Dead Battery - Help me narrow down the cause!
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,148
Likes: 1
From: GA
Dead Battery - Help me narrow down the cause!
Well, I posted in another thread that my second battery in my 2004 Z06 died last Thursday. Having seen all the stories and experiencing three other Delco battery failures in my personal cars, I bit the bullet and bought an Optima Yellow Top over the weekend. I installed it Sat. morning and all was good. Very busy weekend so car never left the garage. Went out this morning to go to work and my brand new battery was completely drained. I obviously have something causing a short and a constant drain. Would my alternator cause this? I guess I will put a charger on it and take it to the dealer tomorrow morning but would like to know what to suspect before hauling it in...
Any guesses?
Any guesses?
Racer
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 298
Likes: 2
From: chicago il
Dead Battery
Have your electrical system checked under both load and no load. I had 2 different instances where my battery when dead. The first was a short in my turn signal switch (in the steering column) which caused all kinds of strange messages on my DIC. The other was in my driver side sport seat (motor kept running), I just unplugged it and haven't had it repaired yet. Hope this helped.... GOOD LUCK 
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,028
Likes: 18
From: northwest Ct
St. Jude Donor '13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19
Okay this is old school If you remove neg cable and put a test light between cable and post if it lights you have a draw. you have to start by making sure whatever is on all the time is off by pulling the fuse clock ect.. hood light you can just remove the bulb then just start pulling one fuse at a time until test light goes out this will narrow it down to the circut that is on. this worked on one of my trucks and found the fuel pump was always running thus killing the battery over night. hope this helps.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,148
Likes: 1
From: GA
Originally Posted by leadfoot4
Did you fully charge the Optima before you installed it?
The cables are tight and spotless. The car only has 9800 mi. on it and is kept garaged when not driven...
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Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 87,375
Likes: 1,593
From: Western NY
Originally Posted by TOOGECKO
It was brand new - never heard of having to do this to a new battery....
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,148
Likes: 1
From: GA
Dealer just called me. It seems a GM rep was there today and immediately pointed to the HID lights installed. They will not cover this under warranty and want $100 per hr., min. three hrs. to diagnose. 
(Bill Heard dealership, by the way).
I guess I will spend the evening trying to isolate one cause at a time...
(Bill Heard dealership, by the way).
I guess I will spend the evening trying to isolate one cause at a time...
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,148
Likes: 1
From: GA
Well, I thought I had it fixed. I do however have it narrowed down to either a problem with my replacement battery or a problem somewhere in my lowbeam circuit. I need to eliminate the battery possibility tonight and hopefuly by the time Sunday evening rolls around I will have positively identified the culprit (if other than battery) and regained the confidence in my ride 
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,148
Likes: 1
From: GA
I hope this is the last post on this one. I ran my "brand new" Optima Yellow Top back to Advance Auto yesterday where it was purchased and stated that I knew that it was a long shot but asked if they would please run a diagnostic on it. Sure enough, it had an internal short. They replaced it, no questions asked. Car seems to be fine now, charging system is acting normal and everything works as designed. They said they have never had an Optima returned but there is a first time for everything... I learned two things from this experience...
1. Never rule out anything as all components are fallible
2. Never expect your local Chevy dealer to know more than you do. Experts are hard to find, and rarely at the dealerships!
Another life experience chalked up! If the car makes it through the weekend without anymore charging problems I think I can safely start enjoying it again. Thanks for all the help and advice everyone
1. Never rule out anything as all components are fallible
2. Never expect your local Chevy dealer to know more than you do. Experts are hard to find, and rarely at the dealerships!
Another life experience chalked up! If the car makes it through the weekend without anymore charging problems I think I can safely start enjoying it again. Thanks for all the help and advice everyone
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 87,375
Likes: 1,593
From: Western NY
Originally Posted by TOOGECKO
... I learned two things from this experience...
1. Never rule out anything as all components are fallible
2. Never expect your local Chevy dealer to know more than you do. Experts are hard to find, and rarely at the dealerships!
1. Never rule out anything as all components are fallible
2. Never expect your local Chevy dealer to know more than you do. Experts are hard to find, and rarely at the dealerships!
Drifting
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 1,580
Likes: 1
From: Shelbyville KY
Originally Posted by TOOGECKO
I hope this is the last post on this one. I ran my "brand new" Optima Yellow Top back to Advance Auto yesterday where it was purchased and stated that I knew that it was a long shot but asked if they would please run a diagnostic on it. Sure enough, it had an internal short. They replaced it, no questions asked. Car seems to be fine now, charging system is acting normal and everything works as designed. They said they have never had an Optima returned but there is a first time for everything... I learned two things from this experience...
1. Never rule out anything as all components are fallible
2. Never expect your local Chevy dealer to know more than you do. Experts are hard to find, and rarely at the dealerships!
Another life experience chalked up! If the car makes it through the weekend without anymore charging problems I think I can safely start enjoying it again. Thanks for all the help and advice everyone
1. Never rule out anything as all components are fallible
2. Never expect your local Chevy dealer to know more than you do. Experts are hard to find, and rarely at the dealerships!
Another life experience chalked up! If the car makes it through the weekend without anymore charging problems I think I can safely start enjoying it again. Thanks for all the help and advice everyone
I had a short in my yellow-top as well and was experiencing the EXACT same issues you were. I replaced the battery and all has been well since.
It's a shame - the Optima batteries are very expensive, and I would have expected better for the $$ involved.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,314
Likes: 0
From: Tallahassee Florida
Silly question here, why do you want to run a deep cycle battery in you corvette? Deep cycle batteries are designed to be charged then discharged in cycles, woulldn't the red top be more suitable?
Drifting
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 1,580
Likes: 1
From: Shelbyville KY
Originally Posted by KBlanke
Silly question here, why do you want to run a deep cycle battery in you corvette? Deep cycle batteries are designed to be charged then discharged in cycles, woulldn't the red top be more suitable?
I've had a red-top as well, and have found it to be less than stellar on its reserve capacity. I think that as a technology the optima batteries are better, but from a practical usability standpoint, I don't see much, if any, difference between them and a conventional battery.
Drifting
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,607
Likes: 1
From: San Francisco CA
Originally Posted by TWILL
Okay this is old school If you remove neg cable and put a test light between cable and post if it lights you have a draw. you have to start by making sure whatever is on all the time is off by pulling the fuse clock ect.. hood light you can just remove the bulb then just start pulling one fuse at a time until test light goes out this will narrow it down to the circut that is on. this worked on one of my trucks and found the fuel pump was always running thus killing the battery over night. hope this helps.