Battery Dead Overnight
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 41
Likes: 7
From: Palm Coast Florida
Battery Dead Overnight
Tough one. Out of nowhere the battery on my '68 now goes dead overnight. I thought it was because the battery was five-yrs old so I installed a new battery. Same issue. Checked lights, ignition, the usual suspects. Turned my garage pitch black and looked for anything glowing. Listened for sounds. Nothing. What can it be? The car is pretty simple. I took out all of the accessory bulbs in the interior, so not the problem. The car does have an MSD ignition. It was o.k. last time I drove it about three weeks ago. So whatever happened, it happened while the car was parked. Never had this problem in 35 years of ownership. Any suggestions?? Thanks.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: mount holly NC
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Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2003
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From: Fernandina Beach FL
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On your 68-
Have you checked the wiper service switch- if left on even with the ignition off it'll drain the battery-
Here's the service bulletin on it-
https://www.corvetteactioncenter.com...print-697.html
Richard
Have you checked the wiper service switch- if left on even with the ignition off it'll drain the battery-
Here's the service bulletin on it-
https://www.corvetteactioncenter.com...print-697.html
Richard
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 943
Likes: 73
Tough one. Out of nowhere the battery on my '68 now goes dead overnight. I thought it was because the battery was five-yrs old so I installed a new battery. Same issue. Checked lights, ignition, the usual suspects. Turned my garage pitch black and looked for anything glowing. Listened for sounds. Nothing. What can it be? The car is pretty simple. I took out all of the accessory bulbs in the interior, so not the problem. The car does have an MSD ignition. It was o.k. last time I drove it about three weeks ago. So whatever happened, it happened while the car was parked. Never had this problem in 35 years of ownership. Any suggestions?? Thanks.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 11,608
Likes: 780
From: Eustis ( Area 51 Bat Cave ) Fl
My 69 did that when i got it,
Not overnight but within a couple nights,
I had so many things i was working on at that time ( car didnt drive, engine was a mess )
One day i am working on something put my hand on the wiper motor, really hot, and the wipers dont work,
Unplugged it, fixed the battery drain, dont know what caused it, the wiper motor is still waiting for me to rebuild it, only been 11 years, no hurries....
Not overnight but within a couple nights,
I had so many things i was working on at that time ( car didnt drive, engine was a mess )
One day i am working on something put my hand on the wiper motor, really hot, and the wipers dont work,
Unplugged it, fixed the battery drain, dont know what caused it, the wiper motor is still waiting for me to rebuild it, only been 11 years, no hurries....
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 41
Likes: 7
From: Palm Coast Florida
Thank You All
Thank you Corvette Forum and thank you, members. This is as good as having a C3 expert next door. My battery drain is resolved. On advice I received here, I isolated the wiper motor and that's the problem. I will replace it.
Thanks, again.
Thanks, again.
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Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 41
Likes: 7
From: Palm Coast Florida
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 8,336
Likes: 2,810
From: Cool Northern Michigan
That's not a repair. That's a bandaide over a temporary fix. The drained battery issue will come back to haunt you later. I would get tired of resetting all the stereo stations, mode settings and clock every time..
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,072
Likes: 61
From: Saint clair shores Michigan
It's worked great for me. It's been this way for 5 years. Now that's a good bandage. And my clock doesn't work anyways. I put the trans temperature guage there. And I can always set the radio stations.