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Special Coverage #14311: Negative Battery Cable (includes Holden)

357K views 279 replies 106 participants last post by  Blasirl 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Just got notified of another special coverage. I don't have the details yet but it's to resolve the loose Negative Battery Cable some people are experiencing. We have had many members report problems with this cable and its connections. I'll post more information when I receive it.

#14311: Special Coverage Adjustment - Negative Battery Cable Loose - (Dec 3, 2014)
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Subject:14311 — Special Coverage Adjustment – Negative Battery Cable Loose
Models:2011-2015 Chevrolet Cruze
[HR][/HR]ConditionOn certain 2011–2015 model year Chevrolet Cruze vehicles, the negative battery cable terminal clamp may have an insufficient crimp at the battery negative terminal. Over time, the internal resistance increases and vehicle electrical systems do not receive adequate power.
With this condition, the following effects are possible: the Radio/HVAC Display may turn off and on; the Antilock Brake System, Service Traction System, Service Stabilitrac and Steering vehicle messages may come on and off; the turn signal sound may not be heard; “Battery Saver Active” and “Service Steering” may display in the Driver Information Center (DIC); and the interior and exterior lighting may flicker. Power steering assist may also be lost, and greater effort may be needed to turn the steering wheel at low speeds or while the vehicle is stopped.
Special Coverage AdjustmentThis special coverage covers the condition described above for a period of 10 years or 120,000 miles (193,000 km), whichever occurs first, from the date the vehicle was originally placed in service, regardless of ownership.
Dealers will replace the battery negative cable, which will now require a bolt to fasten the small regulated voltage cable. The repairs will be made at no charge to the customer.
For vehicles covered by Vehicle Service Contracts, all eligible claims with repair orders on or after December 4, 2014 are covered by this special coverage and must be submitted using the labor operation codes provided with this bulletin. Claims with repair orders prior to December 4, 2014 must be submitted to the Service Contract provider.
Vehicles InvolvedAll involved vehicles are identified by Vehicle Identification Number on the Applicable Warranties section in GM Global Warranty Management system. Dealership service personnel should always check this site to confirm vehicle involvement prior to beginning any required inspections and/or repairs. It is important to routinely use this tool to verify eligibility because not all similar vehicles may be involved regardless of description or option content.
@gyrfalcon found the link at NHTSA for this coverage adjustment. It's a PDF with more detail. Thank you.

Another Link: TSB #14311

EDIT: Adding 2011-2015 Holden Cruze Service Bulletin for similar coverage:
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#2 ·
Is "loose" another term for "defective"?
 
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#3 ·
Jim, I don't have all the details yet.
 
#4 ·
Omermd-

Are you getting these notifications from safercar.gov or from GM? Still wondering if I'm going to be getting the power steering one. Haven't seen that yet.
 
#5 ·
**** at this point GM might as well extend the coverage of these cars for 150k/15y at this point everything is going to have an extended service period :disgust (1):
 
#11 ·
Just checked my owner center and I have this as well
 
#12 ·
#14311: Special Coverage Adjustment - Negative Battery Cable Loose - (Dec 3, 2014)
Subject: 14311 — Special Coverage Adjustment – Negative Battery Cable Loose
Models: 2011-2015 Chevrolet Cruze
[HR][/HR]ConditionOn certain 2011–2015 model year Chevrolet Cruze vehicles, the negative battery cable terminal clamp may have an insufficient crimp at the battery negative terminal. Over time, the internal resistance increases and vehicle electrical systems do not receive adequate power.
With this condition, the following effects are possible: the Radio/HVAC Display may turn off and on; the Antilock Brake System, Service Traction System, Service Stabilitrac and Steering vehicle messages may come on and off; the turn signal sound may not be heard; “Battery Saver Active” and “Service Steering” may display in the Driver Information Center (DIC); and the interior and exterior lighting may flicker. Power steering assist may also be lost, and greater effort may be needed to turn the steering wheel at low speeds or while the vehicle is stopped.
Special Coverage AdjustmentThis special coverage covers the condition described above for a period of 10 years or 120,000 miles (193,000 km), whichever occurs first, from the date the vehicle was originally placed in service, regardless of ownership.
Dealers will replace the battery negative cable, which will now require a bolt to fasten the small regulated voltage cable. The repairs will be made at no charge to the customer.
For vehicles covered by Vehicle Service Contracts, all eligible claims with repair orders on or after December 4, 2014 are covered by this special coverage and must be submitted using the labor operation codes provided with this bulletin. Claims with repair orders prior to December 4, 2014 must be submitted to the Service Contract provider.
Vehicles InvolvedAll involved vehicles are identified by Vehicle Identification Number on the Applicable Warranties section in GM Global Warranty Management system. Dealership service personnel should always check this site to confirm vehicle involvement prior to beginning any required inspections and/or repairs. It is important to routinely use this tool to verify eligibility because not all similar vehicles may be involved regardless of description or option content.
 
#13 ·
ChevyMGR-

Thanks for the info on this one. As many of us were thinking it was the cables that were loose, not the construction of the cable.

Is there a verification test that Chevy is making you do before replacement? Unlike the water pump that you can see leaking, I'd hope the manufacturer would allow effected owners to have this one done, without such signficant problems mentioned above that could arise from a bad battery cable.
 
#14 ·
Thanks ChevyMgr - I just copy/pasted your post into the thread start so people don't have to dig for it.
 
#15 ·
Just got notified of another special coverage. I don't have the details yet but it's to resolve the loose Negative Battery Cable some people are experiencing. We have had many members report problems with this cable and its connections. I'll post more information when I receive it.
I am having my negative battery cable replaced due to many problems with the car telling me: no remote detected, parking assist off, traction control off. This has been going on since July 2014. They reprogrammed the BCM but lasted for only 1 month.
 
#17 ·
Just got notified of another special coverage. I don't have the details yet but it's to resolve the loose Negative Battery Cable some people are experiencing. We have had many members report problems with this cable and its connections. I'll post more information when I receive it.
My negative cable. I had the cable replaced today. Service Manager said perhaps the copper wires inside of the covering were bad. Don't know how that could be since the problem started 18 months after I bought the car. If I have these problems one more time...I am going to park my car at the dealer until it's resolved.
 
#18 ·
Ah, loose, as in "loose connection", not loose post clamp! I wonder how many replaced cables engineering looked at before identifying what the problem was? Still wondering if this is a design flaw or a manufacturing mistake?
 
#19 ·
Probably some of both. The new cables "bolt" to the battery terminal. I wonder if the issue wasn't so much with the cable as a connection that wasn't long term mechanically and electrically sound.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Nice to see it finally corrected, but it's such a low tech item. I meam really, this piece has been largely unchanged for decades, but it was such a widespread issue. It reminds me of the story I heard from someone that works for a Tier1 supplier. Their lug nut studs were sourced from China and they were getting reject rates of over 20% for the splines being undersized so much they would fall out of the backing plates after being pressed in. Pretty low tech item, wheel studs, but the supplier just couldn't/wouldn't maintain the manufacturing specifications.
 
#21 ·
Just reread the post from ChevyMgr:

insufficient crimp
What idiot in their right mind would weaken a main power cable with crimp? No wonder these things are failing. This is a cost driven design flaw that will now cost GM more to fix than if they had done it right the first time around. I guess this falls into the "not enough time/money to do it right the first time but plenty of time/money to fix it later."
 
#24 · (Edited)
Just reread the post from ChevyMgr:



What idiot in their right mind would weaken a main power cable with crimp? No wonder these things are failing. This is a cost driven design flaw that will now cost GM more to fix than if they had done it right the first time around. I guess this falls into the "not enough time/money to do it right the first time but plenty of time/money to fix it later."
That's what happens when the folks with the green eye shades do the design and engineering!

Added Comments: Curiosity got to me, so I went out to the garage to see what the battery cables look like on our cars.

Both cable attachments on our 12 year old P5 are crimped to the cables. Still tight and no problems with them in over 92K miles. This car had 100% Japanese content when we purchased it new, so I'm guessing the QC was much better and the electrical loads are far less in number and demand.

The battery attachments on the 2 year old Civic are different. The positive cable is bolted to the post clamp. The negative cables have molded on plugs with plastic locking sleeves around them to attach to the negative fixture that clamps to the battery post. No crimping here.
 
#23 ·
I'd take it back with the receipt/workorder. I'm pretty sure GM will refund the repair cost and replace the cable under this Special Coverage number.
 
#25 ·
Just got notified of another special coverage. I don't have the details yet but it's to resolve the loose Negative Battery Cable some people are experiencing. We have had many members report problems with this cable and its connections. I'll post more information when I receive it.
This notice originally was issued in May 2014. Reissued in December 3, 2014.
 
#26 ·
The reissue extended the warranty on the negative battery cable.
 
#27 ·
I wonder how they are supposed to diagnose bad battery cables on cars that haven't had a serious power loss issue?

I was fooling around with mine and the cable has 28 ohms of resistance from end to end. Seems a mite high when it should be below 5 ohms.
 
#30 ·
I wonder if anyone has tried soldering the crimped connections? Granted, it would take a large iron or gun, but might be temporary fix until you could get it in for the warranty coverage.
 
#32 ·
Went to the dealer this morning with a copy of the warranty extension i printed from the first page of this thread. Dealer is ordering the cable and will install free when i come back home from holiday stuff. In the mean time i had them get after the crimp connection with a pair of vice grips and inspect all ground connections for tightness. Lets see if i can make it till the 5th before i have another issue..
 
#33 ·
This is the negative cable from the battery to the front Frame gounding spot right? What makes this GM cable so special, that it couldn't be replaced in an emergency with $5-$10 negative battery cable that you can buy at your local farm supply or even warmart? Or cut the end off the factory cable, and use an aftermarket end connection at the battery.

Am I understanding the cable that they are replacing correctly? It doesn't even run all the way down to the starter like old cars did. It runs to the main ground connection that is part of the body assembly.

I'm not happy about all these recalls and issues with a newer car either, but at least GM acknoldged an issue, and the fix appears to be pretty easy, and won't leave you stranded. Worst case there's a walmart nearly everywhere that should have a cable that would work for this in an emergency.

I spent 12 years driving Oldsmobile Intrigues with dimming headlights, that GM called an overload demand due to the smog pump running. Sure the smog pump triggered the flickering, but it didn't go away, and it was something in the alternator, and the alternator on the 3.5L LX5 shortstar is a lot of work for removal.

While I'm not thrilled with all these issues occuring lately, at least we're being made aware of them, and with the knowledge of the issue, any shop anywhere could address this issue, even if it was a temporary solution.
 
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