My wife has a 2008 Aspen and last week it started running very rough. It would sputter on take off and it would even shift very hard. I had an appointment to get it into the dealer but the soonest they could get it in was not until next wednesday. Well the check engine light came on Friday so i took it up to auto zone to get it scanned hoping I could diagnose the problem and maybe avoid the dealership visit. I had a egr sensor high voltage code. The Aspen has 110k miles on it and it also had the original battery. Im telling you about the battery because I had a post experience many many years ago of one of my trucks running bad because the battery was bad. That being said i asked the guy at auto zone to test the battery just in case. I figured it was worth a try. well it tested bad. so I replaced it and not the way home it ran perfect again. I figured that fixed the problem. Well yesterday it started running bad again and i thought well maybe the battery didn't fix it. Well after a hr or so of going over the whole thing i couldn't figure out what was going on. So i thought well lets try the battery again so I took it back to auto zone where the same guy for sh$ts and giggles tested the battery again. Came to find the new battery i bought just the day before had a bad negative terminal. I replaced the battery again, free of charge as it was only a day old, and now it runs like new again and the check engine light has not come back on…yet…. fingers crossed.

I just thought id share my experience as maybe this will help out someone else down the road.

 

I have had multiple experiences with other cars in the past where the batter was the cause of so many issues. Always, good to check the simple things first especially the battery. Thanks for posting this.

 

Yes thanks for the tip. I have a battery tester that can check CCA as well as volts and I use it each spring to check the boat and camper batteries after they are charged up. Also charge them half way through winter. That's one thing missing on the Aspen, a full set of gauges including volts, oil pressure, and transmission temp.

 

Ive had an experience once where the battery tested good after driving to auto zone and the alternator charged it up. I tried a few other methods of testing the battery and every test showed up as the battery was good but i was still having the hard start issue (sorry should have told my symptoms first hand). I went ahead and replaced the battery and it solved my hard start issue. A lot of people argue with me about it being the battery if it tested good multiple times.

Moral of the story is just because your battery is testing good doesn't mean it is good. If its is driven just before testing you have even a better chance having it test good as the alternator has just charged it up.