I have a 98 corvette that has a clicking noise coming from the fuse box inside the car. When it clicks the signal lights, inside lights, radio lights, gear shift light flicker. Also it will not crank on as if the power is drained. I have to remove fuse #25 wait a few seconds then place it back and then it will crank on. Could some please help me out and let me know what the issue could be. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you and have a great one.

 

sounds like a relay when it's clicking can you remove the fuse box cover and try to figure out which relay is cycling on and off? that will at least point you in the right direction.

 

I have taken off the cover but not the top portion of the block where all the fuses are. Should I remove the top portion? Can you tell me how to remove it? I know the fuse number is #25. Looking at the fuse box it says BCMI&PCI.

 

Sounds to me like you have a battery going bad. Low voltage will make relays start to click and other assorted abnormal electrical sounds.

 

Thats the first thing to check. Classic symptoms of a low battery. Are your memory presets dumping? If so, definitely a battery issue.

I'll dig out an old post of mine which may help

 

Identifying Battery Problems

The C5 eats batteries unless you take some regular precautions. If your battery continually dies its either the battery which is on its last legs or something on the car.

You also need to look at how you use the car. Is it a daily driver? If so the battery should be getting a good top up every day so you may have a problem.


Is it a DD but you do short trips? If so you'll be taking a lot out of the battery every time you start. For a short trip, say less than about 20 mins, you won’t top it off properly. Eventually it'll drain.

Is it a weekend car. If so, this takes a lot out of your battery. There’s a 20MA drain even dormant. If you don’t drive the car for a reasonable time every week or so, it'll kill the battery. In this case you really do need a battery tender.

You’ll know when your battery is bad. As it gets low you may get strange electrical indications (random warnings and U fault codes). As it gets lower it may drop the memory settings or defaults such as HUD settings. Eventually you’ll get the dreaded chattering relays in the footwell and eventually the lights on the IPC will disappear.

Most batteries can be recharged quite successfully, although AGMs are harder. Start by checking the charge on the battery. Don’t read the DIC when the car is off. The value you see on the DIC is alternator output when the car is running. It will always measure an inaccurately low voltage on the battery when the ignition is off and figures of 11.0V to 11.9V is normal in this case. With the engine on, the voltmeter should show between 13V and 14.5V. You need to measure voltage across the battery terminals using a digital multi meter if possible. A fully charged battery measures 12.7V and a fully discharged battery measures 11.9V. Partially discharged batteries will give a reading somewhere in between.

If the battery is low give it an overnight charge (or put it on a battery tender until you get a fully charged indication) and retest it. A true test is under load and Autozone will do that test for free.
If you have an AGM battery like the Red Top and it has been deeply discharged it's harder to recover it. This might help:

If you’ve recharged it and it still runs down, then you need to start looking for excessive drains. Bill Curlee posted a good method for checking:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1567522286-post590.html

There are some common faults which are well known for causing problems:

First to check is the interior lighting rotary switch on the drivers panel. It’s possible for that to be turned on as there’s a setting (fully clockwise) which bypasses the auto off function. Turn it fully counter clockwise and check after about 30 minutes (preferably in the dark) that the interior lights have gone off.

If it’s not the lights something has failed or is badly installed.

Have you fitted an after-market device which draws current? Typically it’s a cellphone charger, radar warner or a similar device that’s the problem.

If still no joy, you need to start pulling fuses to identify the problem.

The power seat switches on the side of both seats are notoriously unreliable. The switch becomes sticky with use and can stick in the “on” position. You shouldn’t damage the motors as they are thermally protected. The fuse may blow so worth checking (Fuse 36 20A in footwell).

The driver’s lumbar motor can also cause issues so check this too (mini fuse 3 15A in footwell). The seat controls connect under the seat. Pull the connector and if the drain stops that’s your problem.

Less common but not unheard of are failures of the headlight motor control module the alternator and the Bose Amplifier under the dash on the driver’s side.

 

Sure will and so will a loose battery cable. Don't ask me how I know !!

 

I'm with the new battery crowd.

 

Man- where else can you get this kind of knowledge in a single on line location?

Corvette Forum rocks !

 

WOW no kidding! Im new to corvette forum but its AWSOME! So much info. Thanks every one.
@Striper and DeeGee I thought it was the battery but I took it to auto zone and they said it was fine and that it just needed very little charge. So I think that can be ruled out.
@David and Ztheusa are yall talking about the cable that goes from the battery to the fuse box outside or the cable that goes from the fuse box outside to the fusebox inside?
I notice that sometimes the car will say low voltage also but not every time.

 

I once had a situation where the car acted like the battery was going bad or the battery needed to be charged. At that time I also tried checking the voltage on the DIC while driving. The numbers were fluctuating wildly at a steady speed. Turned out I had a loose connection. Tighten battery cables, grounds and every visible connection I could find. All problems went away. I also started using my battery tender more religiously whenever the car sits for awhile. I have no electrical problems and my Optima Red Top is unbelievably 14 years old. No Foolin', 14!

 

That would be my next step, then the grounds

 

I will do both. THANKS!!
@ Striper
@ DeeGee

 

Yep yep,.. I certainly agree!!!