Hello all,

Recently, my 2008 Grand Prix base has been starting up sluggishly, but a couple of days ago I went to start it up and it gave me the error message "Charging System Failure" on dash display. I turned the key back, took it out, then started it up again and it was fine.

Today, however, the failure happened again and I couldn't get it started no matter what I tried. My heat, lights and everything else electrical came on, but the damned thing didn't want to go. Just clicked when I turned the ignition.

Now, I have to add that it's really damned cold here in Canada right now. The car started up quickly before our city started turning into the Arctic. As it started getting colder out, there was a high-pitched whining noise coming from the engine on a constant basis, so I got it checked out and my mechanic flushed the power steering and put an additive in. The noise is gone. But now I can't even start the bloody thing, and I just got it three months ago. I bought it when it was at 71,000 and now it's at 73,000 kilometres, so any fixes come out of my pocket because it's only under the Powertrain warranty. What is the cause of this? And why didn't my dealership find any of these problems with the car before selling it to me? Please keep in mind that I have limited knowledge of cars.

Thank you for reading.

check the Open Circuit Voltage of your battery. its probably below 11.8 Volts by now so your battery will need a charge. and then test your alternator. its most likely just a loose or cut wire.

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"Dude!, theres enough plastic bags in here to suffocate a nursery!"

Where abouts in Canada are you?
Are they using salt there?

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2005 GT owner [Non S/C] with a "big DIC".
Two years later and I still love the car.
Thanks Pontiac...Bleen is keen!

Sure sounds like a bad battery to me.

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04 GTT - Retired
Best ET 13.016
Best Trap 115.56 MPH

his battery has a low charge because the alternator was unable to charge it. however there is the possibility that he has a sulfated battery and it will no longer accept a charge, or he has a low electrolyte level and needs to add water, that is of course if it is a maintenance battery. that would make pcm's voltmeter scream bloody marry and throw up "charging system failure" on the DIC. however before you do any alternator testing you would do a full range of battery tests which would uncover such a problem.

in the cold weather such as you are in your engine will require about 300% of the cranking power that it would at 80 degrees (Fahrenheit) and your battery can only deliver roughly 25% of the amperage as it would be able to at 80 as well. so a good battery in those conditions is a must.

ps. dont run your car without a battery, an autozone employee attempted to tell a gullible customer this last night and i overheard. needles to say i had a field day with him.

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"Dude!, theres enough plastic bags in here to suffocate a nursery!"

your battery is about to die, i had the same exact thing happen to me right after buying my 08 gp. new battery and good as new.

It does sound like a battery failure,but what I'm wondering is whether it was due to the cold [battery total failure] or corroded connections at the starter [not enough current getting through to charge it] ?

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2005 GT owner [Non S/C] with a "big DIC".
Two years later and I still love the car.
Thanks Pontiac...Bleen is keen!

my charging system light came on yesterday when i was backing out of a parking space. its like 36 degrees here in carbondale. this morning i used my voltmeter and some jumper leads and tested the voltage drop and voltage at the battery. with the car off the voltage is 11.8 and when running its at system voltage of 13.8. i also tested the voltage drop of the battery while cranking it stayed at 9.7 volts. i think the battery can handle startups well but its not holding a charge it should be at 12.6 may upgrade to an optima yellow. and i also checked for continuity through the B+ terminal and fuse box there is no open.

^ i see you are from mokena, i went to lincoln way east, graduated in '03...haha

i recently had the same warning on my car. got a new battery, and that did it...

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'07 GP Base SD Headers - hv3 - open cone - HPTUNERS user