Strangest thing

[Phobia.street]

So I parked my car for the winter season. I drove it right up until Oct when the snow began to fly. Thats right I drove my twin turbo C6 in -10c.

Anyways I went to start it the other day after it sat a few months and not to my surprise the battery was dead. I wasn't shocked at all. So i threw a 2amp charger on it for 24hrs and went to start it and the starter was ticking fast. Like it was shot. Well strange but okay. So I picked up a new starter and tossed it in. Again with the ticking. Well Im a mechanic but thought I would just throw a new battery at it seeing as the one in the car was 7 years old. Still same issue, the car just goes tick tick tick.

I did notice however that even a 6amp charge the battery will only charge 25%. Like it has a huge draw some where. I havent spent a ton of time diagnosing it just seeing if anyone has had this issue. I also know that if I by pass the crank relay under the hood she turns over. The crank relay under the hood has full continuity with the ECU But I have not checked the BCU. Havent got that far yet.

Thanks in advance guys

 

[Phobia.street]

Update. I put a 6amp charge on it for a week and it fired right up. Lesson learned. Always a battery maintainer on the vette

 

[theboss]

Not only on vette, some cars can have up to 70 different modules. Some module wont use any power on sleep mode but some other do pull a little like radio, clock, alarm, pcm... In shop key and alldata, you can find the normal power drain on sleep mode so it's normal to drain the battery after a long sleep

 

[vintageracer]

Update. I put a 6amp charge on it for a week and it fired right up. Lesson learned. Always a battery maintainer on the vette

I'll just tag onto that with.... ALWAYS use a battery maintainer on any car that isn't in regular use or gets "parked" for part of the year.
David

 

[CCO]

I'll just tag onto that with.... ALWAYS use a battery maintainer on any car that isn't in regular use or gets "parked" for part of the year.
David

+1. Keeps the battery 'healthy' much longer. I like to use the trickle 'smart chargers', as many of us do here so as not to overcharge.
C.

 

[buckhorn76]

everything i own with a battery, except my daily driver, has a tender. one of my lawn tractor batteries is now almost 8 years old.

 

[Phobia.street]

Yeah Ive never even considered it. Guess now I know

 

[Dik]

This!

+1. Keeps the battery 'healthy' much longer. I like to use the trickle 'smart chargers', as many of us do here so as not to overcharge.
C.

A smart charger is worth every penny. I tried to buy a cheap tender for my C6 but CT near my house was out of stock so I dropped $135 and bought a smart charger .... with boosting capabilities! The unit is pretty impressive. It has a battery "repair" mode as well. I assume the "repair" mode will first drain the battery then slowly charge it rather than a huge in-rush which in the past would over-heat batteries. While repairing, charging or tending it displays the charging mode, the current being drawn and the status of the battery. :coolgleam:

Dick

 

[Phobia.street]

Can you attach a pic of it? I really do need one!

 

[Dik]

No picture but ....

Can you attach a pic of it? I really do need one!

Hi.

The unit model is - MotoMaster Eliminator Battery Charger 011-1519-6. I do not have a picture but here is a link to the charger's manual:

6866CJ-C11 MotoMaster Eliminator Battery Charger 011-1519-6

I hope this helps.

Dick

 

[Russell]

I purchased a Genius G3500 from CT. They were 35% off I think. About $69.00. Using it on my C4. It is a smart charger and all that. Great little unit.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[New C5er]

Just an add-on from a famous Ontario Corvette mechanic. " When putting a maintainer on your stored car, charge only the batterry and not the car , disconnect the cables and then put the maintainer on"
"Thanks to Manny".

 

[Russell]

Just an add-on from a famous Ontario Corvette mechanic. " When putting a maintainer on your stored car, charge only the batterry and not the car , disconnect the cables and then put the maintainer on"

"Thanks to Manny".

Thanks for that.

 

[Black 03 Z06]

You can buy screw in lead connectors for both positive and negative terminals (slightly different sizes). These allow the use of the alligator style charger connectors that many people use. If you cannot find them PM, I may have a source.

 

[Paul M]

Just an add-on from a famous Ontario Corvette mechanic. " When putting a maintainer on your stored car, charge only the batterry and not the car , disconnect the cables and then put the maintainer on"
"Thanks to Manny".

Hello everybody, so this may sound like a silly question, but if you have a good charger why is it necessary to disconnect the battery?

Since I drive my car so little, I got jammed when it was time for my emission test a few years ago. I basically had to drive around for a while just to put some mileage on the car so the car would pass the emission test. She is due for her emission test once again this spring so if I disconnect the battery, I know it won't pass again.

Just curious.

 

[Phobia.street]

For the record an alternator maintains voltage its not designed to charge the battery. Personally for me in all my cars I like to give them a 2amp charge at room temp. Winter in particular seeing your battery never gets a charge when cold. It in fact takes more amps to crank the your car over then the battery will get back in a full charge from a short drive. This is why about 3 months into winter so many people have battery issues.

Your car always has a parstatic draw so will always charge better in hooked. The vette has the worst draw I have ever seen!

 

[Riley P]

My Computer will kill the battery in 4 weeks for sure, and hates starting after 3 weeks. I store my car out of town so I pull the battery. I trust Manny's advice but would like to hear why it is suggested to disconnect the battery from the car over winter with a maintainer attached. Possible power surges???

 

[computerguy]

My Computer will kill the battery in 4 weeks for sure, and hates starting after 3 weeks. I store my car out of town so I pull the battery. I trust Manny's advice but would like to hear why it is suggested to disconnect the battery from the car over winter with a maintainer attached. Possible power surges???

I think Mannys advice comes from the fact that some people have those older chargers that supply constant current and don't have and current limiting capabilities. Think of those big chargers on wheels that many shops have today for supplying a fast charge. In that case you do stand the risk of cooking some electronics further up the chain when the battery gets to full charge. With modern chargers that monitor the charging process that should not be a concern.

 

[buckhorn76]

yes. unregulated voltage.