Forum Discussion
SyncUp & Drive kills batteries/alternator
I recently added the SyncUP & Drive device to my account - we are long-time T-Mobile customers and have not had any problems whatsoever besides this to date. My son was getting his license and I ...
¡Hola, @hjchase1!
Welcome to our Support Community! Gosh, that's not a great first experience for your son especially since he's just getting on the road. It doesn't put your family in a great position either with this happening to two vehicles from the sounds of it. I listed next steps in a different thread you commented on: SyncUp Issues. Please follow those steps to get a ticket filed so our Engineers can figure out why this is happening.
I have been thinking of getting some thing like this for my truck. Reading these responses brings back memory of a PANIC I had, the truck had lost the belt at night (the alt., power steering, water pump belt). After the belt was replaced, there was little charging, noted as the voltage was at the nominal 12.8V. So there was a nail biting trip back 230 miles worth. With some research, I found that the vehicle was smarter than the driver, there is a charge control on the negative cable, to extend battery life. So during the day time driving the voltage is kept about the 12.8V, but most of the time at night (or with headlights on) voltage does go up to 14V, presumably for the 14V headlights, or when the battery is cool and needs charging.
Now for the 'kills the battery' it would be possible to drain a battery through that connection, but it would take some time. The OBDII line that powers the plug has a 15A fuse, so current high enough to over power a 150A alternator, that does not figure.
This fact finding will apply to most all GM vehicles.
I might add to this experience, the belt on mine and I assume most of these flat belts are a one layer fiber thats about 1 inch wide in my case, it was nicked on the side and unwound at 70MPH in about a second. Causing near instant overheating, loss of power steering, and excitement !
