I was just driving along and everything was working just fine. Autostop was working, Charge/Assist was working and then....the check engine light came on!! Arrrgggghhh!! I was just a few miles from the dealer and it was early afternnon, so I wheeled on over and after sitting there for 3 hrs. the service guy came out and announced that my Hybrid battery had died. It will take 5-7 days to get a new one in from wherever they are. On the plus side, they put me in an '08 Vue with only 700 miles on it for a loaner. Not as nice as my Vue GL, but better than the Cobalt they stuck me in last time.

 

You didn't mention what year your Vue is. Unlike the Civic Thread, this thread does not separate the two VERY different models...

Thanks

 

'07, just under 20k, bought in July '07, I think.

 

Sorry to hear that. Mine bit the big one in early November. It took 11 days in total to get the new battery in, but it's been fine ever since. Our dealer was very helpful, too. Ours was the first they had the pleasure to replace, but they seemed to do a good job.

From what I gather (although I have no definite proof of this), the replacement batteries have been redesigned. It doesn't affect the operation of the GL.

 

To Bigcatdaddy: I hope the battery gets in soon so you can be back on the road. I just passed 34K and (knock on wood) everything is going smoothly.

The cold weather makes it tough to report the mpg numbers but I salute those who continue to honestly report the numbers - like Bigcatdaddy, Phil94 and Saturn Vue Cleveland. Keep on driving and logging those tanks.

 

I just got her back yesterday and was sure glad, too. They had me in an '08 4 cyl. Vue (not a hybrid) for a loaner and it sure wasn't the same. I didn't check the mileage on it, but it sure went thru some fuel!!

 

did they say how long you can drive without 'hybrid' component? because it seems all of us are going to experience a dead battery at some point

 

No, they didn't, but I don't think I would drive the vehicle after a battery failure as the thing might leak and then you would some REAL damage on your hands. Best to get it in and leave it, seems to me.

 

Over the past few weeks we've experienced intermittent periods where the check engine light would come on. It seemed to happen every time we drove through a puddle of water. After a day or so the light would go out and the Vue would operate normally. This was annoying so we took the vehicle to our local Saturn dealer to have it checked out. Well I guess we are joining the new battery team!

The service manager said that we could drive the vehicle until the new battery comes in next week. He assured us that there would be no damaging effects on the system. He said that the computer showed that there were variations in voltage between the battery cells that cause the hybrid system to shut down (a safety feature to prevent damage) on and off. The REAL kicker is that after leaving the dealer the light went out, Auto Stop was working and the Eco light was on virtually the entire trip home. To top everything off, the vehicle has under five thousand miles on it!

Oh well, we knew getting into this first generation Hybrid that there'd be some teething problems. We still love our Greenline.

 

Here is a something I found about the battery issue after my last post.

"Here are the important paragraphs from the recall letter:

The recall includes all 2007 AURA Green Line and VUE Green Line as well as certain 2008 model year Saturn AURA Green Line Hybrid Vehicles. There may be a voltage imbalance within the hybrid battery. If the imbalance exceeds 0.6 volts, the check engine light will illuminate and hybrid function will be disabled. If this occurs, the charge/assist gauge would show no movement, the fuel economy light (ECO) would not illuminate, and the vehicle would be powered by the gasoline engine only.

What will be done: Your Saturn retailer will replace the three hybrid cassettes within the battery assembly. This one-time service will be performed for you at no charge within a period of 8 years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the date your vehicle was placed in service.

How long will the repair take? Because of service scheduling requirements, it is likely that your retailer will need your vehicle longer than the actual service correction time of approximately 2 to 3 hours.

By the way - this recall pertains to ALL 2007 VUE Greenline models from VIN (last 8 digits) 7S800023 thru 7S880949 UNLESS your 36V battery cassettes had already been replaced sometime in the last few months with the latest part numbers (PN# 25953382 or 25964892 for the VUE GL)

Most owners have yet to receive the letters as they will be coming out in stages. "