Dead battery on Kia Telluride

[Donald]

Daughter has a 1 or 2 year old Telluride and came out to the car and battery was dead. Under 7 volts. Dealer did some work a month ago on thermostat or thermostat housing.

Dealer is saying that the cooling system was not vacuum filled after the cooling system work and an air pocket was left in the cooling system. That caused the cooling fan to be on more than it should have draining the battery.

While I can understand there might be air pockets in the cooling system, in order for the cooling fan to drain the battery it would need to stay running for hours after engine was turned off

Can anyone think how air in cooling system could cause a dead battery?

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Nope. Complete bunk. Warranty replacement in order.

 

[GSCJR]

Nope. Complete bunk. Warranty replacement in order.

+1

 

[dishdude]

That's a first for me.

 

[spasm3]

That's a stretch.

 

[Rand]

UH .. no.

 

[bullwinkle]

Dealer is kind of stupid-if the cooling system pocket caused the battery to fail, it’s THEIR FAULT! As opposed to the realistic “junk battery died young”, which H/K would pay for…

 

[Dave Sherman]

Sounds like somebody was reaching hard there. The air pocket would not be conducting heat, so if anything, the fan wouldn't run long enough. Even then, if it was their mistake then they should fix it.

 

[Mainia]

Daughter has a 1 or 2 year old Telluride and came out to the car and battery was dead. Under 7 volts. Dealer did some work a month ago on thermostat or thermostat housing.

Dealer is saying that the cooling system was not vacuum filled after the cooling system work and an air pocket was left in the cooling system. That caused the cooling fan to be on more than it should have draining the battery.

While I can understand there might be air pockets in the cooling system, in order for the cooling fan to drain the battery it would need to stay running for hours after engine was turned off

Can anyone think how air in cooling system could cause a dead battery?

They have an ALTERNATOR on the car, and it is more then enough amperage to keep the battery fully alive. What BS, take up the corporate ladder to district manager. And the air will eventually burp out and evacuate, a a very short time. They would pull that crap on me I would say we will see you in court and have to prove your BS claim.

 

[Donald]

We will see if the dealer replaces the battery under warranty.

I still think something was left on in the car or the battery went bad.

 

[Mainia]

My AGM OEM Hyundai battery dies at 3 years old. I did not warranty it as it was just easier to buy a new one for me, and pro rating was not worth it. A 1-2 year old battery is another story. I noticed the water level was low on one cell. When I opened up the fill port on top the low cell's white fiberglass matte was brown/black showing a bad cell. Check your battery and shine a flashlight on the backside or in front of it to see if you can see the acid level. If it is down on one or two cells have them open the fill port to see if the matte is still white. If it is down it still an issue 100% with the battery and not their BS excuse of the not burping out. What a lame excuse to escape warranty.

 

[dishdude]

We will see if the dealer replaces the battery under warranty.

I still think something was left on in the car or the battery went bad.

Modern cars shouldn't allow anything left on that would cause the battery to drain, the BCM controls everything and knows when to shut lights and accessories off.

 

[daves87rs]

Simple thing to make the customer happy….

Makes me think they didn’t bother to test it.

 

[circuitsmith]

Does the Telly have keyless ignition?
I just bought a 2024 Tucson on Saturday.
One of the things I've done during the post purchase shakedown is measure parasitic drain.
I found that when the key fob is within about 30 ft of the car the drain increases to about 1.5 amp.
I park on a city street, and when I get the chance to park it right in front of my house I will find out how far back in the house I need to keep the fob.

 

[Astro14]

It’s a weird claim.

If they say the problem was that the system wasn’t vacuum filled, then they are negligent for not vacuum filling a system that requires it.

Clearly, it needs a battery. The question is why did the battery die, and that key fob distance/drain has some merit as an area to explore.

 

[Marcozi]

The dealer is using a fairy tale to avoid the warranty claim. That electric fan is controlled by the engine computer. The computer uses various inputs, including the cylinder head water temp data to determine when the fan is activated. Supposed the is/was an air pocket in the engine. The engine would have cooled down rather quickly (it's aluminum) and the fan would have been deactivated.

 

[KrisZ]

Was it the same dealer that performed the cooling system service? If so, they confirmed it’s their fault.

 

[Donald]

The air was bled out of cooling system and dealer found weak/dead battery and replaced. All under warranty.

I still don't see any connection between the cooling system and dead battery.

Maybe dealer felt bad about leaving air in the cooling system and replaced the battery at no cost. Or maybe warranty covered the battery.