[Z06] Battery Dead Again
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,955
Likes: 161
From: PNW
Scrivs......take the positive terminal off the battery and put an AMP meter in series with the battery post and the terminal. Should read only a few milliamps for computer memory, etc.. If you are drawing more then .5 AMPs with everything off, then you have something that has possibly shorted causing excessive current draw. Just leave the amp meter connected and start pulling fuses one at at time. When the current draw drops, there is you culprit. People will add accessories and put them to the BATTERY side of the ignition switch vice the IGNITION side. Measure the current draw and post what it is. We can tell you if it is excessive. I have my XM radio and police scanner wired to the battery and have left them on for a week. The Optima still kicked the Z over.
Ed
Ed
TAC mentioned that his Red Top was out of the car on a Battery Tender, and after it was charged it self-discharged in a day or so on the bench. That's definitely a defective battery if it self discharges that fast out of the car!!
Last edited by ZeeOSix; May 14, 2008 at 02:01 AM.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
From: London Ontario
Thanks for all the advice guys. I will let u know how I make out. So far so good and I tossed the trickle charger aside (bad advice from Cdn Tire guy). I have a buddy coming over with a voltmeter and will check the draw at the post/terminal and pull fuses if necessary. Hopefully that isn't the case, cause I don't have any add ons, she is bone stock. I appreciate all the responses, it helps a lot to get advice from people that aren't out to sell you something and have different motives.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,984
Likes: 0
From: Central Coast CA
Once again I had a dead battery today. My car has been on a Sears (clone type battery tender) on it all year. I started it fine about a month ago. Not sure why the tender didn't keep the battery up to a full charge but it has done this one other time before....hmmmm.
Anyone know where I can get a deal on an Optima? Think I want to try a Yellow Top this time, as I had a Red Top on another vehicle that wasn't driven much and it died just outside of the warranty period.
Anyone know where I can get a deal on an Optima? Think I want to try a Yellow Top this time, as I had a Red Top on another vehicle that wasn't driven much and it died just outside of the warranty period.
Last edited by Shylor; Nov 7, 2008 at 01:17 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,847
Likes: 795
From: Longview Texas
Interesting--but I don't think that explains everything. I got my 2nd replacement Red Top and put it on my wood workbench. My Battery Tender brought it up to 13.2 volts overnight so I removed the tender and let the battery sit on my workbench all by itself. The next morning it was down to 11.73V. The battery simply didn't hold its charge and it was brand new. If it takes some special tender to keep it alive why would I believe a simple alternator would then keep it fully charged? I'll stick to my Delco...
ACDelco Professional grade batteries have a 50 month full replacement warranty, and their quality seems to be improved. I also will just keep my Delco battery. I did have a cell go bad after 3 years, and the local parts store gave me a brand new battery, no charge.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,398
Likes: 2
I still have my original battery and it has never gone dead or failed to start the car even after sitting for a month or more at a time. I don't need no stinking battery tender either. If a battery needs a tender on it then there is something wrong in the system somewhere draining it.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,984
Likes: 0
From: Central Coast CA
I still have my original battery and it has never gone dead or failed to start the car even after sitting for a month or more at a time. I don't need no stinking battery tender either. If a battery needs a tender on it then there is something wrong in the system somewhere draining it.
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 178
Likes: 0
From: Palm Coast Fl
My original lasted about 2 yrs. My Z06's are not daily drivers and get laid up for a month or more every other month or so.
I now use "Walmart batteries, guaranteed full replacement for three years! Although I haven't had to use the warranty.
Whenever I lay up the car I just disconnect the positive terminal with a battery terminal wrench, cover the battery terminal with the plastic plug that came with it! Takes about a minute. All I lose is the clock setting. Radio presets have always stayed put. They start up every time. I find his works better for me than the Battery disconnects which I've tri3ed but have not always worked properly!
I now use "Walmart batteries, guaranteed full replacement for three years! Although I haven't had to use the warranty.
Whenever I lay up the car I just disconnect the positive terminal with a battery terminal wrench, cover the battery terminal with the plastic plug that came with it! Takes about a minute. All I lose is the clock setting. Radio presets have always stayed put. They start up every time. I find his works better for me than the Battery disconnects which I've tri3ed but have not always worked properly!
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,984
Likes: 0
From: Central Coast CA
I am just so pissed at how expensive a car battery has gotten these days. Seems like batteries 20 and 30 years ago lasted much longer and of course were way much cheaper. Granted I understand vehicles today have more electronics in them that work when the car is not running. Still, here we are in the 21st Century and we still get dead batteries?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,186
Likes: 2
From: Woodinville WA
I am just so pissed at how expensive a car battery has gotten these days. Seems like batteries 20 and 30 years ago lasted much longer and of course were way much cheaper. Granted I understand vehicles today have more electronics in them that work when the car is not running. Still, here we are in the 21st Century and we still get dead batteries?
But I'll recommend an Odyssey battery, they won't be damaged by a complete discharge and aren't much more expensive than a regular battery.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,398
Likes: 2
Please don't be ignorant. C5's have computer systems that draw juice even when the car is not running. In 2 to 3 weeks time it drain a battery that is not driven daily. If you drive your car all the time then there is no question your battery will last a long time. But garage queens need some sort of battery tender on their battery. For some reason my OEM battery failed, even with a battery tender type device on it. But a question has been raised as to why GM no longer uses the AGM style batteries......high failure rates perhaps?
Last edited by briann510; Nov 8, 2008 at 03:59 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,984
Likes: 0
From: Central Coast CA
This is your statement that makes you ignorant. As actually it is very normal for the AGM C5 battery to go dead after sitting for several weeks. This has been known since the C5 first used the AGM battery and you would have known this if you had followed the forum threads starting back in 2003. Just because other vehicles use computers doesn't mean the system is the same as the C5.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,334
Likes: 11
From: las vegas nv.
I still have my original battery and it has never gone dead or failed to start the car even after sitting for a month or more at a time. I don't need no stinking battery tender either. If a battery needs a tender on it then there is something wrong in the system somewhere draining it.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,398
Likes: 2
Well since I have a 2003 with the original AGM battery still in it the comment above "AGM batteries go dead after sitting a few weeks" in simply untrue at least in my case (and I know lots of other people still having theirs as well).
My AGM is 5+ years old is still going strong (and I bet it goes the whole 7 years it was designed to go)...I guess I should have replaced it years ago when car was new since its no good according to past forum threads...
It just hit or miss with batteries. Some are good and some are bad right from the get go but no newer car should have to have a tender on it cause of a drain over a couple weeks. Flip a coin.
Ok, I couldn't resist so I went out and took a picture of my POS AGM battery that shouldn't have lasted the first 6 months in 2003. I'll leave it in till it goes dead which probably wont be for another couple years.
Last edited by briann510; Nov 8, 2008 at 10:55 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,984
Likes: 0
From: Central Coast CA
I am sure AGM's work fine for cars driven all the time, just not for long term storage cars. Then again if this battery was so good, then why did GM decide not to use them anymore?
