Australian Car Advice | News Blog

Following our initial story about an issue many VE Commodore owners have experienced with regards to a lack of battery charge, we received many complaints from owners agreeing that the issue was getting long in the tooth, especially when vehicles would be dry of charge at inconvenient times.

This information was forwarded to Holden Australia with the ambition of resolving the matter and hopefully putting owner’s minds at ease.

Thankfully, Holden issued a response to our article with some information about the issue, along with the steps owners can take to resolve the matter.

We would like to thank all the owners who e-mailed in with their stories, along with Holden for a prompt and detailed response with regards to the problems plaguing some owners.

Holden’s Communications Manager - Kate Lonsdale - responded to our queries with the following information:

Mrs Lonsdale told CarAdvice that, “we [have] identified a battery related issue with some of our early production VE and WM models, whereby under certain driving conditions and customer usage patterns the battery state of charge may deteriorate and may not be fully recovered by the vehicle’s charging system.”

Further to that, Mrs Lonsdale went on to say, “A fix for this issue was identified and released to the Dealer Network in July. Subsequently, all vehicles brought in for a routine service and those where customers have specifically reported the issue have been fixed.

If any customer has experienced this matter and has not reported it we encourage them to contact their Holden Dealer or our Customer Assistance Centre to have their concern investigated and corrected.”

When asked about the proper procedure of jump starting vehicles affected by a loss of battery charge, Mrs Londsale said “the vehicle’s owners Handbook explains the correct procedure including the location of the jump start posts which are on the left hand side of the engine bay.”

For those interested in a technical explanation of the issue; a technical adviser for a Sydney Holden dealership explained the following to CarAdvice:

“The issue does vary alot with the different models.

Holden have release updated BCM (Body Control Module) software to correct SOME
of the charge problems, the new software changes the the rate of charge from the
altenator and sets the BCM’s “state of charge” to a different tolerance.

We have had some cases where the batteries in new VE’s have been faulty from
factory, with the batteries only receiving half charge.
When only given half charge from factory the ECU and BCM automatically see this
as “default charge” and will only ever charge to that level.
This level is enough to start the vehicle and operate all the systems, but the
drain becomes too much for a half charged batteries, so if the problem is
presented to the dealerships, the battery is usually replaced and the updated
BCM software is installed.

The drain issue changes from model to model, we have had a Calais V where we
replace 2 modules of the electronic system to correct the battery drain issue.

The issue can sometimes be the computer system (the high and low speed buses of
the ECU and other components), they have a shutdown timer as they stay active
after the vehicle has been shut off for other features of the vehicle, like
lighting features and security.

Sometimes they need resetting as they stay on for too long after the ignition
has been turned off and can drain the battery.”

With that, we urge VE Commodore customers that have been affected by the battery drain issue to contact their Holden dealership and arrange for the aforementioned works to be undertaken to ensure battery charge remains at an optimum level for the vehicle to operate.

2006 Holden Crewman Warranty Complaint

Name: Chris Geddes
Car Make: Holden
Car Model: Crewman
Year of Manufacture: 2006

Warranty Complaint:

Battery replaced within first month of having car, still get flat battery if not driven for two days.

Name: Michael Perich
Car Make: HSV
Car Model: E Series Senator
Year of Manufacture: 2006

Warranty Complaint:

I have had my car to Holden to complain about the battery being drained overnight. They were unable to diagnose any issues and the problem went away. In the last 4 days we have had to either jump start the car or place it on charge for 1 hour prior to starting. We now leave a battery charger connected overnight to stop any issues.

2006 Holden VE Commodore Omega Warranty Complaint

Name: GARY VANAGS
Car Make: Holden
Car Model: Commodore Omega
Year of Manufacture: 2006

Warranty Complaint:

Had to have battery replaced due to battery failure, my car was only idle overnight and i had no indication until getting into the car to start up. It was also a difficult job to remove the battery as 2 panels and boot mat had to be removed.

I have had on 5 times failure of dashboard electrics eg, ac switch,radio dash lights. I have had many commodores over the years and this car reminds me of the poor quality of the vn commodore from 1989.

Local dealer Newcastle City Holden while courtious with their customer service are not interested in getting poor feedback about this car. I know I will be looking at other makes when next sourcing a new car.

 2006 Holden VE Calais Warranty Complaint

Name: Timothy Ritchie
Car Make:  Holden
Car Model: VE Calais
Year of Manufacture: 2006

Warranty Complaint:

Our Calais has been plagued with random warnings since day one. The car has been back and forth to Holden and is heading back this weekend for a whole week to have a new BCM module installed as the car will not except any software updates.

When ever the car is started after waiting for the system check to complete, we see CHECK ENGINE, CHECK ABS AND CHECK ESP. We have also seen a big black X and CONTACT DEALER AND SVS (Service Vehicle soon). Its really annoying when you spend so much money on a new car to have these sort of warnings appear and to take 9 months to try and fix the problem and its still on going.

Could be slightly related to the battery drain issue as Holden says the system engery levels keep coming up low voltage.

Name: warren horne
Car Make: HSV
Car Model: Z1 series Clubsport
Year of Manufacture: 2005

Warranty Complaint:

Transmission is clunky and continualy jumps out of 1st and 2nd gears, has done so for a long time and has been back numerous times to be rectified and is returned the same. Also has power steering shudder since new but never been fixed. We have written to both HSV and Holden with no satisfaction. Our 2002 VY SV8 which we bought from a different dealer had the sme problem with the power steering and was fixed instantly. We are continually told by the dealer that our phone calls will be returned but we are still waiting.

Name: John Thomas
Car Make:  Holden
Car Model: VE Calais
Year of Manufacture: 2007

Warranty Complaint:

Blauplunkt $2000 in car Full Colour Satelite Navigator is the most unreliable and inaccurate GPS system that I have ever used including Garmin,Navman.Tom Tom and the $168 one from Repco over a period of 10 years.Holden have not given me any satisfaction in the 10 weeks of continual and persistant complaining.

2006 Holden VE Commodore SV6 Warranty Complaint

Name: Gregory muller
Car Make:  Holden Commodore
Car Model: VE SV6
Year of Manufacture: 2006

Warranty Complaint:

Fuel cap locking release makes a high pitch sound when car is being unlocked, beyond what is acceptable as normal operating noise. This is a brand new car!! I advised service centre and their response was that this is normal.

I have already taken the car back for warranty claims; one-squeaky (noisy) door trim, two-suspension was making noise and was found to be break shims needing to be replaced. And i just had a water leak repaired satisfactorily, front driver-side under the dash.

If i need to find my car in a parking lot i just hit unlock and listen for the fuel cap release!

2003 Holden VY Commodore Warranty Complaint

Name: Tracy Crawford
Car Make: HOLDEN
Car Model: Commodore VY executive series II
Year of Manufacture: 11/2003

Warranty Complaint:

110,000 kms on the clock it needs a new engine, I purchased it 6 weeks prior privatley from a guy who serviced it every 10,000kms log book proof, I serviced and had it checked on purchase, wed 15th I heard a noise but no warning lights or beeps I took it to my mechanic who informed me the engine had blown I was devastated.

HOLDEN after I paid $569 for a diagnostic check told me it was not a mechanical problem it was a premature failing of the front end bearing. I am having a new engine put in cost approx $4000 +, I simply can not understand how the car did not alert me to the problem as I would have of course got it fixed way before the engine died.

I am very dissapointed with holden, this car had been meticuloulsy looked after and it still failed at 110,000 kms.

2005 Holden XC Barina Hatchback Warranty Complaint

Name: Carol Brownlie
Car Make: Holden XC Barina Hatchback
Car Model: Holdend XC Barina Hatchback
Year of Manufacture: 2005

Warranty Complaint:

The ongoing problem with my car is that the emission light flickers on and off or remains on and the car runs as sick as to the point where it is dangerous to drive.I have kept up with the services and driven it to another town to have it fixed and bought a new battery etc for it including having the fuel filter replaced and it still has problems.it has done approx 17,000 kms since mid year 2005.Holden wont cover anything under warranty.I have paid for everything and the problems with the emission still are ongoing.

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.