KGrant

My buddy has a 2015 Z06 in which he had his battery tender on over the winter. However, he went to start it and it would not start or could not jump it either so he removed and took it to O'Reilly's and they said the battery was toast and cells dead.


He couldn't get it to dealer because it wouldn't start and would need to be towed. He figure it is covered on warranty but the dealer said first he would need to bring car to dealer and they would have to run test for a few hours to determine next steps. Well he didn't want to have his side skirts damaged on a tow, so he went to dealer and bought a battery to drive the car to dealer with old ruined battery.


After installing new battery, he is excited and grab key fob and it doesn't work, he does the manual latch pull to even open door but could not start car and only the window would work and they only work sporadically. It seems that the with these cars being one big computer that lost all power, all the programming with the fob and engine start etc has been erased.


Sorry for the long note but I wanted to clearly explain what was going on and looking for recommendations or will the car need to be towed to the dealer and be reprogrammed? : confused:

ersatz928

Stick the key fob into the slot on the side of the steering colum, with the silver metal end sticking out. Then try to start the car. If the car now starts, the battery in the fob went dead too. See page 2-8 in the Owners Manual.

KGrant

Tried the suggestion using key in slot but nothing happened!

ersatz928

When you try to start it, does the dash how any warning messages like "Key fob not detected"?....or any other message?

KGrant

Nothing! Only airbag light goes on.

Larry/car

Thinking the system is all out of sync. Disconnect the battery wait about thirty minutes, reconnect and try starting the car again. Remember, after reconnecting the battery to wait about five/ten minutes before attempting to start the engine (Electronics need time to power up).

Kent1999

Something else happened. There *are* lots of computers in the C7, but they do NOT just "lose all settings" including fob pairing just because the battery goes dead.

My guess is that either a major module just died all on its own (rare) or perhaps during all the battery swapping, a mistake was made and someone shorted or misconnected the battery leads -- reverse voltage to the system could kill things.

eboggs_jkvl

Start checking fuses... If more than one is blown, then the battery was reversed and shorted a bunch of **** out in the car.

TEXHAWK0

If installing a new battery started the problems, first remove and clean the battery terminals and make sure they are making good connections at the cables. Remove negative terminal first...

Did you take some emery cloth and polish the terminal posts on the new battery?

If there was something wrong with the fob, you should get a "fob not detected" message. Just disconnecting the battery should not affect the car's sync with the fob.

BELVIN20

Previous poster is 100% correct, when removing battery, the negative terminal must be removed first. But when reconnecting the battery, positive cable first & negative cable last.

I would also replace the battery in the fob while doing this process the rule out fob. Fob battery is a 2032 & is available at your local drug store.

I have had the battery out of my 2016 Z for several hours, & nothing in the many computers memories has ever been lost. It seems likely that cables have been crossed & hopefully only fuse blown.

falconhulk

You friend should have roadside assistance right? Have it towed for free. None of this was necessary.

KGrant

I agree to disagree! This is a forum that allows you to share information and learn from others all about corvette and particularly the c7. There's time after time where either doing it yourself projects and/or technical issues that forum members have time after time helped others and I wouldn't term their posts as "none of this is necessary". It's not about money as this person is a millionaire and would rather trouble shoot over the weekend before the car gets towed on Monday and it's nothing wrong with that.

When one doesn't think someone's post is necessary then perhaps they should ignore and keep it moving on to posts they deem worthy. It's no different then most of have learned in school as there are no dumb or unnecessary questions and that the dumb or unnecessary questions are those not asked.

To all the forum members trying to help me and others thanks and continue being gracious with your time and knowledge helping others.

falconhulk

You misunderstood. The post was not unnecessary. Going through pulling the batter, taking it to the dealer, bringing it home, etc., was. I would never encourage someone not to post. I would encourage them to not go through more hell then they have to.

KGrant

Thanks FalconHulk: I apologize for misinterpreting your response as I looked at your status as a Senior and thought it was an odd response. As with communication in general, sometime things read differently than what is intended so I thank you for clarifying and again I apologize if I misinterpreted your intentions. Lets call this matter closed and have a drink

AORoads

Your friend should know about roll up tow trucks which do not "tow" but transport a car to a dealer. The old name of one of the more famous "transporters" was "Jerr-Dan" after the partners who created them. Done properly, these trucks will not destroy the front splitter or the side skirts on the car. And your friend could then avoid all this "mishegas" aka frustrating trial and error.

Finally, altho your friend may know what he's doing in other realms, you might just double check how, where he connected his battery maintainer. The C7 is different as far as "live" ports/places that accept a maintainer, and all maintainers are not alike as to what makes them "live." (i.e., Ctek's 3300 has at least two different variations that go on/off differently)

Zymurgy

If your friend did not plug his battery maintainer into the plug in the rear cargo area, then his maintainer did nothing. Only the plug in the rear cargo area is active at all times. The others shut off after 10 minutes.

stevebz06

Did your friend check or charge the new battery? I have brought brand new parts home, installed them, and then had to remove them and start all over again because the new part didn't work.

I have a feeling that the problem is fairly simple and is staring him in the face. A defective charger, corrosion on the cable, any number of small things.

One thing, a battery maintainer is not meant to charge a discharged battery. If the new battery is not fully charged then it might never get there with a maintainer.

i would check the new battery for voltage and if that checks, have it tested under load.

KGrant

It was plugged into the hatch outlet so the car will be towed one day this week! I will at least provide an update once everything is resolved! Thanks Everyone!

ersatz928

My bet is that the new battery was accidentally connected backwards....not going to be pretty...

NSC5

I wonder if he didn't get the new battery connections properly tightened? If he hooked up the battery with reverse polarity there should have been some "drama" instantly from the high current flow due to reversed polarity. Some of the fuses that would have opened are the high current types which tend to make noise and sparks when they open.

Another possibility is with over winter storage some rodents got into the wiring. The dealer will figure it out and the only question will be who pays.