jhauswirth

I just bought a new C6 this weekend and while we were doing the orientation we must have ran the battery down to the point the car wouldn't start. The car had been sitting on the lot for a couple months.
They jumped me and I carefully drove home to avoid killing it (manual trans). I traded in my '99 C5 which I used a battery tender on for probably 9 years. So I just put the battery tender on and checked it in the morning. It was still red (usually my C5 would be green by morning) and at the end of the day it still hadn't turned green. I took it off and started the car- everything seems fine. Do you think it was drained so low it was taking a lot longer than I'm used to? I can't imagine the battery tender would have crapped out. I'm pretty used to this, I washed my C5 last weekend to get it ready to trade it in and during the time I was cleaning out the interior its battery died, so I had to drive my 4x4 across my lawn to jump it.

dvilin

Probably not much help, but I can tell you when I put my Vette away for the Winter and the battery Voltage is 14.4, it takes the Battery tender about 7 hours to turn green.
This is on a 3+ year old battery.

boraxman

Maybe just a bad battery, dead cell or something...Take it in and have her checked.

VET4LES

I would return to the dealer and ask for a new battery. Once it's dead it will never be the same.

su8pack1

If I don't start mine for a few weeks and then put the Battery Tender Jr on, it takes 2 days plus to get to steady green. My Vette is an 06, and 2 years ago I replaced the original battery and put that one in an old car that sits next to it. That 6 year old battery only takes about 12 hours to get to full green in the 60's car. Nothing going on in that car when the engine is off.

jedblanks

Says here typical automotive battery is about 50 amp hours. 1 amp battery charger for 50 hours. Very rough calc. But it give it 2-3 days before I give up. Once charged, see how well it holds. http://batterytender.com/resources/f...sked-questions

need-for-speed

As jed says - the batt tender is a very low amperage charger. Give it 2 or 3 days.

even better - vet4les's advice - once it's DEAD, it will never be the same. Try to get them to replace it now.

We have (3) '08 Chevy's. The battery failed in 2 of them ( the Ho and the Silverado)

NORTY

Is that with the engine running? If so, then your alternator is doing it's job.

shootincyclone

These cars have been known to eat batteries. If you search on this topic you will find a lot. There is a lot going on electronically even when you are not in it.

Go get yourself a new battery and call it good.

candlemuse

I have 2 battery tenders on 2 cars . One of the battery tenders just went red . Battery was fine and the problem was with battery tender which was less than a year old. I could not get any response from any of the contact info on the battery tender warranty paper , so just bought a new one and replaced it.

Good luck

Knob Jockey

Who knows how many times it was completely drained. They are not deep-cycle batteries.

It's a new car, they owe you a new battery.

Congrats.

greengo

Get an OPTIMA.....
I had recurrent battery problems (3 Delco) and none after I got an Optima

foremaw

Personally, I would not trust it even if you can get it charged up. Sitting on the lot for months it may have been drained dead many times. It's a recipe for getting stranded. I would replace it.

Fat Mike

If you don't have one, I suggest you buy a volt meter and measure the battery voltage. You can buy an inexpensive one from Radio Shack (or an auto parts store). A fully charged battery ought to measure approximately 13.8 - 14.2 volts. By measuring the voltage, you can quickly tell if you have any worries. At least about the battery.

golferdude

I've been struggling with with my OEM battery not starting the car after just a few days of sitting since I took delivery about 2 years ago. First thing I did was buy a battery tender w/desulfation feature, but that made little or no difference. It did at least ensure the car would start every time leaving the garage, but I still always had to carry a jumper pack "just in case." When having the battery tender connected for a week straight made no difference in the "standby" time of the battery I assumed it must have been the M2W I had installed and just figured that was the price you pay for all the electronics on these cars.

About 2 weeks ago, I took the battery tender off after having it charging for almost a week and "click click click," car wouldn't start. Brought the battery down to the dealer and told him my story and problems. He tested the battery, and it failed. He told me that becuase the car was sitting in the showroom for 8 or 9 months the battery had probably been completely drained and damaged before I even took posession of the car. Installed the new (free) replacement battery and after letting the car sit for about a week and half, with no tender on it, it fired right up!

Long story short, save yourself some headaches and just get a new battery

jhauswirth

I need to take it in for some service. While I'm there I'll talk to them about the battery.

The service I need done is for the plastic door sill along the bottom. They say they damaged it with some cleaner. I'm not sure it was their fault. Its like it was completely fried with acid. Whitish/grey for about 1-1.5'. The reason why I don't think they did it is because there's no damage to anything around it, its just the single plastic piece. Looks like a bad manufactured piece. Plus I don't think they would clean the piece- they hardly cleaned the car to begin with. It was covered with dust and the trunk lid was all thick with dirt. I cleaned it up my self, I didn't want them to touch it.

6spdC6

A tender takes a long time to charge up a really down battery, (it's never going to handle a defective one) its designed more to maintain than long time charge.

I would have had the battery changed by dealer before I left the lot.

When I think a battery is real low I use a CHARGER to bring it up and then switch to TENDER to maintain!

Gary '09 C6

good advice from both of the above posters...

CO Lightfoot

Don't bother trying to salvage a C6 battery that's died (probably many times). You don't need the grief.

Get a new battery! And get a good battery maintainer (like a CTEK) to keep it healthy & well-charged.

BTW, congrats on your new C6!

Gearhead Jim

Our 2009 sat on the dealer's lot for 9 months before we bought it, started and moved occasionally but I'm sure the battery went dead more than once. They probably charged it up for my test drive.

After we had put 35,000 miles on the car, no indications of battery problems. I had the local dealer load test it just before we went out of warranty, still tested good. But I replaced it last week, just in case. Dealing with a dead battery in Nowhere Junction on a Sunday morning during a bilzzard, is not my idea of fun.