Battery Charging

When it is required to charge the vehicle battery, connect the positive connection to the battery positive post, and place the charger negative to vehicle ground. Do not connect the negative cable of the charger to the battery negative terminal. Connecting directly to the battery negative post bypasses the vehicle sensors, not allowing the battery current sensor or the battery monitoring sensor to detect the charge current. As a result the battery state of charge does not reflect the charging. Look for the body ground cable coming off the clamp or the battery monitoring sensor and try and connect in this location (typically on the shock tower sheet metal). The placement of the battery is such that the battery negative terminal is located under the sheet metal shroud making sheet metal ground the obvious choice for the charger.

If the vehicle is equipped with the Auto-start-stop system, it is equipped with a battery monitoring sensor. If the battery is replaced, perform the battery monitoring system reset using the diagnostic scan tool. If the vehicle battery is charged by connecting the battery charger to the battery negative terminal it takes approximately 8 hours for the BCM to learn the new battery state of charge. If the vehicle is used before the BCM is allowed to learn the new battery state of charge, the Auto-start-stop system may not operate.

NOTE: If the vehicle is equipped with the Auto-start-stop system, and it has been determined that the function is inhibited due to a low battery state of charge (less than 70%), it is critical that the battery charger connection be made correctly to increase the State of Charge. If it is improperly connected the inhibit will not be removed. If you fully charge the battery incorrectly and bypass the Battery Monitor Sensor, and you would like to remove the auto-start-stop inhibit for the customer, you can open the battery positive connection wait 10 seconds and reconnect the battery positive. This triggers a "quick state of charge algorithm" within the battery monitoring sensor which estimates the State of Charge, and if the battery has been sufficiently charged, the inhibit for low State of Charge is removed and the Auto-start-stop function is restored.

If the battery is being charged due to a load shedding message, only charging the battery properly assists in clearing this message. The Electrical Energy Management will recalibrate the battery state of charge as described above after about 8 hours if the charger was improperly installed.

NOTE: If the charger is incorrectly connected to the battery negative terminal, DO NOT reset the battery monitoring system using the diagnostic scan tool. This reset is reserved only for new battery installation. This reset will clear the learned battery data, the battery time in service, and will affect the aging algorithm parameters, which have been learned since the installation of the battery.