Holden VE Commodore Battery Drain Issue
August 31, 2007 by Paul Maric
We have received several complaints from readers, and one of our motoring writers has encountered this particular issue with two press vehicles, so we would like to get a consensus of the severity of this problem.
From the data we have collected, this issue seems to be affecting all VE Commodore models, ranging from run of the mill Omega, right through to the top of the line HSV Grange.
The problem appears to occur when a vehicle is left for over one day without being driven, started or unlocked. When the vehicle is left in this state, a rogue component in the vehicle drains every last inch of charge from the battery, rendering it useless. The only way to alleviate the issue is to jump-start the car and depending on the model being examined, varied wait times are required to start the vehicle again due to additional components operating.
We have had reported claims relating to the following models – Omega, SS-V, Grange and Calais V.
If your VE Commodore is having a similar issue, we would appreciate if you could contact CarAdvice via the Warranty Complaints page with some details about your problem and how long your car is left alone before it drains the battery. One extreme case saw a vehicle’s battery drained after a 1-hour stint of radio operation, so results seem to vary between models.
From the affected users we have heard from so far, many have detailed the lack of retort from Holden. Those that have contacted their service departments have received below-par responses.
We appreciate your input and will hopefully be able to gauge the spread of this problem in due course. We will keep you posted with the results.
Print it: 
One would have thought that your electrician – any auto electrician – is able to pin-point the leak in 5 minutes.
Just purchased a Oct 2007 VE SV6, same problem, Bit concerned after one night. Its hard when you cant rely on a battery because we left the key in the igition for an hour while we were cleaning it and listening to the radio. Not impressed at having to jump start it and defintely not impressed with the thought that it now has to be something that is considered everytime I go to start the car. Used to be a big fan of holden, something so simple shouldnt be enough to put people off. Quiet disappointing
my 08 VE SS V had the battery drain problem back in july. Took it to the dealer who did a re-flash and charged the battery overnight. Since then it’s been ok until middle of last week when it happened again.
I sent customer service an email with Choice magazine, Motor & Whee magazine copied in and got reply back from them the next day telling me the usual stuff about the dealer needing to diagnose the problem etc. Now this morning it’s happened again and i’ve sent them another email telling them to pick the car up themselves and that i want a load car while they fix mine.
Will wait and see what happens but frankly i am amazed and incredibly disappointed that this is even happening. I switched from Ford to Holden because of rubbish customer service and now it’s happening with this car.
I purchased a 07 VE Calais international, and also encountered the battery drain problem after 3 days of ownership, very disappointing. What I worked out is that if you turn the radio or CD on without the ignition key in the accessory position, the CD will keep playing draining the battery, even if the car has been switched off and locked.
If however you turn the radio/CD on with the ignition key in the accessory position, the audio system will shutdown when you open the door or lock the car.
Most Jap cars I have owned will let you listen to the radio etc without a key in the ignition, but the radio has a timer that will shut the system off after 30 minutes or so, it seems with the Holden this is not the case.
I have not had any issues since, touch wood as I would have to dismantle half the back end of the car just to change the battery.
It’s a great car though.
I think they have fixed it if it was the radio issue,my brand new sv6 turns off the radio as soon as door is opened no matter what position the key is in when radio turned on,find it hard to believe that it wasnt always that way with a car that cost well over a billion $ to develop?!
000
I’d put my money on some computer/software problem that some lazy bugger in the factory didn’t pick up. Example… Systems stay on when the door is locked or a ‘lock door’ command stuck in a continuous cycle. The possibilites are endless with computer glitches.
revised if i turn on the radio after removing keys it stays on for one hour
I have a Holden Berlina and when I loaded my CD stacker while the car was in the standby position. I then tried to start the car and found that the battery was flat I had to call out the road service to jump star the car it stated immediately and when the battery was checked it appears to be fully charged. Can it be the CD player draining the battery or is it because I have not driven the car for 2 days
How do I get into the Boot to replace the battery of oiur VE with NO power
Jack R,
Open the car with your key (the old fashioned way), open back door, pull down centre seat and there is a yellow boot release on the left hand side as you are facing the back of the car.
Hope this helps
Jack R
JUMP START YOUR CAR AND THEN YOU HAVE FULL CONTROL,If you didnt already know there are jump starting terminals under the bonnet,Iknow the battery isnt there but there are terminals to do it
Have an SV6 I got in March from Brisbane Holden dealer. Had done 15000 k and belonged to Holden factory staff. Got a warning saying “battery saver mode” a few times lately but not all the time. Owner’s manual says very little usefull stuff about that.Car was left idle for two days over weekend, battery completely flat.Does anyone know what that whining electrical noise is that goes for about 3 seconds after you lock car? Its been getting louder.
I have a 2008 40th anniversary E series 1 HSV GTS and guess what the same problem…off to nissan i go
We have started switching the radio off manualy radio before switching off the ignition, and have had no battery drain issues ever since. Went Overseas for 12 days and on return the car started no problem. Worth a try for other Calais/Commodore owners etc with the same battery drain issues, as it helped restore my faith a little.
Hi Giys, This issue with Ve Commodore’s just hity home with me tonight. I have just arrived home from a few days away, and Yep. You guested it. It was Dead as a Doddo.
I too at first thought it was simply a flat remote battery. Grabbed my wife’s key to find that they didnt work either. RAQC call later to find out from him after jump start, that yes common fault. I will be talking to holden tomorrow. However from your comments, i dont expect any support from them. Perhpas a great issue to bring to the media’s attention.
i Had the same problem on my VE SSV Ute last week 4 times in 4 days ,i then went into the menu section of dash computer and in the lighting section i disabled the the timer on the lighting from 30 sec to disabled and so far so good for the last 3 days
I have a 2009 VE International, no problems with the battery, but this is the second time in 4 weeks the check engine light has gone on and it has gone into limp mode.. typical on a sunday so towed home and will be off to dealer again tomorrow. Last time it was a faulty injector. Bet it is the same this time has anyone else had this problem.
I have an 08 SV6. Had no idea that this sort of thing was happening until yesterday. Got in the car and it wouldn’t even kick over. The dash and instrumentation lit up though. Came back the next day and now everything is completely dead. The only thing I’ve done different was start it two more times than usual that day… now battling to get the battery out. Ill take it to a auto electrician tomorrow and have the battery tested. Ive heard that Holden have been using a few second rate batteries of late, with even the slightest drop in volatge or current causing the cars not to start. Shall see what this battery test shows up.
I have a 07 VM Caprice and a year ago, after not using the car for 24 hours, completely dead battery. This continued over a three month period, with about another four Roadside assist calls, always if I had not used the car for over 24 hours. Holden charged the battery and replaced the wire looms in the rear doors, did lots of testing and all seemed okay until a few weeks ago, other than sometimes when starting, sounded not quite charged, but it started. I accidently had the keys in the ignition and headlights on, car not running and this caused the battery to become completely flat in 10 mins! Not a happy camper. Roadside assist again and then a week ago, vacuuming the car with only one door open at a time and no keys in the ignition and then completely flat in 15mins. Back to Holden, nothing wrong with battery, something is draining it and they’ve now had the car for two days and they believe the problem is the remote unit in the back parcel shelf (pulling 40amps not recommended 10amps)… I’ll let you know how I get on.
We have recently bought a holden berlina ve 06 model at pickles auctions and are experiencing the same battery problem. At first pickles warranty didn’t cover the batter so got NRMA to fit a new one in. Then after 4 days the battery is flat. We had listened to music in the car for about an hour or so without the car being turned on. After reading most of the comments i realised it was holdens fault as many are experiencing the same problem. Will holden be able to fix it without charge? or how much will it cost? Holden better pick up their game or i couldn’t care less if competitors from overseas take out the market, because they simply make better cars. you cant expect people to buy it because its made here, it has to be worth it or no one will care at all.
Mate you said it yourself. You were listening to music for an hour without the engine running.That would drain the battery in any car. Thats a stupid thing to do and even an L-plater would know that.
If you went to the drive in, speakers are now thru the radio – wouldnt most cars have a flat battery after a 2hr movie then. Engine isnt running but radio is?
Hi everybody with the flat battery problem. I would like to know if some can measure voltage on a battery while the motor is running at some 2500 rpm at minimum. At first when the motor is cold. Then second measurement when the motor is really hot, after a long ride. I suspect the cause of your problems is to to low charging voltage that becomes really problematic at lower temperatures. I guess you are through the winter season now down there in AUSTRALIA.
My wife and I purchased an 07 Calais V 6.0 with 35K on the clock three months ago. We had no problems until 2 days ago, when we went to start the car and the battery was dead. After removing the battery and charging it overnight, I had it tested and it was found to be OK. So I took the car to Holden and they found no problem. Half an hour after picking it up the stability control, started switching itself off and then back on. The car is back at Holden.
We are starting to regret trading in our VY which never gave us any problems.
o