Don't forget to change your battery. Seriously!

Could the bain of my existance be due to a bad and elderly battery? Seems so.

Since receiving the car in 2008 I have not had to jump my Riv and never felt a loss of power outside of issues with other engine parts. I have never left the lights on and have always unplugges accessories from the power plugs.

Last Saturday I took the Riv on a long trip after having testing it with similar long trips weekends before. I was confident a 110 miles trip would be a cake walk; 220 roundtrip.

At 50 miles in we stop at a truck stop and use the facilities. We got back to the car, put the key in, and nothing! Seriously!!! After all the stupid little repairs that amount to thousands of dollars over the course of 3 years. I thought it may be do to the EGR leak or heat issues so we went back inside and tried again 30 mins later. Nothing.

I got a jump from a nice man from NY with cables, then again with a jump box from the AAA tow guy; nothing. $168 tow later I'm beside myself and emotionally through with the Riv.

I full warned the town mechanic that if there is any repair that needs to be done let me know and I will purchase the parts on Black Friday.

The next morning I track the EGR parts purchase and they canceled it on me without notification.

Then I call to see what the mechanic came up with. Apparently it was the battery. $289 later, new battery, working Riv.

I'm still sore about the costs of repairs but at least the riv has a clean bill of health.

He mentioned the battery may have been the cause of soo many past issues. I don't need to hear that since he was the one who worked on most of the repairs.

The battery's health can make a huge difference. I tried to keep the stock battery going for as long as possible, making sure to start the car every day (had to, or it wouldn't start!). I was proud of it's level of durability - even did surgery to check the water levels and refill. Eventually, the alternator started putting out 17V+, made lots of things go bonkers, and now that I think about it, that old battery probably taxed my alternator at times, maybe enough to kill the regulator diodes.

Now with the new Optima, life is SO MUCH EASIER. It's definitely worth $125 or whatever I paid for it. Just one less thing to worry about. Hope you have much better luck with your Riv moving forward!

thanks,

I'm still getting an SES light after driving for awhile. I hope it's still the EGR since I know about it. Better yet, I hope it totally clears out after a few long rides like I've been hearing.

But about that...now that the guy from the site canceled my order claiming that the parts no longer exist and no junk Rivs around in local yards, how do I finally fix it?

My mechanic gave me a glimmer of hope claiming that since my Riv is one of many GM models that use the 3800 engine finding a replacement tube could come from another model. I think Pontiac has more site devoted to parts. Any ideas.

Either way, I could hold him to the repair for at least a year if the fit is not quite right.


Luckily for me I was able to get a new sticker so I have a good year to fix my issues versus a restriction R that allows you mere weeks to solve the issue. I've already spent my Christmas budget in two days on things I hadn't planned on.

Have you checked rockauto? Here is a 5% off code that I just received 75624736262402.

Andy-

Along the lines of what 98Riv said, I trolled over at rockauto and saw the EGR spacer plate from Standard Motor Products. It has a tube with it. That can't be what you need, is it? At $29, I figured it was worth a shot.

HTH

Since iam with BOSCH battery,now no problemo!

I have optimas in all three rivs.... only one that died on me was via me being dumb left the interior light on for 3 weeks......(killed the battery) but of course that was in the riv I never drive....

They must have fixed that after '95. My '98 automatically turns off the interior light after about 10 mins.

98riv wrote:

Have you checked rockauto? Here is a 5% off code that I just received 75624736262402.

you're awesome!

If I can't get the tube, I'm sure I'll be able to get something I need.

AA wrote:

They must have fixed that after '95. My '98 automatically turns off the interior light after about 10 mins.

My sister left my old Riv's interior lights on because she turned the light intensity knob toward bright but went all the way which turns on the interior lights. She borrowed the car for work, came home, and left all the lights on.

My 95's lights go off automatically but if the knob is turned all the way to the right they will stay on.

DEMonte1997 wrote:

Andy-

Along the lines of what 98Riv said, I trolled over at rockauto and saw the EGR spacer plate from Standard Motor Products. It has a tube with it. That can't be what you need, is it? At $29, I figured it was worth a shot.

HTH

I just checked it out. It does come with a tube but it's the lower tube. The EGR has two, and upper and a lower. My issue is for the longer upper tube/pipe.

Andy, I feel for you! Had the same thing happen to me a few months ago. Car started fine, drove it to the gas station, filled it up, turned the key - nothing! I was going crazy thinking the chip in the key died. I tried to disable VATS by cutting a wire on the passenger side, got questioned by a nice State Trooper who thought I was trying to steal my own car! Luckily I anticipated this and had my documentation ready. Had to have my car towed back home, was completely emotionally through with the Riv, stuck the battery back on charge just for the hell of it - the damn thing started perfect!!

The lesson here is that if you plan to let the Riv sit for more than a week or two, disconnect the battery or stick a tender on it. The security system will absolutely destroy your battery! I've ruined two by underestimating how much power the Riv draws when not in use. I now have a battery tender and a new Optima in the mail. Wish I had known sooner!

Quote :

The lesson here is that if you plan to let the Riv sit for more than a week or two, disconnect the battery or stick a tender on it. The security system will absolutely destroy your battery! I've ruined two by underestimating how much power the Riv draws when not in use. I now have a battery tender and a new Optima in the mail. Wish I had known sooner!

Maybe if we're talking about 6 months to a year, disconnecting the battery would make sense. 1-2 weeks for a healthy battery, especially a high-output type such as Optima, should not be a problem, at least not in my experience. The draw from the security system is not that much.

Just curious, did you ruin either of your batteries in a period of 2 weeks or less, or was it a longer time? Where proper tending procedures followed, or could it be in part due to user error?

Know what you mean, Andysdorm. Exact same thing happened to me about a year ago.

However, it brings up a question I'm curious about. Years ago (I got my license in the 70's) you could always tell when your battery was going out. Slow cranking, dim lights, etc. And you always had enough notice to go get another one. Barring leaving the lights on, I was never stranded by a battery.

Nowadays, though, it's exactly as described in this thread every time. Everything seems fine, then all a sudden it's completely dead--there is no in between. (Not just Rivs, either.)

What has made the difference?

I think one thing that makes a big difference is fuel injection, which lets a car start almost instantly when you turn the key. There's not a sense of slow cranking compared to the cars of yesterday, even if the battery isn't the strongest.

Another thing is better battery charging management. Many newer cars, including our Rivs, use a thermistor to detect the battery's temperature and charge it with optimum voltage (colder batteries like higher voltage). Combine this with less starting demand, and locating the battery inside the vehicle results in longer overall life than was possible 20-30 years ago. But when the battery finally reaches it's end, it goes downhill fast.

Mine gave me some warning signs over a year before I replaced the battery. I would notice the cranking, although not slow, felt weaker, especially in colder weather. I also noticed my car would not start in colder weather after sitting for 3-4 days. As long as I started her every day, it was fine. Leaving the lights on with the car off for even a few minutes would quickly drain the battery.

Now, with the fresh battery, I don't even think about that stuff - those problems are nonexistent. I could leave my lights on all day, and it would probably turn over just fine. I could leave the car parked for several weeks and am confident it would start.