corvettez06ed

Hi Guys, well, due to the weather, a couple of long out of town trips, my wife not starting the Z06 enough when I was gone and me driving my 99' FRC, the stock battery in Z06 went dead. I tried to jump start it but it wouldn't turn over, all the lights worked fine, etc. I opened up the rear battery compartment, disconnected the battery cables and I'm now charging the battery. The battery appears to still be good, it's accepting the charge, (this is the first time it's gone dead), no smoke, burning smells or battery acid is leaking.

My 1st question: After I reconnect the battery will the vehicle start without any special dealership only, hardware or software tricks or fine tuning?

2nd question: How long can you let a Z06 sit before a normal, good battery goes dead?

3rd and last question: Will jump starting the vehicle at the fuse box terminal and forward header bolt per the owners manual hurt or damage the vehicle's electronics, brain box?

Thanks in advance for all the help, you people are the best and always provide excellent information.

vetteman24

Normally my car will go dead after 1 week of sitting. Sometimes as little as 5 days. Best thing to do is to buy a battery tendor. Jumping your car is fine... but if all the way dead takes awhile to get it to turn over.

I have had a window issure when my car is completely dead, after charging, the windows don't go all the way up after you close the door.. to fix this you:

1. Get into car and close the door then place the ignition in the accessory mode.
2. Depress the drivers window switch just enough to move the window down but do not push it to the "Auto Down" mode (bottomed out).
3. Once the window is fully down and while maintaining your finger on the switch, depress the switch fully down to index the window in the down position.
4. Now, lift on the switch in the up position slightly until the window moves fully up and seals.
5. Once the window is fully up and while maintaining your finger on the switch, lift the switch fully up to index the window in the up position.

Bills Z06

Get a Battery Tender and you won't have those issues to worry about.

blackvetterzo6

I've left my car for 2 weeks with no problems. Winter here it's on the battery tender.

6spdC6

#1 If your batter is OK all should be fine except windows need reindexiing Easy. You might have to drive a few miles to get your TPS working right again. That’s the most common items. On my 05 I had to redo the seats and mirror. The 05 was a known DBS car.

#2 How long it depends on too many variables. Like how much drive, how good the battery is. I put on a tender if I know I will be sitting more than a week. Others have different ways of doing things

#3 NO. I’m a old timer I always prefer to go DIRECT to the battery (shortest route) but most use the under hood hook up in a Z!

titleist731

wow 1 week? jeez what draws on the battery so much when not in use?

BIGBOS

I just installed a Deltran tender on mine, it went dead faster than normal once the weather hit here in chicago. Its up to a full charge now after sitting for about a day. Seems like it is a good device. I'm going to try to start it in a week or so once this snow storm passes

JoesC5

#3. Jump start the car at the underhood location as GM instructs. That location is also the shortest distance to the starter. Jump start at the rear mounted battery location and you will have some voltage drop because of the long run of the + battery cable from the battery to the front mounted starter.

50 4Ever

I'm thinking about the Deltran tender also. How many of you guys use the cig lighter adapter? Any problems?

VettesRule

Do you guys connect the battery charger to the battery or the jump start connection under the hood?

JoesC5

I use the underhood points when I connect my float charger.

vetteman24

I also use the underhood method.

Wah

My Z06 has a hard-wire for the Battery Tender Plus. It's connected directly to the battery.

psft_alum

I use my Deltran Tender Plus with the cigarette adapter. The tender sits outside the car a on a plastic box. I run the adapter cord through the driver side window, which I leave slightly open.

This works great for my 08 Z06.

psft_alum

I use the cig. adapter, see #14. No problem for me.

klasik-69

Best way to handle the winter battery problem is to live in Florida, then you don't have a winter

I use a battery tender anyway......cause it does rain here a lot, sometimes it never stops. Mine was good for about 10 days, then its "click-click" and no start. Some guys get 3 weeks, some don't get 1 week out of the battery. On-star computer is always on, as is some of the security hardware. In any case, the battery tender not only keeps your battery in tip-top condition, it also makes the battery last a lot longer. I keep tenders on my classics. Whereas I used to go thru batteries every 2 to 2-1/2 years, now they're there for a lot longer. In fact, haven't had one crap out yet.

Brian Fisher

My 08 has been fine, I had an 05 Coupe that went dead all the time.

I got a battery tender from the Corvette Museum and use it on my Z06, works great, no issues.

corvettez06ed

Thanks for all the feedback and advice guys! The original, stock battery accepted the charge and I put everything back together last night but it was to late to start the car. I'm going to try starting it later tonight, wish me luck, will post again with my results.

Dizz

Yes, I use the cigarette adapter. I plug it into the lighter, run the cord out a crack on the window and can then tuck her in for winter. I did also get an extension cord so the tender itself would not have to be right next to the car where I would probably ending up walking into.

JiminVirginia

I couldn't get my adapter to work for some reason. Maybe the connection wasn't good enough. I'll check it out again.

In the meantime, hooking the Deltran up to the battery out back seems to work very well.