Hi all, new here, please bare with me.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that cranking on my 06 SS was becoming weaker and weaker. And eventually I went to crank one day and it was dead. No problem, was able to jump the car and get it to the dealership. They said there was corrosion on the battery, so they cleaned it up and charged it up. The tester said OK for the charge.

Three days later, the battery was dead again. The battery had enough juice to allow me to unlock via the remote but couldn't start the car. However, when I left the car and closed the door, I tried to lock it through the remote but the car did not have the power to lock the door, BUT the anti-theft thought it was locked. So, I opened the door and the beeping began. I disabled by pressing the horn button on the remote (or so I thought?). I manually locked the car with the key this time and I made my appointment back at the same dealership intending to boost the car and drive it back the next day.

The next day, I hook up the cables as normal and when I tried to start, there was nothing, and when I say nothing, no signs of life whatsoever on the instrument panel. I also tried to take the key out of the ignition but it was stuck. I finally got it out but I think I may have caused some damage. I tried wiggling the cables (never had any problems with these cables before) but no matter what I tried, the car was lifeless (not even an odometer reading on the instrument panel). So I considered a tow at this point, but when I turned the key to the ON position I could not shift out of park (brake was depressed). So I'm thinking now that the car's anti-theft is keeping me from doing anything because of the episode with trying to lock the car via remote the day before.

After all the reading I've done I'm thinking I either have a bad ignition switch, or I have to somehow disable anti-theft, or both. The only sign of life from the car was from the cigarette lighter outlet, I plugged in a cell phone charger and it lit up.

I am not handy with cars. I'm wondering if anyone can point out an obvious problem and if it is easily fixable to the point where I can jump start the car and get it to the dealership for further troubleshooting (to at least save a tow charge)? I have owned the car for three months and the warranty has expired.

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments.

 

Try replacing the battery and see how that works out.

 

New battery. Go from there.

 

it's the battery... they had many issues with our originals... same happened to me... once jump started, car would run... but as soon as you turned it off, within seconds it was dead...

dealer tested it, and the battery had bad cells... it's a known issue with those...

so, they gave me a new, better-rated one, and I was on my way....

last year, had to replace that one tho, was a pin hole in one of the posts, and was leaking... so, bought an optima red top...

car's been awesome ever since... no starting, electrical issues whatsoever...

it's a friggin PITA to get the battery in and out though!!!

 

Reminds me of when we got the Camaro in October. We moved the Monte out of the driveway to put the Camaro in it's new home, but when we tried to start the Monte up the next day, it was completely dead. It was fine the day before. The batter just decided to quit working. I am still convinced it was jealous of the Camaro :P

 

Thanks for all the feedback. Shouldn't I be able to turn the key and shift into neutral, though? Right now I can't do that.

 

I had some serious electrical problems with my 2006SS. One intermittent problem was loose cables on the starter (battery intermittently appeared dead, and would sometimes kill the car on the road.). The second issue was with the battery cable clamps. The factory installed cable clamps are crap and after replacing these (after replacing the battery multiple times) I haven't had any further problems. Good luck.

 

JG76...I am having similar problems like you described. As I sit here typing this, my 2006 SS is sitting dead in the garage...again. I bought the car used in Jan. of this year and it's been in the shop twice already. First it was losing juice intermittently, wouldn't start, then it would. Clock was losing time, presets would disappear, etc. It turned out to be a broken positive battery terminal clamp. Had to replace the entire cable ($215 for the part & $200 for labor/diagnostics), and it was good for a month. Now it is dead...again. Did I mention that I have an Optima yellow top AGM battery? I am stuck here. The key is stuck in the igntion and I cannot shift out of park, so I can not even jump it. (That is a safety/security feature, I believe.) I wish someone could give me an answer...the dealer could find nothing wrong with the charging system or the electrical system when I had it in before, just that cable. If the problem is an intermittent one, how am I supposed to trace it? If a diagnostic comes up clean, then what? I love my Monte's, but am starting to wish I hadn't bought this one.

 

Have you tried disconnecting the battery at all?
This should reset the system.
Or if you can change the battery yourself, do that, and see what happens from there.

 

No, the shifter and ignition have electrical solenoids to lock them in place. If you don't have power they wont work locking the key in the ignition and the shifter in park.