CETA 256

I've had my car for a month and everything has been amazing, until this morning. Parked her in the garage last night as normal. Went out this morning and she is completely dead. Entered the car via the trunk mechanism and found a post on here showing where the charging post are under the hood. Looked under my hood and couldn't find any such post.

Called the dealer and they suggested not trying to boost it directly from the battery. I am suppose to lead them to my home in the morning so they can try to bring her back to life and drive her to the dealership. I really don't think the battery could have died over night. No reason for it to at all. It has always reads around 13 on the charge since I got her and no problems yesterday evening. Do any of you have any thoughts or suggestions what it could be other than the battery. Nothing in the car has any power whatsoever. Thanks in advance.

Larry/car

A battery can fail, even new ones fail without warning. Jump starting a dead Corvette is different than cars of yesteryear. An engine component (or something) has to have power for a few minutes or the car want crank/start.

Glen e

if oyu have absolutely ZERO current whatsoever and nothing works it is prob a connection somewhere that is causing the batt power to not get to the circuits... a simple volt meter or continuity tester across the terminals of the batt will tell you that.....Sudden catastrophic batt failure can happen on new batts, optima had it happen for a few years, but most likely "totally dead" is a connector...take the batt cables off and put them back on....

Pocket Aces

I haven't evaluated it but I notice my doors are hard to close all the way particularly the passenger side. If they don't close all the way do the lights stay on until the battery drains?

mjw930

No, the auxiliary systems (lights) shut down after about 10 minutes.

Da Hawk

The seals will eventually settle and the doors will close easier in due time. I got mine a couple of months ago and had the same issue for the first month or so. Not a problem any longer.

Bavaria

Are there charging points under the hood? It sure would be convenient.

I know I had them on a '10 BMW, as I hooked up a trickle charger when the car wasn't going to be driven for extended periods of time.

Glen e

Yes, the pos is right behing the fuse box under a black plastic cover, the neg is anywhere on the frame.

Read the manual on how to maintain charge this car....

Crossed Flags Fan

If the doors are hard to close and you're having an electrical issue the window indexing (window goes down a quarter of an inch when opening the door and goes back up when its closed) may be related to the problem.
Forget about trying to fix it yourself - thats why there's a warranty. The dealer will do a couple of quick tests and nail it down quickly. Could be as simple as a bad battery, or connection that needs to be tightened. Worst case a failed electrical component that they will replace.
Believe it or not a sudden failure like this is lots better than an intermittent slow start problem.

Bavaria

Thanks Glen.

Weasel

This same thing happened to my coupe. The dealer kept the car for 8 days and it turned out to be a pinched wire harness in the rear-view mirror. All has been fine since then.

CETA 256

The glove box will not open without power, I tried to get the manual. I appreciate all the thoughts and assistance.

JerryU

There is a place in the engine compartment but you won't find a pic in the owner's manual. It only shows the battery as a jump location. It is not like your BMW, which is clearly marked and looks like something you should use! It is a threaded stud on the left side of the front fuse panel. There is a wire going to the battery. I questioned if it was large enough to carry starting current and it apparently is. You also have to pry off the plastic cover. It is not that easy and again doesn't look like that was the intent. It is a good spot to 12 volt power for an accessory. You have to clamp the ground where you can find a good place. In prior Vettes it said to use an engine bolt. Here is a pic:




Yellow Arrow is Threaded Post. Must First Remove Plastic Cover. Mine Needed A Screw Driver to Pry Off

Note: About a year ago I questioned Customer Service on the forum post about this statement on Page 1-20 of the owner’s manual since could not find the location and the pages referenced say nothing about starting from the engine compartment: “Page 1-20: Jump Starting the Battery Access to the battery is not necessary for jump starting. There are remote positive (+) and negative (−) terminals under the hood for this purpose. See Battery on page 10-30 and Jump Starting on page 10-65.”
After several PM’s best they could obtain from their internal contacts is the manual is correct but they could not find out where the terminals were or instruct exactly where to connect! (Not their fault they can only relay what they are told!) Looking at the wire size (in my Street Rod with the battery in the rear right like the C7 I used 2/0 welding cable to bring power thru a solenoid to the starter. Starting current of 200+ amps needs a large wire. ) I questioned if the wire delivering power to the fuse box (not the starter) was big enough. Found in a reference in the Z06 owner’s manual (with battery in the right rear) that said to use that connection and a bolt on the engine for a ground.

C7Joy

I had a battery cause exactly the problem the OP described. It turned out to be an "open circuit" within the battery itself. Hopefully that is all it is.

2vetteEd

When I had a 6 spd, they told me that the proper shut down procedure was to leave the car in reverse. I would imagine this works for the 7 spd as well.

RonC7

This was an issue on 2005s only. Never an issue on my 2006 or later.

CETA 256

Sorry I didn't mention it, it is an A8. Suppose to meet with the Vette tech at 8:00. Once the problem is discovered I will update this post. Thanks again for all the possible suggestions.

lastcowboy

it may or may not be the bat. but you would know best being there but
had the same thing happen after i got the car . would not start , tried the remote and it started . called the s.mgr. and he told me the car was parked in just the right place for something to block the rf. sig.
mved the car and it started . if it is the bat you can find the pos. and neg.on the p. side on the fender wall ......good luck

KenHorse

Delco continues to use rivets in their battery plate assemblies and these types can suddenly and totally fail without warning...

eboggs_jkvl

Here is a thread showing the system I use to maintain the battery with connections in the engine bay.

http://www.ls2.com/forums/showthread...ery-topped-off



Elmer