Major electrical problems
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 65
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From: Rockport MA
Major electrical problems
Hello everyone,
I have 2001 vert with 75,000 on it. I drove it today for the first time in three months. I pit a new battery in and drove my 30 mile commute to work. About half way home tonight my vette went nuts. It was fine one second then I got traction system inoperative, service active handling, reduced engine power, shocks inoperative, low fuel, sevice engine soon. Every light on the dash came on. temp gushed pegged at max while oil pressure and fuel pegged at zero. I pulled over and turned the car off. I turned it back on and everything seemed fine. I pulled back on the highway and a mile later I got the same thing. I turned it off and disconnected the battery. I hooked it back up and a minute later the problem came back. The radio also flickered on and off. I managed to drive it home. And it ran fine.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what is going on?
-Dave in Boston
I have 2001 vert with 75,000 on it. I drove it today for the first time in three months. I pit a new battery in and drove my 30 mile commute to work. About half way home tonight my vette went nuts. It was fine one second then I got traction system inoperative, service active handling, reduced engine power, shocks inoperative, low fuel, sevice engine soon. Every light on the dash came on. temp gushed pegged at max while oil pressure and fuel pegged at zero. I pulled over and turned the car off. I turned it back on and everything seemed fine. I pulled back on the highway and a mile later I got the same thing. I turned it off and disconnected the battery. I hooked it back up and a minute later the problem came back. The radio also flickered on and off. I managed to drive it home. And it ran fine.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what is going on?
-Dave in Boston
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 19,384
Likes: 87
From: Horncastle Lincolnshire, England
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
It's definitely power related. If you pull the codes you'll expect to see a bunch of "U" codes which show you had a power glitch.
Its possible you picked up a bad battery from the store. To check your battery voltage, do not read the DIC when the car is off. The voltmeter is designed to measure alternator output when the car is running. It will always measure an inaccurately low voltage on the battery when the car is off. Anything from 11.0-11.9 is not abnormal in this mode. With the engine on, the voltmeter should show between 13V and 14.5V. A better reading can be measured at the battery terminals. Use a digital multi meter if you can. A fully charged battery measures 12.66 V and a fully discharged battery measures 11.86 V.
The other thing to check is that the battery leads are torqued tight and the leads are clean.
If its any consolation, I had a similar incident years ago in Vegas and it never reoccurred.
If that doesn't fix it there are other things to check but start there.
Its possible you picked up a bad battery from the store. To check your battery voltage, do not read the DIC when the car is off. The voltmeter is designed to measure alternator output when the car is running. It will always measure an inaccurately low voltage on the battery when the car is off. Anything from 11.0-11.9 is not abnormal in this mode. With the engine on, the voltmeter should show between 13V and 14.5V. A better reading can be measured at the battery terminals. Use a digital multi meter if you can. A fully charged battery measures 12.66 V and a fully discharged battery measures 11.86 V.
The other thing to check is that the battery leads are torqued tight and the leads are clean.
If its any consolation, I had a similar incident years ago in Vegas and it never reoccurred.
If that doesn't fix it there are other things to check but start there.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,817
Likes: 21
From: Somerset, NJ
Hello everyone,
I have 2001 vert with 75,000 on it. I drove it today for the first time in three months. I pit a new battery in and drove my 30 mile commute to work. About half way home tonight my vette went nuts. It was fine one second then I got traction system inoperative, service active handling, reduced engine power, shocks inoperative, low fuel, sevice engine soon. Every light on the dash came on. temp gushed pegged at max while oil pressure and fuel pegged at zero. I pulled over and turned the car off. I turned it back on and everything seemed fine. I pulled back on the highway and a mile later I got the same thing. I turned it off and disconnected the battery. I hooked it back up and a minute later the problem came back. The radio also flickered on and off. I managed to drive it home. And it ran fine.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what is going on?
-Dave in Boston
I have 2001 vert with 75,000 on it. I drove it today for the first time in three months. I pit a new battery in and drove my 30 mile commute to work. About half way home tonight my vette went nuts. It was fine one second then I got traction system inoperative, service active handling, reduced engine power, shocks inoperative, low fuel, sevice engine soon. Every light on the dash came on. temp gushed pegged at max while oil pressure and fuel pegged at zero. I pulled over and turned the car off. I turned it back on and everything seemed fine. I pulled back on the highway and a mile later I got the same thing. I turned it off and disconnected the battery. I hooked it back up and a minute later the problem came back. The radio also flickered on and off. I managed to drive it home. And it ran fine.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what is going on?
-Dave in Boston
Last edited by ffas23; Feb 26, 2011 at 03:17 AM.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 10,962
Likes: 29
From: Van Buren Arkansas
Wounded Warrior Escort '11
As stated, serial buss wires, battery leads lose and I'll add one more thing to check, the battery leads at the solenoid since this is the electrical center of the car or main electrical distribution point.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,220
Likes: 6
From: www.Z16.org North/West Pennsylvania
Pull the codes. If you have lots of Uxxxx codes, I suggest that you may be experiencing the bare serial buss wire in the accordian tubes between the door and A-Pillar. Check out this thread from Bill Curlee, Forum resident electrical wizard:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1568567648-post610.html
Check BOTH doors but the drivers door is the most likely one.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1568567648-post610.html
Check BOTH doors but the drivers door is the most likely one.
I suggest checking the ground packs in your engine compartment. Pull them apart clean them with some contact cleaner and preservative, also clean the attaching point to the frame. Good luck.
