I was driving down the road and the motor turned off and everyting died, headlights , and all. No power at all.......great.

I get a jump from the tow truck and drive it home, shows 12.6 volts which is low, usually its at 13.6. The ABS light is on, Traction control light is on, Service engine soon is on the DIC. Headlights turn on but wont open up. I turn the car off when i get home, battery is COMPLETELY dead......

please tell me all these issues will go away when I get a new battery tomorrow. I have heard the vettes freak out when the battery dies.....im sad

 

You might have a "dead" cell or possibly a broken internal connection between the plates.

 

I bet since it quit while you were driving you have a charging issue. Since everything on these cars is computer controlled they do freak when the battery go dead. I would charge your old battery and see if it will take a charge. If so put a meter on it and see if you have over 13 volts after you start the car. If you don't see the battery volts come up after you start the car you have a charging issue.

 

Could be caused by a bad battery or something as simple as loose or corroded battery terminals.

 

Your battery is dead.. Grab another and you will be A ok.

 

Your battery may not be the only problem, the altenator may have failed or is not putting out enough current since this happened while driving. After you install the battery take the car and have the charging system checked. Good luck.

 

well i put the new battery in today, fired right up and everything was fine for about 15 seconds.

Then the car stumbled a for a second, and the DIC started flashing
REDUCED ENGINE POWER, SERVICE ACTIVE HANDLING, SERVICE ABS, SERVICE TRACTION CONTROL...... what gives, the volts are fine on the dash as far as the charging system.

The old AGM battery's negative terminal actually came OUT of the side of the battery which explains the dead battery. Then it was raining hard here in FL and I went thru a puddle and the car just died. But I checked everything out, the BCM and stuff didnt get wet or anything.

I guess its time to go see the dealer and get raped. I ahve an extended warranty but they never want to pay. Last time I took the car in for warranty repair on the fuel sensors they would only replace the SENDER because the fuel level SENSOR isnt listed in their covered parts.....grrrr what a crock of ****.

 

Well I gave up and scheduled an appointment with the dealer for tuesday.

I got 11 codes!

P1120 H C
P1221 H C
P1516 H
C1248 H
C1254 H
C1278 H
B2587 H
B2592 H
U1040 H
B2252 H
U1255 H

only 2 are current, but this is weird all of this would come about from a bad battery I wonder how much the dealer is going to rape me for....

 

After checking all the grounds, and connections, I think I would take the alternator to Autozone or something to be tested before I risked the dealer...

 

Sometimes when the battery is disconnected and then reconected you may get some codes thrown in the DIC. It happened to me as well once. You may have a bad ground or something is flaky with the alt. You should have the Alt checked for current and volt output and check your grounds.

 

The 2 current codes are a Throttle position sensor fault. Water intrusion could cause the codes to be thrown according to the manual. I would check the TPS conections and see if they are wet.

 

somewhat

You either have a bad throttle position sensor or a tac module, I don't have my manual handy so I can't check to see which one it is for sure.

**edit**

I just checked my servicemanual to doublecheck and these 2 codes are for the TP sensor so either your TP sensor is bad or your TAC module is bad, from what I've seen on this forum more than likely it's the TAC module.

You said that when you replaced the battery that one of the terminals pulled right out of the side of the battery, this indicates internal failure and possible leakage, you need to look in the area underneath the battery which is where the TAC module is located as well the electrical harness for the engine which goes to the TAC module and the PCM.

 

The high temp and high humidity of Houston shorten battery life. When the original battery on my '01 Z06 went out, everything electronic totally freaked out. I think part of the reason the error codes are so far flung and numerous is because all the microcontrollers use a local area network to talk to everything. This saves about 900 feet of wire and, overall, makes the vehicle a lot more reliable. In addition, it creates a whole new world of troubleshooting issues for the electronics.

For me, replacing the battery, resetting all the codes, and reprogramming all the memory things provided a complete cure.

However, because your battery failed while you were driving, it is probable that your battery death was merely a symptom of another, more serious, problem like a bad sensor, bad alternator, corrosion at a connector, or other wiring related failure.

I'm sorry to hear that you have to work with a dealer that you have little confidence in, one you seem to feel severly overcharges for the value of the service it delivers.

Best of luck in resolving the issue.

dave

 

Jason,
Check your email. I had a very similar problem with my '99.

Al.

 

did not get an email, my email is tripintaz@gmail.com incase I have the wrong one in my profile.

 

what is a TAC module and how much does it cost?

I have an extended warranty but who knows if thye will cover a TAC. They list the ECU,PCM,ABS, and Body control modules as covered, but who knows what they will say to the TAC.

 

TAC module = Throttle Actuation Control. It is mounted on top of the PCM in the passengers fender well. It cost $400 from GM but you can get one from Fred Bean or Fitchners for around $200. If you have a TAC Module issue, it will show up in the DTC codes. Your battery terminal pulled out. I would check for battery acid damage. The TAC and PCM are under the battery and very sensitive to damage from acid!!!!

Clean the entire area with baking soda and water solution. Inspect for damage to wiring, vacuum lines and modules
BC

 

My battery is an AGM battery and nothing leaked out of the battery. All of this happened in a HEAVY rain downpour here in South Florida. Im starting to think this could all be water related.

 

Checked under the battery just a few minutes ago, there is no acid damage and no damage to any wires or anything else. MY car is a 2001 so I had the AGM and the negative termin didnt come out until the next day when I replaced the battery with an Optima red top.

 

It sounds like you may have some codes. I would check for a 40BCM code. What this is, is your passkey theft deterrant system, or VATS. This will seem like a battery gone dead, but it may be low on charge, because you have tried to start the car. What happens is your ignition cylinder gets worn and cannot read your passkey resistor's ohm reading. The car will seem fine at the turn of the key, but fully turned to start, everything dies, not even a click from the starter, almost acts like a short. This can be intermittent and start the car, only to have it die again at another point. The fix is reletively cheap under $10.00. That will be another story at the dealer$$$$$.

Diagnostic:
To varify this is the problem, unplug the circuit from your ignition cylinders passkey circuit (a plug behind the cylinder that has a black and white wire, and purple wire. Insert your key into the cylinder, turn the key in the cylinder while measuring the resistance across passkey circuit wires at the plug. It should read the same resistance as the resistor pellet in your key. If the ohm reading is intermittent the passkey circuit has an open and your car will not start. It will seem just like a dead battery.

To fix it:
You need to measure the resistance across the resister pellet on your key. Let's just say it reads 7500ohm. Go to radio shack and buy a 10K ohm variable resistor. Your ignition cylinder reads the resistance of the key pellet from 2 wires that are attached to a plug. After the plug, the same wiring runs to the Body Control Module located under the passenger kick panel below the passenger air bag. The wiring is a white and black wire, and a purple wire. If you unplug the resistor circuit from the ignition cylinder and insert the variable resistor set for 7500ohm, and plug it back in, your car will start, and you have just bypassed your VATS. It is the same procedure if you were installing a remote starter in your car.