people and see if you have that problem too. I'm curious.
 
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#11 ·
Just lost a 2 year old battery in the Acadia.

I was waiting at the store with the radio on for 15 min. Then nothing when I went to crank it. Jumped it to get home and tested th3 battery was failing.

I went to a Delco Professional AGM since I had one at work. I put the largest that would fit in.

I was more concerned this year on the Canyon battery but the Acadia failed. It was cheaper for me to just replace it at my cost vs prorated at the dealer.

I had considered a Optima but I was not sure if the wire harness that snaps on would snap on the Optima.

I note Optima on most All new vehicles recommend a yellow top deep cycle. Used to be most new cars were Red tops but they are moving it up a level.
 
#12 ·
Just chiming in here - I got this warning message once before, together with something about rolling up and down the driver front window. I replaced my 3.5 year old battery then and issues stopped.

About 10 months later the “service theft deterrent” system message is back again but only intermittently. Has not prevented me starting the truck or forced the engine to stall but it definitely makes me nervous.

Just confirmed the battery is good. I had been driving with the steering wheel fully extended/telescoped out, so I pushed it back in a few inches. I’ll follow up if things change for better or worse...
 
#13 ·
Not sure if this is useful to others but sharing my “duh” moment on this “service theft deterrent system”... It was a wireless charging mount attached to the A/C vents to the right of the steering wheel - near the ignition!

The charger was causing interference with the ignition’s ability to verify the key, which was throwing the error.

The dealer checked the code for me and didn’t make the discovery, just cleared the code and recommended I keep any proximity access cards or “Tile” key finder chips away from the key and ignition.
 
#14 ·
Hmmmm interesting. I just took my 2015 for a ride around the block as it gets very little use during winter months. It started okay. Nothing unusual in terms of cranking power.
Just as I'm heading up the street the "service theft deterrent" message comes on. It was previously on the tire pressure screen displayed on the DIC but no longer able to navigate to any other screens. I drove home, shut the truck off and turned it on again. Everything returned to normal.

The only electronics nearby was my cellphone in my breast pocket. I will have to keep a close eye on that 5 year old battery.
 
#15 ·
My truck had just about everything going crazy when the battery went down to 12.2 volts this past Monday, engine was running as if it was only 4 cylinders and trans was not shifting right either, changed the battery, everything back to normal. Strange to say the least, but I laughed since the sales person behind the counter asked if my voltage dropped to 12.2 and if crazy things happening and I said yes, he said that's what they seem to do.
 
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