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My son's 84 has been giving us nothing but problems since we bought it last Christmas. Right now it won't even turn over... Already had the alternator upgraded/rebuilt because the car would die on us while driving. Now I'm assuming the battery needs replacement. And I've read a tender should be used. It's obvious it has some sort of a parasitic draw somewhere but I don't even know where to start. I'm not an electrical guy and my background is in newer gen 4 F-bodies. So as of now I'm in the throwing money at it phase...
What sort of battery and tender are you guys using?
I have one of these already... not sure if it's considered a tender or not. Never used or needed one in my life to be honest...
I've recharged the battery about 10 times with it...and it used to start. But now the starter just clicks. So I figure the battery is dying. It's an Interstate that has a 10/22 sticker on it.
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You don't need to spend that much money. Just get a battery tender junior and hook it up if you are not driving for a few days. it takes me 20 seconds. Dan
Is there some sort of terminal kit for quick connect and disconnect of the tender?
Unless you are a brain surgeon and your time is very valuable you will not miss the 5 seconds it takes to clip the alligator clips on the battery once the hood is open. Once you find the quick connect and connect them you might only be 2 seconds ahead Dan
Unless you are a brain surgeon and your time is very valuable you will not miss the 5 seconds it takes to clip the alligator clips on the battery once the hood is open. Once you find the quick connect and connect them you might only be 2 seconds ahead Dan
Yea our hood strut is broken and we currently have to hold it up with a 2x4 lol... So until I fix that a quick terminal kit for long term use is preferred
Unless you are a brain surgeon and your time is very valuable you will not miss the 5 seconds it takes to clip the alligator clips on the battery once the hood is open. Once you find the quick connect and connect them you might only be 2 seconds ahead Dan
Why open and close the hood? No alligator clips, just ring terminals bolted to the jump start connector and chassis ground.
Everything you need. I installed mine three years ago[/size]
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This is the same as I used on my '91. They did come with a quick disconnect.....not sure about now.........I purchased battery clamps that were fitted with threaded posts to fasten rings on quick disconnect. I then used the fender gills to run the cable to the battery tender. And simply folded the cable on itself and placed back into gill when not in use. Ran this for years without any problem. I purchased the clamps at NAPA. And if not sold as part of the battery tender in the box, believe the quick connect is available from battery tender. Good Luck! Do a search on forum, I may have created a pic of my setup years ago.
I use the $20 Everstart float charger from Walmart. It works well enough.
As far as finding a parasitic draw you need to first track down what circuit it's happening on. I had the same issue with my 84. Turned out the previous owner had converted my three wire headlights into two wire and wired the isolation relay backwards. So it was energized all the time. This would drain the battery after a day or so. But using a basic multimeter you can track it down pretty quick.
Disconnect the positive lead on your battery. Unplug your underhood lights. Use alligator clips to put your meter in series with the battery and the positive lead. Basically using your meter as a wire to connect the two. Doesn't matter which way you do it. You could put the red lead on the battery and the black on the cable or the other way around. Then open the passenger side door. Use a piece of wood or some other object to press in the door closed plunger so the interior lights turn off. Set the meter to read DC amps. Wait 5 minutes. Then look at the meter. It will show how many amps you're drawing. Pull one fuse out of the panel at a time until you find the parasitic draw.
I use the $20 Everstart float charger from Walmart. It works well enough.
As far as finding a parasitic draw you need to first track down what circuit it's happening on. I had the same issue with my 84. Turned out the previous owner had converted my three wire headlights into two wire and wired the isolation relay backwards. So it was energized all the time. This would drain the battery after a day or so. But using a basic multimeter you can track it down pretty quick.
Disconnect the positive lead on your battery. Unplug your underhood lights. Use alligator clips to put your meter in series with the battery and the positive lead. Basically using your meter as a wire to connect the two. Doesn't matter which way you do it. You could put the red lead on the battery and the black on the cable or the other way around. Then open the passenger side door. Use a piece of wood or some other object to press in the door closed plunger so the interior lights turn off. Set the meter to read DC amps. Wait 5 minutes. Then look at the meter. It will show how many amps you're drawing. Pull one fuse out of the panel at a time until you find the parasitic draw.
This may be exactly our problem! I know the previous owner also did a hack job on the headlight upgrades. I'll try doing what you said and see if I can figure it out. Thank you!!!!😎
This is the same as I used on my '91. They did come with a quick disconnect.....not sure about now.........I purchased battery clamps that were fitted with threaded posts to fasten rings on quick disconnect. I then used the fender gills to run the cable to the battery tender. And simply folded the cable on itself and placed back into gill when not in use. Ran this for years without any problem. I purchased the clamps at NAPA. And if not sold as part of the battery tender in the box, believe the quick connect is available from battery tender. Good Luck! Do a search on forum, I may have created a pic of my setup years ago.[/QUOTE]
Found a pic of disconnect cable out through the gills on the linked post. I actually ran the cable out of one of the gill openings and back into another instead of folding over......a lot of time has gone by and mind is not what it once was. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ry-tender.html
This is the same as I used on my '91. They did come with a quick disconnect.....not sure about now.........I purchased battery clamps that were fitted with threaded posts to fasten rings on quick disconnect. I then used the fender gills to run the cable to the battery tender. And simply folded the cable on itself and placed back into gill when not in use. Ran this for years without any problem. I purchased the clamps at NAPA. And if not sold as part of the battery tender in the box, believe the quick connect is available from battery tender. Good Luck! Do a search on forum, I may have created a pic of my setup years ago.
Found a pic of disconnect cable out through the gills on the linked post. I actually ran the cable out of one of the gill openings and back into another instead of folding over......a lot of time has gone by and mind is not what it once was. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ry-tender.html[/QUOTE]
This may be exactly our problem! I know the previous owner also did a hack job on the headlight upgrades. I'll try doing what you said and see if I can figure it out. Thank you!!!!😎
If that's the case then there is an easier way. Just disconnect the battery terminal. Then touch the terminal to the battery and listen. If the relay up front on the driver's side is clicking when you touch the terminal to the battery then it's your problem.
If that's the case then there is an easier way. Just disconnect the battery terminal. Then touch the terminal to the battery and listen. If the relay up front on the driver's side is clicking when you touch the terminal to the battery then it's your problem.
Can you give me the background on this 3 to 2 wire "upgrade" ? Being new to C4's I'm not even sure what that's about LOL
Can you give me the background on this 3 to 2 wire "upgrade" ? Being new to C4's I'm not even sure what that's about LOL
It's not an upgrade. So the early C4's have three wire headlight motors. The later C4's used 2 wire motors and a ripple current relay. So at some point my car was hit in the front and the shop "fixing" it couldn't source three wire motors. So they cobbled together two wire motors and screwed up the wiring. It made it so the isolation relay was energized all the time.
In my case the wiring was butchered with butt splices and tape. So I removed all of it and made a new harness and new relays to run the two wire motors properly.
I have the original Battery Tender brand an leave it plugged in pretty much all the time.Except for this week i left the parking lights on and totally drained the battery.I have a regular charger so had it on the battery for about 8 hrs did nothing so I put the Batttery Tender on it and it brought it back up overnight.
Battery and tender
