bigsteff

The GS is headed to the dealer in the morning for battery maintenance! This is the second time the battery died in the last 3 months. The last time, the dealer recharged the battery and it was ok for 3 months. I had not started the car for 3 weeks and now its dead again. Should i expect a new battery or a lecture on starting the car at least once a week? Are there any key statements to make to the dealer to get a replacement? I leave the car in reverse while partked (what's up with that).

TommyV

Take to Sears. They'll test it for free. If it's bad, take the slip to your dealer, and get a new one.

If it going to be parked longer than a few days, use a Battery Tender. It's also good for the battery.







.

johnodrake

Sage advice, heed it!

CO Lightfoot

You're killing your battery by letting your C6 sit so long. And if you mostly take short drives, your battery is headed for an early grave.

Don't start it once-a-week... you'll have to run the engine ~20 minutes or so just to replace the energy used in starting the car. And you'll have to run it even longer to replace energy lost by the parasitic drain of dis-use.

Bottom Line: Use a good battery maintainer regularly. It will keep your battery well-charged. And its maintenance cycle will give you max battery life.

You can get the "official" C6 Battery Protection Package for under $100:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...11-models.html



Or shop around for the best price on the nearly identical CTEK 3300.

More info from another thread:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...post1579601497

BTW, lots of other cars suffer dead batteries when used infrequently.

CO Lightfoot

For extended storage, the owners manual also suggests disconnecting the negative battery terminal. See the section titled "Battery" (pg 5-50 in my 09 manual).

Be sure you don't lose the cone-shaped terminal nut -- replacements are almost impossible to find. In fact, there's no need to remove the nut. The terminal clamp design is such that you only need to loosen the nut.

Of course, I'm assuming you know how to get into a C6 with a disconnected battery.

Swiftrider08

Have to use a battery tender. Two weeks is about the max most can go without driving the car before the battery goes dead. You are doing nothing wrong and there is nothing wrong with the car.

Since your battery has went completely dead twice now, you for sure need a new battery. Letting one go dead just kills the life of a battery.

AORoads

good advice above from all 4.

btw, how'd your '08 do without a battery "maintainer" such as the suggestions above? mine, I've been using one since nov. '07. and just got one of those cteks with the lighter plug in option. works great!

Don-Vette

Letting your car sit for 3 weeks without a battery tender on it is just asking for trouble IMO. Boy Scout Motto: "Be Prepared"

Landru

For any Corvette sitting longer than a week-10 days a battery tender's an absolute must.

lsbrodsky

Some advice similar to one above, if the battery dies even once, it will never be the same as new. It can be recharged but will never hold the charge as well. These lead acid batteries are very old technology. If you drove your car every day, you would never notice a loss in capacity. But with your situation, you cannot handle it. I second the battery maintainer solution. If you want a reliable standard battery for its life, never completely discharge it.
Larry

Prime Target

The battery tender is your best option for the amount that you use your car. Simple to use and you will alleviate the paranoia of coming out to a dead car. Also, leaving your GS parked in reverse does nothing for the drain on your battery. That was only relevant to the 05 model year. 06 and newer do not require that action.

JKbride

Seems every car has its “Achilles Heel” and the battery life seems to be it for the Corvette. Even before I purchased my C6 I heard about the systemic “Battery Problems” with them. It’s well documented on CF and there are plenty of others who have had the same problems that you have encountered. There is some background power drawn on the Vette that will zap the battery if left unabated.

Car batteries by design are meant to be recharged on a reoccurring basis. Be it a Vette or another car, boat, riding lawn mower, if the battery sets for an extended period of time it will lose its charge.

I have 2nd and 3rd Gen Trans Am’s I show and don’t get many trips during the year….both (along with my Vette) have battery tenders and even after months of setting start right up.

As noted, the common fix is a Battery Tender. There are several out good ones out there and a few threads on which is the best to purchase.

PittMD1

What in the car is drawing so much current that the thing has to be kept on life support?

z51vett

I had this issue because my car had set from aug to march was alright for about a year.
At the end of about a year I started having issues they said was okay not. I got up one sat. and it was dead again charged up drove to ac delco warehouse got new batt got in car to come home they jumped me off. When I got home put new battery in never had another problem.
Took old batt. to dealer to have it check it was dead they got me reimbursed for the batt. Oh and I don't use a tender on my cars. My 2012 sat for 6 weeks while i wore a boot on left foot started right up.
z51vett

Vette5.5

Your problems may have started the day you took delivery of the car. If the car was sitting on the dealer lot for a couple months before you got it, then the battery was probably run down to total zero, and is a goner now. Might hold bit of a charge, but not like it's supposed to. I'd look into this. As mentioned, late model car electronics always pull a slight battery drain when sitting, so not a good idea going more than a couple weeks without a maintainer on it.

greengo

Had repeated problems with mine (2 Delco replacements) till
I replaced the second Delco that was failing again with a Optima yellow top
HAVE NOT HAD A PROBLEM IN THE TWO YEAR SINCE I DID SO
no tender what so ever and has sat for over a month without starting!

bearphoto

Like many others here, this problem pisses me off to no end and its just been acceptable to everyone and chevrolet. But we love our cars and accept it as a fact of life for corvette owners. It'd sure be nice if chevrolet would be able to address this problem on the C7's but my guess is that they will just ignore it again.

My Trans Ams (3) will sit for 6 months and always fire right back up but leave a corvette untendered for 2 weeks and you get a dead battery and the dealership runaround?

boraxman

Im so glad I dont have these issues, my car has sat up to a month with no problem.

Red Devil

After looking at the first two avatars I'm not sure what this thread is about. :-)

greengo

How to differentiate between negative and positive posts!