WillItFloat

One of the great things about this forum is that you can post your ramblings about your car and someone will read them and perhaps enjoy them. My wife just isn't interested.

This is about batteries and I am reluctant to start a new thread about batteries because there are already so many, mostly about what battery is best and using a trickle charger. But this post has some different information in it.

I bought my 1999 C5 convertible in May 2013. It was being sold by a dealer on consignment from the original owner. The first time I looked at the car it would not crank and had to be jumped. The second time I looked at the car it would not crank and had to be jumped. I insisted that a new battery be installed before I would purchase the car. A new Interstate was installed and everything was fine and I bought the car.

I drove the car 4,000 miles home and all summer long with no issues. However, I did have some issues with a headlight gear and after turning the lights on and off multiple times while replacing it, the car would not crank. Once cooler weather arrived and the car sat for a week it would not crank. Research in this forum made me think I might have a parasitic draw somewhere but I never pursued it. I just disconnected the battery when I knew I wouldn't be driving the car for a while.

Over the years I had issues when turning the headlights on and off multiple times while working on the multi-function switch and once when I parked the car for a few hours with the parking lights on. In each case it seemed to me that the battery should not have gone so low so fast but I attributed it to a C5 being sensitive to a low battery. Over winter, when the car was stored, I always removed the battery and put it on a charger every few weeks. In warm weather, as long as I drove the car (and I drove it a lot!) and didn't leave lights on, I never had a problem.

This spring the five year old battery would no longer hold a charge. I bought a Duralast Gold from the AutoZone. The first thing I noticed was that the car could sit for a week during bad weather spells (battery cable connected) and it would start right up. I could mess with the headlights and turn them on off multiple times (adjusters this time) and it would start right up. This fall I put the car away on October 11 and disconnected the battery. I had to move it six weeks later on November 23 (thankfully a rare sunny day in northeast Ohio this fall). I thought I would have to charge the battery but I reconnected it and the car started right up. The car had never been idle that long without needing to be charged.

I now believe that the battery I was given in 2013 was low on capacity from the start. Perhaps it had been sitting on the dealer's shelf for a while. Whatever the problem, I feel fortunate that it functioned so many years, even though it was functioning at a low level. I also feel fortunate that it never left me stranded ( I have put 40,000 miles on the car and taken many long trips). And I also feel really dumb that I ignored all the warning signs over the years and didn't replace it sooner.

The next issue is what to do in the future. I know the common opinion on this forum is that the battery should be hooked up to a trickle charger while being stored. After research on the forum and on other websites I have concluded that perhaps the best option for me is just to disconnect that battery and let it sit so that's what I'm going to do. We'll see if it starts next time I have to start it. The only question in my mind is what is better for battery life. I sure I will find out if my chosen option is a good one within the next five years.

That's all. Your comments are, of course, welcome.

Pounder

a lot is made of batts here, I bought a Walmart Duracell and after two years starts always !!!(no tender)

Vetteman Jack

Not sure why you wouldn't just hook it to a Battery Tender and not worry about it being fully charged when you need it, but hope it all works out for you.

Evil-Twin

You can get a bad battery from the store. Its rare but it happens. Usually an internal short from poor handling between the manufacturer and the retail store. My Original AC Delco was replaced because of defective casing. I bought my First Optima red top in 2001. I replaced it in 2009, I took the first one out and use it today as a bench test battery. The second Optima red top is in there now. its 9 years old. No sign of an issue. Its always on a smart CTEC tender... I will probably replace the battery in the spring. with another Optima Red top. I put an Optima red top in my wife's last car, it was in there 7 years without issue until we traded it in.
Batteries, alternators and grounds are the big electrical issues with this car. as it ages.
Bill aka ET.

leadfoot4

Yes, even brand new batteries can be "bad".

Case in point: After I retired from full time work, I worked part-time, for my local Advance Auto Parts store. I was one of the delivery drivers. I'm sure that many of you are familiar with the slanted display/storage racks, that they use for the car batteries. I went to remove a battery from this rack, so I could deliver it to a customer. You have to both lift and tilt the battery, to get them out of the rack. As I tilted this particular battery, to get it off the rack, it leaked battery acid down the front of my coat. A brand new battery, and the case wasn't properly sealed, right from the manufacturer. I was OK, but it ruined a perfectly good, down-filled, winter coat......

aj98

Replace the posts on the ends of both the pos and neg. cable While you are doing that, wirebrush the cable ends.
Cost and time is minimal

Reason being, over time, the posts will either loosen up or start to corrode on the bottom.
(Had this problem on 3 different > 10 year old side post battery cars.)

Either scenario will make it tough to nearly impossible to start the car, or obtain a proper charge.
.

Yello95

I did the same thing at Costco (Interstate battery) but the battery was just wet with acid on the bottom and i got it on my hands and wiped it on my pants not thinking it was acid...big lesson learned......so you are correct about it being a bad battery right from the factory...

3sACROWD

OP - if your car will see below freezing temperatures for extended periods of time while the battery is disconnected, you may want to remove the battery and store in a warm environment. As batteries sit, they do discharge. If they discharge enough, the battery can freeze and crack the case. (You know the rest from here.).

Sydwayz

You do know that headlight motors that have issues ARE a parasitic draw on the battery, right?

Crosis

WillItFloat

It was a sunny day Friday in northeast Ohio. The road were dry and cleaned of salt by recent rains. I needed to take the Corvette for an emissions check to renew my registration so I went out to start it up to take for the E-Check. The car had been sitting with the battery disconnected since November 23 but no battery tender as mentioned in my opening post to this thread. Before jumping it I checked the voltage in the battery. It was still at 12.2 volts so I connected the battery and turned the key. The car fired right up. I drove it around a little so the computer could go through a "drive cycle" as they say. I took to E-Check and it passed once again. The drive reminded me of how much I love this car. I love it even more with a new battery.

bc6152

This is good advice. Letting a battery discharge over the winter or for any extended period of time then recharging and repeating over and over causes sulphurization of the cells.
This will kill your battery very quickly. I would invest in a battery tender...

GettnBetter

Disconnect is the best choice! That is the ultimate battery protection.

Those battery tenders are generally junk but a few have a working float mode. Most just gas the battery to death

I have an Optima yellow, it doesn't seem to care if it dies and it's died a lot. It's been in the car for 10 years now

Tsumi

I disconnect the battery on mine. There has been times where it sat for longer than 6 months, and as long as one cable was disconnected, it will start right up.

KnightDriveTV

Dealers use interstate to put batteries in cars, because most interstate dealers have used batteries in stock. They do warranty coverage on their batteries (they're usually standalone stores), and when they bring in a warranty battery, they charge them and load test them. Sometimes the batteries are good, but sometimes the customer was right and the battery was ****. I've bought a lot of used batteries from interstate. Most times they are 50.00 and under. I've done this for several "flips" I've bought and sold, when I used to do a lot. I got some good ones and some bad ones.

Interstate battery is well known to car dealers, as a means to save cash.

grampi50

I second the suggestion to keep a tender (not trickle charges, they aren't the same) on the battery when the car is not in use. I've used tenders on all of my vehicles that sit for long periods without being used and I've always gotten long battery life when doing this...I swear by tenders...