blinking red light on dash
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,607
Likes: 167
From: sylvania ohio
blinking red light on dash
wife has two c5's a 2000 and a 2004 both are always on a battery tender . each gets driven about 250 miles per year . wanted to clean garage floor yesterday and 2004 would not start and it was like battery was dead . i noticed a red light on dash blinking and haven't a clue what it does or if it should blink as the one in 2000 does not blink . light is right by the volume **** for radio . searched owners manual and found no mention of this light . so should it blink in both cars or in neither . wanted to hook up battery charger but on these modern cars with a lot of electronic junk i don't understand i was hesitant to do it . did a ''search'' and found lots of contradicting replies . is there a safe way to do so . i admit it never crossed my mind to look at owners manual for that until right now . i was busy cleaning garage and doing yard work and it happened to be my birthday number 81 . . .thanks . . .peace
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,181
Likes: 286
From: Puyallup Washington
Hook the red lead of the charger to the + side of the battery and the black lead to the - side of the battery and plug the charger in and you will be OK. I do not think the red blinking light by the radio volume is stock. My 2000 convertible does not have one. It may be for an aftermarket alarm or something else.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 3,473
Likes: 691
From: West Virginia
Hook the red lead of the charger to the + side of the battery and the black lead to the - side of the battery and plug the charger in and you will be OK. I do not think the red blinking light by the radio volume is stock. My 2000 convertible does not have one. It may be for an aftermarket alarm or something else.
I have to wonder whether whatever it is that is throwing up that light might be the source of the power drain. As an example, my K1500 truck battery went flat a couple of times after being parked for a few days. I popped off a battery terminal and checked the current drain - in the amps. After a lot of "pull this fuse, pull that fuse", it turned out to be the timer unit that manages the interior light, so that it stays on for a certain time after the doors close, etc. Anyway, pulled the fuse for that circuit, and no more power loss. No more interior light either until I rewire the system to be a simple on/off - the timer unit is no longer available and I have to pull the whole dash out to get to the bad unit and the wiring.
Maybe tomorrow....
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 231
Likes: 46
From: San Antonio TX
wife has two c5's a 2000 and a 2004 both are always on a battery tender . each gets driven about 250 miles per year . wanted to clean garage floor yesterday and 2004 would not start and it was like battery was dead . i noticed a red light on dash blinking and haven't a clue what it does or if it should blink as the one in 2000 does not blink . light is right by the volume **** for radio . searched owners manual and found no mention of this light . so should it blink in both cars or in neither . wanted to hook up battery charger but on these modern cars with a lot of electronic junk i don't understand i was hesitant to do it . did a ''search'' and found lots of contradicting replies . is there a safe way to do so . i admit it never crossed my mind to look at owners manual for that until right now . i was busy cleaning garage and doing yard work and it happened to be my birthday number 81 . . .thanks . . .peace
Unfortunately, since you are unware of this feature, I'm guessing you don't know what "secret code number" was used to activate it. Which means when you disconnect the car battery to recharge or replace it, the radio will become locked. Hopefully, you can just hook up a charger as indicated in post #2 and get the car started.
HTH
Last edited by C5tx; Jun 3, 2020 at 12:28 AM. Reason: 2000 vs 2004 owners manual difference
Administrator
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 368,360
Likes: 24,782
From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
C7 of the Year - Modified Finalist 2021
MO Events Coordinator
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '03 thru '26
NCM Sinkhole Donor
CI 5, 8 & 11 Veteran
I agree - it is the TheftLock feature on the radio. Definitely covered in the Owner’s Manual.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
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
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,275
Likes: 739
From: Miami FL
The blinking red light indicates the "THEFTLOCK" feature has been enabled on the radio...
...Unfortunately, since you are unware of this feature, I'm guessing you don't know what "secret code number" was used to activate it. Which means when you disconnect the car battery to recharge or replace it, the radio will become locked...
...Unfortunately, since you are unware of this feature, I'm guessing you don't know what "secret code number" was used to activate it. Which means when you disconnect the car battery to recharge or replace it, the radio will become locked...
With a little luck, perhaps the previous owner wrote the code in the user manual after enabling the feature. It might be worth it to take a look.If not, there is a documented process (just search the forum) to recover the code that involves calling an 800 number.
Unfortunately, the 800 number has been reported as not working anymore, but take a look at this Thread for another solution. It is not free, but $19.99 seems reasonable compared to what dealers usually quote.
If you decide to solve this, I suggest you disable the locking feature right away. At this point, it only brings headaches.
Last edited by GCG; Jun 4, 2020 at 03:32 PM.