Out of the blue my 2016 hybrid won’t start. Starting acting crazy!! Tow truck showed up. By this time the car was completely dead. He said the 12V battery in the trunk was very weak. Just wondering if anyone has had a similar problem? Also concerned if I could be having an alternator problem. Haven’t seen and warning lights or anything, just seams odd for the battery to just be dead. Is there any surprises if I change this battery? Thanks
2016 Malibu Hybrid won’t start!!
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Yes batteries can and do just go dead. 5 yrs out of the battery is average and actually you have done well with 5 yrs. on today's batteries.
After changing battery, using a voltmeter, check the voltage at the battery with the car running. Minimum of 13.6 volts is what we like to see if charging system is working fine.
I'm not sure if your car has a voltage option in the driver display, that will show if charging system is working also with engine running.
After changing battery, using a voltmeter, check the voltage at the battery with the car running. Minimum of 13.6 volts is what we like to see if charging system is working fine.
I'm not sure if your car has a voltage option in the driver display, that will show if charging system is working also with engine running.
Thanks for the reply. Replaced the 12V battery, all good except for some codes that I need to clear. Interesting fact though. There’s been some comments about when the battery dies you can’t open the trunk. Well if you open the hood and boost the terminals, I used 50A quickly, it’ll give you enough juice to open trunk!!!
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Funny, I just had this same problem 4 days ago as well. 2016 Hybrid had this issue in 2020 (about a year ago) as well. The following is what did. I'm responding to this to hopefully add another similar scenario to the original post. I will try to be as detailed as I can. Hope even a small detail helps someone out.
1) looked around for anything left on or plugged in. No evidence I did anything dumb. (Yet!)
2) Jump started the battery from under the hood. (Trunk wont open with out power). The car started and ran fine.
3) I then charged the battery by taking a long ride, still everything was fine.
4) I ordered an interstate battery for this application as it was the original GM battery. I got it to install next day.
5) I procrastinated for two months not installing the new battery since the car seemed to be fine with the four year old OE one. No codes and no worries.
6) I installed the new batt and went on my merry way till 4 days ago.
7) I did have the reduced power and stabillitrac messages come up and and a day later the battery was dead. so I jumped it with another 12v battery without the other vehicle running.
I then drove it and seemed to charge the battery just fine. as of this writing, 100+mi and 2 days later it is ok.
Then came the "dumb" thing, (y'all saw it coming) I accidently hit clear codes on my new scanner. Yep! I cant provide any codes for diagnosis on this one, sorry. I will update this if it sets any new codes. Thanks all!
1) looked around for anything left on or plugged in. No evidence I did anything dumb. (Yet!)
2) Jump started the battery from under the hood. (Trunk wont open with out power). The car started and ran fine.
3) I then charged the battery by taking a long ride, still everything was fine.
4) I ordered an interstate battery for this application as it was the original GM battery. I got it to install next day.
5) I procrastinated for two months not installing the new battery since the car seemed to be fine with the four year old OE one. No codes and no worries.
6) I installed the new batt and went on my merry way till 4 days ago.
7) I did have the reduced power and stabillitrac messages come up and and a day later the battery was dead. so I jumped it with another 12v battery without the other vehicle running.
I then drove it and seemed to charge the battery just fine. as of this writing, 100+mi and 2 days later it is ok.
Then came the "dumb" thing, (y'all saw it coming) I accidently hit clear codes on my new scanner. Yep! I cant provide any codes for diagnosis on this one, sorry. I will update this if it sets any new codes. Thanks all!
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I had the issue a few months ago on my 2017 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid and a bunch of weird trouble codes popped up. The battery was changed and trouble codes cleared and all is good. The original 12v battery lasted a little under 3 years.
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Btw, you do have a 12V system voltage display as an option in the area between the gauges. For those who weren't aware, here's how you activate it:
1) On the right spoke of the steering wheel, press the left arrow to activate the main menu.
2) Use the down arrow to scroll down to "Options". Press the "check" button in the middle of the up/down/left/right arrows.
3) Use the up or down arrow to get to "i" with a circle around it.
4) Use the right arrow to get to "Edit List". Press the "check" button.
5) Arrow down to "Battery Voltage" and press the "check" button.
6) Keep pressing the left arrow until until you're back to the main menu.
7) Arrow up to "Info", then press the "check" button.
Now there will be a system voltage display added to whatever other items you've selected for your normal scrolling menu between the gauges. My '17 MH is in the low 70ks for mileage now with mostly highway miles, so I've spent a fair amount of time watching the system voltage. Except for the one time the car died on me, when the battery dropped to 11.8V, it has always run between 12.5V and 15.5V...oddly, more often at those extremes than you would expect. The car often sits for a week or two between uses, and always with a CTek smart charger connected under the hood. Consequently, the 12V battery always has a full charge on it when I start any drive...and yet the voltage monitor will often show 12.5 as I start a drive. This has been true since the car was new, so I quit worrying about it. And as for the 15.5V readings that I see occasionally, I used to worry about that as well...until I did some reading on the charging requirements of AGM batteries. They appear to favor a sightly higher charging voltage...at least 0.5V higher than a conventional battery, if not more. I suppose I'll be needing a new battery at some point, but have not noticed any performance degradation so far (knock on wood).
I hope all this is useful to someone.
1) On the right spoke of the steering wheel, press the left arrow to activate the main menu.
2) Use the down arrow to scroll down to "Options". Press the "check" button in the middle of the up/down/left/right arrows.
3) Use the up or down arrow to get to "i" with a circle around it.
4) Use the right arrow to get to "Edit List". Press the "check" button.
5) Arrow down to "Battery Voltage" and press the "check" button.
6) Keep pressing the left arrow until until you're back to the main menu.
7) Arrow up to "Info", then press the "check" button.
Now there will be a system voltage display added to whatever other items you've selected for your normal scrolling menu between the gauges. My '17 MH is in the low 70ks for mileage now with mostly highway miles, so I've spent a fair amount of time watching the system voltage. Except for the one time the car died on me, when the battery dropped to 11.8V, it has always run between 12.5V and 15.5V...oddly, more often at those extremes than you would expect. The car often sits for a week or two between uses, and always with a CTek smart charger connected under the hood. Consequently, the 12V battery always has a full charge on it when I start any drive...and yet the voltage monitor will often show 12.5 as I start a drive. This has been true since the car was new, so I quit worrying about it. And as for the 15.5V readings that I see occasionally, I used to worry about that as well...until I did some reading on the charging requirements of AGM batteries. They appear to favor a sightly higher charging voltage...at least 0.5V higher than a conventional battery, if not more. I suppose I'll be needing a new battery at some point, but have not noticed any performance degradation so far (knock on wood).
I hope all this is useful to someone.
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