Hello folks, just joined up to the board. Been following, though, for awhile.

I purchased my first Vette a couple of weeks ago: '72, 350 auto, convertible.

I'm no mechanic, but the Vette runs good, rides good, and looks good. So it seemed like an easy decision.

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The first (big?) problem I've run into: The past two days I've went out in hopes of going for a ride, and the battery has been dead. It has drained overnight.

Yesterday, when it first happened (the first time in the two weeks that I've owned it), I jumped it and it started easily. I checked all that I could think of; the headlight's weren't on, the doors were closed, the trunk lid closed, the interior lights off.

Last night, after getting it started, I put it to bed and made sure everything visible was off. Again, no lights, no doors, and radio off.

This morning it was the same story, turn the key and there is nothing.

Anyone have any idea what I should be looking for to lick this problem? Is there anything that might be left on that it would be easy to miss?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Rex

 

you need to start with a fully charged batt. took off the neg. cable to charge... do you have a test light ???
oh ya' welcome

 

ive got the same problem with my 69. ive just gotten used to pulling off one of the cables when im done driveing it.

 

Start with the battery fully charged. If need be take to your FLAPS to be checked.

If you have a DVM or a Digital Multi-Meter,
1. remove the NEG. cable from the battery
2. MAKE SURE the meter is connected for AMPs and not VOLTS
3. Connect the meter with with one lead to the NEG cable end and the other to the NEG battery post
4. Observer the current flow reading on the meter, it should be VERY LOW. If not yoiu have a short somewhere.
5. Leaving the meter still connected, begin removing the fuses one by one noting the meter after each removal. This will tell which circuit has the short
6. IF the meter still shows current drain, disconnect the Alternator
7. If it is the Alternator, DO NOT turn it in for core, just buty a replacement and send the original dated unit for restoration to John Pirkle (assumiong it is still the original unit).

Don

 

I wonder could the radio be hard wired to a source and staying on when the car is shut down. Check the volume and make sure it is turned off. Just another idea to look at.

 

Eddie70 gave you the right path to follow, I can only add that while the key is off and out of the ignition switch, you should'n see any sparking between the dicconnected cables. One thing that is always overlooked is the under hood light. it's got a mercury switch and you;ll never see that it's failed except at night looking under the car.

 

A quick follow up:

I thank you all for the responses, they were greatly appreciated.

As one post suggested, I pulled the battery out and took it to a local place to have it tested. They determined that it was no longer good, so I picked up a replacement.

Put it in yesterday afternoon, drove around. This morning, I went to check things out and, as nearly as I could see, all seems well.

So, I'm thinking (hoping) that the battery was the problem.

The issue with that, however: The previous battery, that was tested to be bad, wasn't terribly old.

So, that's where I stand. I'll give 'er a little time to see how things turn out.

Thanks again

 

For a few dollars you can install one of these:

 

You may still have a problem. I hope the battery was fully charged up when your local place decided that it wasn't any good and sold you a new one. Without it being fully charged no one could tell you if it was good or bad. A load test needed to be taken but it could only be done properly on a fully charged battery. I hope the new replacement does the trick for you but I have seen plenty of times when someone would just change the battery with a new one to find out a few days to a week or two later that the new battery did not solve the problem. If your new battery doesn't do the trick Corvette member (vetsvette2002) gave you good advice on what to check. I would also advice you to go out and get yourself a Milton Battery Testor Model #1260 if you are going to start working on your own car. Believe me it is worth its weight in gold. You should also have a battery charger preferably the garage type sitting on two wheels to roll around but a portable 10amp charger will also do the trick if you don't mind waiting over night to charge your battery. The rollaround will do it in a couple of hours. One other thing you might want to check the center glove compartment behind the seats. If not closed properly the light will stay on killing your battery over night also always make sure change like pennies or dimes haven't fallen into the cigar lighter. I had a friend of mine whose young son dropped a penny in his lighter and the dash wiring all burned up from it also.

 

I also have a 1972 350 auto, and found the battery I bought from one of those auto stores was bad. I had a garage check for a drain but they found none. If my car sites for 3-4 days the battery will drain down, I will check some of the stuff mentioned above.
What I do is put a trikkle charger on the battery when I am not using it. I also have a battery shut off that I use when parking the car just in case.

 

My battery drainer stories.

1.) The C3 storage compartments;i.e. the three compartments behind the seats. The center one has a light bulb. On my 69, this light bulb would not turn off and was draining the battery. Since the door was closed, it was not very noticeable the the light was on.

2) On my 68, the windshield wiper motor assembly would spontaniously try to turn itself on. With no engine vacuum, the wipers would not deploy. This would drain the battery. I was never able to solve this problem. Eventually I installed a wiper motor assembly from a 1969, which was not an easy replacement since the 69 wiring and vacuum controls are different.

I'm an electrical engineer and I have worked with circuits and done circuit trouble shooting. However, I find Corvette electrical trouble shooting to be very difficult. Tracing out circuits on the circuit schematics is really frustrating to me. The relays and switches internal to the wiper motor assembly, and the interacting relays and switches attached to the wiper motor assembly, were so confusing I never was able to pin point the problem.

 

BINGO!

I just checked the center compartment in the back. The bulb was on with the door closed.

So, how does one go about fixing that?


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Edit: Well, played around a little and found, simply enough, that the door just wasn't latching well (the compartment hadn't closed completely, despite giving the impression that it had). The light wouldn't shut down, and, I'm guessing, was the cause of my problem. A good, *ahem*, slam, allows for the light to shut off.

Chalk this one up to rookie fever

Assuming that was the problem, I thank you all greatly, again, for all of the help.

I'll be sticking around the forum, so be prepared for more

Rex

 

If this is the case you purchased a brand new battery for nothing. Chances are the battery that came with your car when you purchased it would of lasted you along time. Just goes to show you that your local place didn't check your battery properly to see if it was good or bad. Just sell the customer a new battery problem is it always doesn't seem to fix the problem. I have seen it to many times being in the auto parts business for the last 27 years. If I were you and if you still plan on working on your own car I would listen to the other suggestions I gave you in post #9 and that is to go out and purchase a decent battery charger and a Milton Battery tester. Believe me you are going to need these two tools down the road. Actually the money you spent listening to your local auto store or retailer who sold you a battery for no reason could of went toward one of the items I suggested. Having both these tools keeps you from relying on someone else to tell you if your battery is bad and if your car is charging plus a number of other things. I don't know about you but I like to know about my car and be able to fix most problems on my own that pop up.

Fred

 

start here a fully charged batt. sorry about you waisting good money